ON SPECIFIC THERAPEUTICS. 43 



for the development of that particular bacterial 

 species ; should the same kind of bacterium again 

 penetrate into an organism thus modified, it 

 would not find those substances necessary for 

 its growth, and thus a new infection could 

 not occur. This theory has of late years, and 

 especially since the discovery of the different 

 kinds of antibodies, ceased to be of importance 

 in practical medicine. In point of fact, it is 

 hard to imagine that in the living body, as a 

 result of some infective disease, which need 

 not have produced any serious disturbances, 

 there should have occurred a complete and per- 

 manent disappearance of certain chemical sub- 

 stances. That during disease the internal 

 secretions should become disturbed, and that 

 possibly at this time certain cellular products 

 should be temporarily removed by excessive 

 consumption and insufficient nutrition, is pos- 

 sible and even probable, but it is quite unin- 

 telligible how, after complete recovery, such a 

 state of things could still persist. Yet this old 

 theory seems to me to contain a nucleus of truth, 

 as is so often the case. The chief point of 

 Pasteur's theory is that in the modified body 

 the bacteria should not be able to assimilate 

 certain food substances. Now, Pasteur's idea 



