INT.] THE BACTERIA IN ASIATIC CHOLERA. 3 



accurately to determine the mode of invasion of the human 

 body by the cholera-virus, the distribution of this latter in 

 the body, the changes it undergoes, the manner in which it 

 leaves the body, and many other very important questions, 

 which would at once emerge from the region of debatable 

 points wherein they at present are ; in other words this 

 knowledge would give us a thorough insight into the whole 

 etiology and pathology of the disease, which at present we 

 do not possess. One important series of facts would by the 

 discovery of the cholera-germ at once become plain, viz. the 

 mode of its entrance into the human body and the mode of 

 its exit. At present opinion is divided on both these most 

 essential questions. How does the cholera-virus enter the 

 human body ? Does it enter by the alimentary canal only, 

 as is maintained by many authorities, or does it enter also 

 by the respiratory organs ? How does it leave the infected 

 body ? Is it present in the vomit and discharges from the 

 bowels, as is maintained by most observers ; or is it present 

 in these not as an actual but as a potential virus, as is 

 maintained by other equally great authorities ? It is obvious 

 that, according to either one of these theories, the mode of 

 our action in combating the spread of the disease ought to 

 become exact and specific. 



Now, it is maintained by Koch, and many others who 

 confirm or accept Koch's statements, that in cholera asiatica 

 the intestines (chiefly the ileum of the small intestine) of a 

 person affected with the disease is the seat of the rapid 

 growth and multiplication of a definite bacterium (comma- 

 bacillus), which is not present in the blood or any other 

 part of the body, which by its multiplication in the intestine 

 produces a special chemical poison ; this poison is absorbed 

 into the system and sets up the whole chain of disturbances 

 of the nervous, vascular, and respiratory organs character- 



B 2 



