1 66 Lectures on Bacteria. [$ xm. 



Emmerich found his Bacterium in the gelatine- cultures which 

 he employed in the examination of the bodies of persons who 

 had died of cholera in Naples; fresh bits of the wall of the 

 intestine, of the kidneys, and of other internal organs, together 

 with blood from persons who had died of the disease or who 

 were suffering from it, were placed with every precaution in the 

 nutrient gelatine. The presence of the Bacterium in the above 

 organs was concluded from the results of the culture ; it grew in 

 the culture, but it was not directly proved to have been present 

 in the organs. The result of researches undertaken a year later 

 in Palermo was, that no Bacterium could be shown to be present 

 in the internal organs, liver, spleen, kidneys, or in the heart's 

 blood in the majority of acute cholera-cases, nor was it found in 

 the viscid exudation of the peritoneal cavity. In one case only 

 was the Naples Bacillus obtained by culture from the liver of a 

 patient. But it was now found in most cases in abundance in 

 the contents of the stomach and intestine, though it must be 

 added that there was some doubt as to the identity of the forms, 

 and the decision on this point is reserved for further study. 

 Moreover, the Naples Bacillus was obtained plentifully in most 

 cases from the bronchial tubes and lungs. On the other hand, 

 Emmerich and Buchner both bear witness to the practically 

 constant presence of Koch's Spirillum in the intestine in the 

 cases which they examined. 



Emmerich also experimented on animals by inoculating them 

 with pure material of his Bacillus, and obtained in this way 

 positive results, the sickening with indubitable cholera-symptoms. 

 But symptoms of this kind appear, as Virchow pointed out at 

 the second Berlin Conference on cholera, when animals are 

 inoculated with the most various kinds of substances which are 

 putrid or contain Bacteria ; they cannot therefore by themselves 

 be regarded as decisive. It is true that this objection may also 

 be made to the positive results mentioned above of infection with 

 Koch's Spirillum. But all reported observations and results of 

 experiment, the observations even of Koch's opponents, do at 



