290 RELATION OF BACTERIA TO THE 



ment of bacteria, and it seems much more reasonable 

 to attribute the beneficial influence of carbolic acid to 

 its direct influence upon the living growing pus corpus- 

 cles, than it would be to accept the roundabout expla- 

 nation which has here been submitted to examination. 

 The living matter of pus (see page 275), we may prove 

 experimentally is killed by a weak 'solution of carbolic 

 acid, and this substance very much diluted would 

 tend to interfere with its rapid growth by causing hard- 

 ening of the outer part of the corpuscle and the form- 

 ation of a cell wall.* Such an agent as carbolic 

 acid effectually stops those changes of form which 

 occur when pus corpuscles are multiplying (see page 

 128). That bacteria are often found in pus as well 

 as in other animal products is quite true, but it is not 

 probable that their presence is in any way connected 

 with the process of suppuration. For if this were 

 so, we ought to find bacteria in cases in which none 

 are to be detected, and these bodies ought not to be 

 present under circumstances in which great numbers 

 are to be actually seen. As is well known, multitudes 

 of bacteria are always to be detected upon the dorsum 

 of the tongue and in the fluids of the mouth, but these 

 parts are not more prone to suppuration than others. 

 That morbid processes commonly affect the tongue 

 and mouth is well known, but the presence of millions 



* Dr. Sansom adduces a case of extremely severe purulent bron- 

 chitis which was rapidly benefited by carbolic acid inhalation. "The 

 Antiseptic System," p. 292. 



