880 PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS 



Cornil and Babes, 10 in 1883, described chained cocci to which 

 they attributed etiological significance, but their contentions have 

 remained entirely unconfirmed. Sternberg, 11 in 1897, described a 

 colon-like organism, "bacillus X," for which he made very con- 

 servative claims, which he himself, later, withdrew. 



The most active discussion was roused by the announcement of 

 Sanarelli, 12 in 1897, that he had discovered, in the blood and tissues 

 of patients dead of yellow fever, a Gram-negative bacillus, which 

 he believed to be the etiological agent of the disease. He based his 

 contention upon the facts that he had isolated the organism from 

 seven cases of yellow fever, had produced symptoms similar to the 

 disease of the human being by the inoculation of pure cultures into 

 dogs, and had obtained agglutination of the bacillus in the serum 

 of convalescent patients. Later he inoculated five human beings 

 subcutaneously with sterilized cultures of this ' ' Bacillus icteroides, ' ' 

 and obtained symptoms which he believed simulated closely those of 

 yellow fever. The claims of Sanarelli at first found much apparent 

 confirmation, but later work by Durham and Myers, 13 Otto, 1 * 

 Agramonte, 15 and others has definitely refuted his original claims, 

 and there is to-day no scientific basis for the assumption that the 

 Bacillus icteroides has any etiological relationship to the disease 

 Protozoan incitants, also, have been described by Klebs, 16 Schiiller, 17 

 Thayer, 18 and others, without bringing conviction or even justifying 

 extensive investigation of their claims. 



While the earlier etiological investigations, therefore, were in- 

 conclusive, much evidence was adduced which seemed to indicate 

 that the virus was filtrable. Reed, Carroll, Agramonte and Lazear, 

 carried out experiments which they thought demonstrated that the 

 infecting agent was present in the blood of patients during the 

 first three days of the disease, and could pass through the pores of 



10 Cornil and Babes, Comptes rend, de 1'acad. des sci., 1883. 

 "Sternberg, Cent. f. Bakt., I, xii, 1897. 



12 Sanarelli, Ann. de 1'inst. Pasteur, 1897, and Cent. f. Bakt., I, xxii, xxvii, 

 and xxix. 



"Durham and Myers, Thompson Yates Laboratory Eeports, 3, 1902. 



14 Otto, Vierteljahrsch. f . gericht. Medizin, etc., 27, 1904. 



15 Agramonte, N. Y. Med. News, 1900. 

 "Klebs, Jour. Am. Med. Assn., April, 1898. 

 "Schiiller, Berl. klin. Woch., 7, 1906. 



18 Thayer, Med. Record, 1907. 



