Q2 THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA. 



within a few days or hours the body may 

 be overwhelmed with the poisonous material 

 which it eliminates as it grows. We know 

 that in certain stages of the disease the liv- 

 ing germs are discharged from the body in 

 vast numbers, and that if moisture be present 

 they may remain alive outside of the body for 

 long periods and may even multiply. They 

 can thus remain alive for some time in water 

 and on the moist surfaces of vegetables and 

 fruits and clothing. 



There is no good reason for believing that 

 any other germ or organism than this particu- 

 lar curved bacillus ever induces Asiatic cholera, 

 or that the disease is ever caused by any thing 

 else. The only known way in which the infec- 

 tion is conveyed from man to man is by the 

 taking into the intestinal canal, either by water 

 or food or in some other way, some of the 

 cholera bacilli which have come directly or indi- 

 rectly from some human victim of the disease. 



The germs may remain alive for a long time 

 if kept moist, and so the disease may be con- 

 veyed for long distances in bundles of infected 

 clothing. A few hours of thorough drying or 



