86 THE BACTERIA IN ASIATIC CHOLERA. [CH. 



that does not necessarily imply that they were not already 

 present in very small numbers before the disease set in, and 

 if so, of course their being found in India, Egypt, or France 

 would make no difference to the conclusion so long as we 

 have to deal with the human species. 



I presume very few will dissent from the proposition that 

 in many a putrid fluid crowded with all kinds of bacteria, 

 it would be well-nigh impossible to discover Saccharomyces, 

 although we know Torula is one of the most common organ- 

 isms contaminating the air, and every fluid exposed to the 

 air would receive and contain a good many examples of it. 



FIG. 28. GELATINE PLATE-CULTIVATION OF FINKLER'S COMMA-BACILLI 

 AFTER INCUBATION FOR FORTY-EIGHT HOURS AT 20 C. 



But owing to the putrid fluid being an unfavourable soil, and 

 particularly owing to the luxuriant growth in it of saprophytic 

 bacteria, the comparatively few Torulce. at the outset present 

 will not multiply. But transfer some of that fluid into a new 

 medium containing besides traces of proteid material a good 

 deal of sugar, and after a few days you will have no difficulty 

 in showing the existence in this new medium of Saccha romyces. 

 The conclusion to be drawn from this is obvious. Neither 

 Koch, nor anybody else, has sufficiently and systematically 

 examined the normal human intestine, and, as I have shown 



