THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA. 93 



steaming-, or the application of suitable disin- 

 fectants, such as strong carbolic acid or corro- 

 sive sublimate, readily secures total destruction 

 of the life of the germs. 



In Asiatic cholera, as in all of the other 

 bacterial diseases which we have thus far 

 studied, predisposition of the individual is an 

 important factor in the acquirement of the dis- 

 ease. This simply means that there are cer- 

 tain conditions of the body cells which render 

 them less able to resist the incursions of for- 

 eign organisms like the bacteria, or which fur- 

 nish conditions favorable to their growth and 



o 



proliferation. 



We have seen that in tuberculosis this pre- 

 disposition to the disease, whatever its exact 

 nature is, may be in marked degree hereditary. 

 In Asiatic cholera a disordered condition of 

 the digestion appears to favor the occurrence 

 of an attack of the disease. In typhoid fever, 

 analogous predisposing factors seem to deter- 

 mine that when exposed to the same risk of 

 infection one individual may be attacked with 

 the disease and another not. But alike in all 

 these forms of bacterial disease the particular 



