310 BACTERIA IX INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



tion produced be proved by successive inoculations 

 on the conjunctivas of a series of young rabbits. 



In 1880 " Bokai cultivated the cocci from secretions 

 of (a) an acute conjunctival blenorrhcea which was a 

 few days old ; (6) an acute conjunctival blenorrhoea of 

 the second week; (e) acute gonorrhoea of the first, 

 second, and third weeks. Bokai does not describe his 

 exact method of cultivation, but contents himself with 

 saying, that it was done in such a way as to preclude 

 the presence of other organisms. Each of his culture- 

 fluids after two or three weeks was swarming with micro- 

 cocci, which were in every way identical with those 

 described by Neisser. With these cultivated micrococci 

 infection experiments were made on the human ure- 

 thral mucous membrane. Six students, whose self- 

 sacrifice in the interest of science is ever to be com- 

 mended, offered themselves as subjects of experiment. 

 In three cases an acute urethral gonorrhoea witli all 

 the well-known symptoms was caused." (Quoted from 

 Keyser.) 



The fact that no details are given as to the 

 method of cultivation, and that the experimenter 

 is not known as an expert in investigations of this 

 kind, leaves ground for doubt as to whether pure 

 cultures were used in this experiment ; and there 

 is also room for the ungenerous suspicion that the 

 three victims may have contracted the disease in 

 the usual way. Moreover, the statement that the 

 culture-fluids were swarming with micrococci after 

 two or three weeks is contrary to the ivsults ob- 

 tained in a large number of experiments made by 

 the writer. In every instance the micrococci mul- 



