BACILLUS TUBERCULOSIS 



THAT tuberculosis was an inoculable and infectious 

 disease was fully established by Villemin in 1868. 

 This conclusion was confirmed and the paths of in- 

 fection experimentally shown by the feeding experi- 

 ments of Chaveau and Parrot (1868-1873), the 

 inoculations of the anterior chamber of the eye, with 

 the production of Tubercle of the Iris, by Cohnheim 

 and Salomonsen (1877), and the inhalation experi- 

 ments of Tappeiner (1878-1880). Numerous other 

 workers also added to the evidence. The specific 

 infectious agent existing in tubercular material 

 was, however, not discovered until 1881-1882, when 

 Koch demonstrated the constant occurrence of a 

 minute, immobile, slender bacillus in the sputum of 

 phthisical patients and in all forms of tubercular 

 material. 



The bacillus thus demonstrated was successfully 

 cultivated. A repetition, with the pure culture, 

 of the inoculation, ingestion, and inhalation experi- 



