64 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [1894., 



made by Mr. Julien Deby. It is indexed, and accessible to stu- 

 dents in the botanical department. The Museum previously 

 ])0ssessed Greville's. William Smith's, Gregory's, O'Meara's, 

 Half's and other collections. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



The Sphinx Society, Atchison, Kans. 



Jan. 11, 1894. — A. H. Lamphear, M. D., presented a paper on 

 "The Germ Theory of Disease." After dwelling briefly on the 

 history of the subject Dr. Lamphear presented the three theories 

 that have had the most following, /. e. the chemical theory, the 

 germ theory and the biojilast theory. The various forms of in- 

 fectious diseases such as anthrax, tuberculosis, diphtheria, yel- 

 low fever, etc. in which and for which a specific germ has been 

 isolated were more particularly considered. Examples of tuber- 

 cle bacillus, anthrax and gonococcus, were shown under the 

 microscope. Also photographs of the same were e^shibited ; 

 also agar cultures of microbes from the mouth, water and etc. 

 The discussion that followed the readingof the paper was espec- 

 ially interesting and instructive. In the discussion various 

 theories on immunity were presented. One member offered it 

 as his view that in looking for the cause of disease we should not 

 loose sight of the chemical influences while championing the 

 germ theory. We would find a truer explanation of the disor- 

 ders that arise by remembering that all cells, whether bacterial 

 or of the animal structure, give rise to poisonous by-products in 

 their disintegration, and that it is because of the absorption of 

 these ptomains. toxalbumins, etc., and their deleterious in- 

 fluenc, especially on the nervous system, that diseases arise. 

 Thus disorders may arise within the system without the en- 

 trance of bacteria of any kind, and these disorders may resem- 

 ble very closely the disturbances engendered by actual bacter- 

 ial growth, ])ecause the nitrogenous poisons produced may )>e 

 almost identical in the two cases. Viewed in this way the chem- 

 ical theory is deserving of ch/ser attention. The officers of the 

 club for the following year are as follows : 



Pres. E. B. Knerr, Vice Pres. G. S. Hull, Secretary, J. H. Glot- 

 felter. — Reported by E. B. Knerr. 



