1 8 MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. 



a short manual to go, may, besides consulting the large 

 text-books, and weekly medical journals, obtain much 

 assistance from technical periodicals. The Journal of Ex- 

 perimental Medicine, Journal of Medical Research, and the 

 Journal of Applied Microscopy, published in this country, 

 and the English Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology and 

 Journal of Hygiene will give a great deal that is valuable. 



A reading knowledge of German and French is very 

 desirable. The Centralblatt fiir Bakteriologie, etc., a 

 German weekly, and the Bulletin de I'Institut Pasteur, 

 published bimonthly in Paris, contain abstracts of most of 

 the important researches made in all parts of the world. 

 The Annalcs de I'Institut Pasteur, the Zeitschrift fiir Hy- 

 giene, and the Archiv fiir Hygiene contain many original 

 articles on bacteriological subjects. 



The whole literature of any specified subject in bacteri- 

 ology can be most conveniently found in Baiungarten's 

 Jahresbericht dcr Mikrodrganisinenlclire. 



Historical Sketch. The remarkable growth of mechan- 

 ical and industrial enterprises which the last half century 

 has witnessed is held to be characteristic of it. The world 

 justly takes pride in its achievements along these lines. 

 Nearly all that we know of bacteria and the part they play in 

 producing disease has been learned during the same period. 

 It is but fair to say that the rapid growth of this knowledge 

 has been equally characteristic of the age. 



Nevertheless many facts were known long ago, and even 

 by the ancients, which were effective in directing the thought 

 of later years. The epidemic nature of certain maladies 

 was naturally among the earliest of these to be noticed, and 

 was, even until recently, attributed to the influence of gods, 

 demons, or other supernatural agencies. The superstitions 

 and crude beliefs of the past gave rise to a mass of grotesque 



