BACTERIA IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 579 



due to the presence in the alimentary canal of a particular micro- 

 organism ; but it can scarcely be doubted that the morbid phenomena 

 are induced by the development of toxic substances as a result of the 

 ferment action of various species of bacteria. 



Finkler and Prior (1884) obtained from the fa?ces of patients with 

 cholera nostras a spirillum which they supposed to be the specific 

 cause of this disease, but subsequent researches have not confirmed 

 their conclusion. Thus, in seven cases studied by bacteriological 

 methods in Koch's laboratory during the years 1885, 1886, and 1887, 

 the spirillum of Finkler and Prior was not found in a single instance 

 (Frank). 



In an epidemic of cholera nostras, in which five cases out of seven 

 proved fatal, Carp (1893) was not able to find spirilla in the dis- 

 charges from the bowels, or in the drinking-water to which the out- 

 break was ascribed. The drinking-water was, however, found to be 

 very bad and to contain "fa3ces bacilli." Kirchner (1892) in sixteen 

 cases of cholera nostras examined failed to find the spirillum of 

 Finkler and Prior in two cases he found a spirillum which failed to 

 grow in gelatin plates and in three a streptococcus. 



Ruete and Enoch (1894) in a fatal case of cholera nostras obtained 

 from the small intestine a spirillum which they identified as that of 

 Finkler and Prior. The authors named state that researches made in 

 the laboratories of Koch, Hueppe, and Baumgarten show that " Mil- 

 ler's bacillus," which is occasionally found in the mouths of healthy 

 persons, is identical with the spirillum of Finkler and Prior. 



Grube (1887) has reported a fatal case of cholera nostras in which 

 this spirillum was present in the intestine, and Lustig (1887) reports 

 two fatal cases of cholera in which it was associated with Koch's 

 "comma bacillus." In view of the facts stated, and of the patho- 

 genic properties of this spirillum, we have the same reasons for sup- 

 posing that it is the cause of those cases of cholera nostras in which 

 it is found, as for assuming the etiological relation of the Spirillum 

 cholera Asiaticse. But it is evident that cholera nostras is not a 

 specific disease due to the pathogenic action of a single microorgan- 

 ism. On the other hand, the experimental evidence indicates that in 

 this disease, and in cholera infantum, summer diarrhoea, and other 

 gastro-intestinal disorders, the toxic products developed by various 

 bacteria may give rise to the symptoms characterizing these diseases. 



CONJUNCTIVITIS. 



The various forms of conjunctivitis have been ascribed to the 

 specific action of bacteria. That this is true as regards gonorrhceal 

 ophthalmia is now generally admitted, and there is some reason to 



