I.] THE HISTORY OF THE COMMA-BACILLUS. 19 



comma-bacilli to be found in his intestines. The dejecta of a 

 man who had had an attack of cholera for eight days previously 

 were also examined ; his stools were already beginning to be 

 consistent ; in this case also comma-bacilli were absent. 



"I have also thoroughly examined more than thirty 

 corpses, in order to convince myself more and more that 

 these bacilli are really only found in cases of cholera. 

 Corpses of those who had died of affections of the 

 intestines, e.g., of dysentery or of those catarrhs of the 

 intestine frequently mortal in the tropics, were chiefly 

 selected for this purpose ; also cases with ulceration in the 

 intestine, a case of enteric fever, and several cases of bilious 

 typhoid. 



" In the last-named disease, the modifications in the 

 intestines are at first sight very similar to those which take 

 place in severe cases of cholera, in which haemorrhage of the 

 intestine takes place. The small intestine is in its lower 

 section infiltrated by haemorrhage ; but, strange to say, this 

 change in bilious typhoid affects mostly the Peyer's patches, 

 whilst in cholera these are very little changed. 



" In all these cases, where we had to deal chiefly with 

 diseases of the intestine, no trace of comma-bacilli was to 

 be found. Experience teaches that such affections of the 

 intestine make people especially liable to cholera. So one 

 might have pre-supposed that comma-bacilli, if they were 

 to be found anywhere else, must be found in these cases. 

 Besides these, dejecta of a large number of dysenteric 

 patients were examined without the comma-bacilli ever 

 being met with. I continued these investigations afterwards 

 in Berlin, together with Dr. Stahl, my untiring fellow- 

 labourer, a man who promised much for the investigation of 

 bacteria, had not an early death unhappily put an end to 

 his work. We examined a considerable number of various 



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