RELATION TO INFECTIOUS DISKASES. 87 



still possesses the bright-fed color of oxy-hannoglobin. 

 TOEPPEB and I\oi,oFi-' reported cases of apoplectifbrm 

 anthrax in which there was no difficulty in respiration. 

 To USSAINT cans'. -d animals which had Ix-en inoculated with 

 the anthrax bacillus to breathe air containing a large 

 volume of oxygen, and found that this did not modify the 

 symptoms or retard death. Finally, NENCKI determined 

 the amount of physiological oxidation going on in the IxKlies 

 of animals sick with anthrax by estimating the amount of 

 phenol excreted after the administration of one gramme of 

 benzol, and found that the oxidation of the In-n/ol was not 

 diminished by the disease. Thus, the theory that germs 

 destroy lite by depriving the blood of its oxygen has been 

 found not to be true for anthrax, and if not true for 

 anthrax, certainly it cannot l>e for any other known disease. 

 The bacillus anthracis is, as has l>een stilted, aerobic, while 

 most of the pathogenic bacteria are anaerobic that is, they 

 live in the absence of oxygen. This element is not neces- 

 sary to their existence, and, indeed, when present in large 

 amount, it is fatal to them. Moreover, in many diseases, 

 the bacteria an- not found in the blood at all. Lastly, the 

 symptoms of these diseases are not those of asphyxia. These 

 facts have caused all bacteriologists to acknowlege that this 

 theory is not the right one. 



2. If a properly stained sex then of a kidney taken from 

 a guinea-pig, which has been inoculated with the bacillus 

 anthracis, be examined under a microscope, the bacilli will 

 be found to be present in such large numbers that they form 

 emboli, which not only close, but actually distend the capil- 

 laries and larger blood vessels, and interfere with the normal 

 functions of the organ. A similar condition is sometimes 

 found on microscopical examination of the liver, spleen, 

 and lungs. From these appearances, it was inferred by 

 BoLLINOEB that the bacilli produce the diseased condition 

 simply by accumulating in large numbers in these impor- 

 tant organs, and mechanically interrupting their functions. 

 This is known as the mechanical interference theorv. 



KLKI-.S and TOUSSAINT were formerly ardent advocat< s 

 of this theory in its application to anthrax, and the latter 



