85 



ure to absorb aniline colors, or whether some of these 

 tubercles arise from other causes than the presence of 

 these, may be perhaps an open question. Gibbes' ex- 

 perience that the bacilli are present in only one reticu- 

 lar nodule out of ten, but in nearly all non-reticular 

 tubercles might, perhaps, support another explanation. 

 Certainly the absence of the organisms from tuberculous 

 tissue is the exception. On the other hand, the bacillus 

 is never found in the body except in tuberculosis ; the 

 only suggestion to the contrary is the recent assertion of 

 Koranyi that he found similar organisms in a case which 

 he believed to be pulmonary syphilis, and not consump- 

 tion. 



Such, then, is the state of the case to-day : Koch's 

 assertion of the association of the bacillus with tubercu- 

 losis its presence in every case of the disease, its ab- 

 sence in all other morbid conditions confirmed by all 

 who have investigated ; his assertion of the causal relation 

 of the parasite to the process based upon a demonstra- 

 tion unexcelled in the history of experimental science for 

 accuracy, clearness, and completeness as yet unchal- 

 lenged. 



The subject might be properly left here ; but I deem it 

 advisable to consider briefly two recent publications, not 

 because they demand consideration by one familiar with 

 the facts, but because they may have influenced some 

 who derive their information chiefly from American liter- 

 ature. 



A few months ago there was heard a scream of exul- 

 tation from a Western journal, soon echoed on many 

 sides. The attention of press and -public alike was at- 

 tracted to the jubilant cry that Koch, bacillus, and bac- 

 teria were to be annihilated ; that the " bacillary craze " 

 of German pathologists ; the absurd fancy that a small 

 organism could harm a large one ; the comical idea that 

 an experienced mycologist should know more about bac- 

 teria than a practising physician ; the barbarous doctrine 

 that our loved ones could be subject to infectious dis- 

 eases ; all these and similar absurdities which pseudo- 



