Pneumonia, Influenza, and Colds 119 



one of the most effective of the modern ways 

 of fighting bacteria and their poisons. 



Influenza 



It is popular nowadays for both doctors 

 and laymen to call severe colds influenza 

 or "the grip/' But genuine contagious in- 

 fluenza, which occasionally sweeps around 

 the world, a veritable plague out of the Far 

 East, and in one after another of the countries 

 which it crosses puts a large share of the 

 people to bed with all sorts of miseries, is 

 apparently incited by a special bacillus which 

 is very small even for bacilli. It can be cul- 

 tivated in tubes and is very well known 

 nowadays in the laboratory as well as at the 

 discouraged bedside. 



The Bacillus influenzae is, however, still 

 somewhat of an enigma, because it, or several 

 organisms quite like it, are found in a good 

 many abnormal conditions, especially in- 

 volving the respiratory organs. However, 

 we know definitely enough that the influenza 

 bacillus is transmitted from the sick to the 



