242 COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSIONERS 



only were my conclusions misinterpreted, but it was 

 asserted that the method I pursued was not likely to 

 succeed, and that the poison was of a kind which " is 

 and will always be undiscoverable by the microscope." 



The suggestion of the Commissioners is that the 

 poison consists of some complex albuminoid matter, 

 in a state of rapid chemical change, which causes " an 

 increased zymotic action in the blood and in the 

 textures," but the complex chemical substance has 

 not been discovered, and nothing is known of the 

 rapid chemical changes it is supposed to undergo. A 

 " zymotic action in the blood" requires explanation, 

 while a zymotic action in the textures is simply as 

 inconceivable as fermentation of skin and bones and 

 muscles. The opposition to the use of high magnify- 

 ing powers which had shortly before been introduced 

 and much employed by me, was very strong at the 

 time the Report was published, and many did not hesi- 

 tate to insinuate that the conclusions arrived at were 

 due rather to the imagination than to investigation. 

 Since that time, however, so many twenty-fifths have 

 been employed, that it is quite needless to defend 

 their use, while some of those who insisted so much 

 upon the results of physical and chemical experiments 

 have been forced to appeal to the fancy for evidence 

 in support of their theories which were not based 

 upon facts. 



The characters of the actual contagious material 

 having been demonstrated in several instances, I do 



