DISEASE GERMS. 



in various kinds of decomposing organic matter, are 

 derived not from germs floating in the air, but have 

 been built up db initio result in fact from sponta- 

 neous generation or heterogenesis. These think to 

 fortify their position, which indeed sorely needs even 

 an appearance of strength, by such remarks as the 

 following : " There is not a physiologist of eminence 

 who would deny the possibility of the origin of 

 organic forms direct from the inorganic, while many are 

 convinced of the truth of the doctrine," and so on, 

 as if this sort of statement could in any way influence 

 the judgment, or help the elucidation of the truth as 

 regards the question at issue. 



On the other hand, it is not uncommon to find 

 writers in our journals affirming with the utmost con- 

 fidence, that these so-called germs are fictions of the 

 imagination, that they have never been seen, and that 

 the air, which by some is said to teem with disease 

 germs, is entirely free from them. 



Some authorities have opposed the germ theory of 

 disease by the argument, that if the supposed germs 

 really did exist, they would certainly exhibit well- 

 marked distinctive characters. But there is no ground 

 whatever for the opinion that the particles which are 

 instrumental in propagating contagious diseases, if 

 living, should exhibit specific structural peculiarities. 

 That the several kinds of contagious matter of small- 

 pox, scarlet fever, and other eminently contagious 

 maladies, are distinct, each being imbued with its 



