218 A MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY 



In a paper read before the Accademia del Lincei 

 on May 2, 1886, Professor Tommasi-Crudeli 1 says 

 that he does not accept the statement that the plas- 

 modia found in the blood of malarial patients are 

 the cause of malaria. In fact, he says ' la grande 

 extensione dell' infezione malarica : le varie forme, 

 ora lente e latenti, ora rapide e intense, nelle quali 

 questa infezione si manifesta : la lunga persistenza, 

 anche allo stato latente, della malaria in un terreno : 

 son tutti forti argomenti contrari alia ipotesi che la 

 malaria sia dovuta ad un parassita di natura animale ; 

 e favorevoli all 'opinione che i germi malarici siano 

 Schizomiceti, simili a quelli delle tuberculosi, e di 

 altre persistenti infezioni.' 



The alteration in the composition of the blood in 

 patients suffering from malaria (previously alluded 

 to) may be due to a soluble enzyme secreted by B. 

 malarias (Schiavuzzi), and certainly this is not im- 

 probable, for Dr. Lauder Brunton, F.RS. 2 has shown 

 that many microbes have the power of ' manufac- 

 turing a ferment suited to their needs.' 



Bacillus malaria is inhaled into the blood by way 

 of the lungs, and perhaps it may enter through the 

 stomach and skin also. It flourishes in marshy 

 districts, in deltas, on alluvial soils, and on the 

 banks of tropical rivers in fact, a proper degree of 

 porosity, of temperature, and of humidity of soil 

 favour the growth of this microbe : hence the reason 



1 This eminent savant has been obliged to give up his im- 

 portant investigations. He wrote to the author as follows : ' I 

 have been compelled to give up microscopical researches since 

 1886, because my eyes are almost ruined.' 



2 Proceedings of Royal Society, vol. xlvi. p. 542. 



