EXPERIMENTS WITH CRYPTOGAMIC GROWTHS. 165 



The fact that in our cultivations we never obtained any growths of ustilago, coniothe- 

 cium, or tilletia, which were so frequently produced in Hallier s experiments, is probably 

 due to the circumstance that no specimens of those fungi were ever brought into the room 

 where our experiments were conducted. 



In cases of splenic fever of cattle our experiments, therefore, fail to establish the 

 presence of any peculiar or special cryptogamic germs in the blood; and, instead of sup 

 porting the notion that the micrococcus granules which are present in any way cause the 

 disease, tend rather to show that their occurrence should be considered as an effect of the 

 malady, whether constant and inherent, or altogether fortuitous; for since these granules, 

 if fungous in their nature, must be, as indicated by the cultivations, forms of the very com 

 monest moulds, it is certainly a much more probable hypothesis that the disease so destroys 

 the vitality of a part of the blood as to render it capable of supporting and nourishing a 

 low form of these ubiquitous fungi, which perish when introduced into a healthy subject, 

 than it is to imagine a deadly disease, occurring only under certain rigidly prescribed con 

 ditions, as caused by the presence, in the economy of the germs, of fungi notoriously harm 

 less and of universal occurrence. 



It is, of course, possible that these fungi, developed in the fluids of a diseased animal, 

 may become the carriers of contagium. This can be determined only by a series of inocu 

 lations upon healthy cattle. 



While the experiments reported above were still in progress, we were fortunate 

 enough to obtain a copy of the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society 

 for 1867, containing the &quot;Report of the New York State Cattle Commissioners,&quot; in con 

 nection with the &quot; Special report of the Metropolitan Board of Health on the cattle disease.&quot; 

 This report we read with interest. 



The conclusions of Professor Hallier we do not accept, for three reasons : First, because 

 the fluids sent to him were not put up with the proper precautions for exclusion of extra 

 neous spores; second, because the culture apparatus used by him does not give reliable 

 results, as we have found by experiment; and lastly, because his reasoning is based on a 

 peculiar theory of his own, that penicillium, mucor, &c., are merely unripe forms of certain 

 ustilagineous fungi, a theory which cannot be discussed here, but of which it is sufficient 

 to say that it has been accepted by no other prominent mycologist. 



The statement of Dr. Stiles, that &quot;the fungous origin of zymotic diseases is now con 

 ceded by the highest authorities in mycological research,&quot; will no doubt surprise the said 

 authorities; for Berkeley, Curtis, and De Bary, the highest authorities in England, Amer 

 ica, and Germany, most assuredly concede nothing of the kind. 



With a culture apparatus, a lemon, and a little albuminous fluid, such as blood, serum, 

 white of egg, &c., it is very easy to obtain almost any kind of mold; but the laws of de 

 velopment of such organisms are not yet sufficiently known to enable one to draw decisive 

 inferences from the results. 



With regard to the magnifying power necessary for the examination of minute cryp 

 togamic forms, it has usually been overrated. A good one-fifth objective is all that is 

 necessary, and in making observations on growing slides is the highest power that can be 

 conveniently used. We have, it is true, used much higher powers, but do not consider 

 them necessary, or even desirable, in microscopic investigations of this character. 



