YELLO W FE VER. 407 



ach and intestines, where it develops. It is only excep- 

 tionally and in small numbers that it makes its way from 

 these positions to other organs. He thinks the toxic sub- 

 stances formed in the stomach and intestine are probably 

 the result of the breaking down of the bodies of the ba- 

 cilli by the digestive juices, and that to the absorption of 

 these the various tissue-changes and fatal terminations 

 are to be referred. 



In a lengthy and interesting review and comparison of 

 Sanarelli's and his own work, Sternberg 1 concludes that 

 the Bacillus icteroides of Sanarelli is identical with the 

 Bacillus x, which he had discovered in yellow fever 

 cadavers as early as 1888, and felt disposed to describe as 

 the specific cause of the disease, except for a few facts, 

 such as finding it in only one-half of the cases, etc. 

 Sternberg seems inclined to believe in Sanarelli's work, 

 and asserts his intention to further investigate Bacillus x. 

 Bacillus x was, however, isolated from the alimentary 

 canal, in which Sanarelli's bacillus is said not to exist, 

 and was isolated from the liver of a case of tuberculosis, 

 which takes away considerable of the evidence of its 

 specificity. 



In a later paper 2 Sanarelli discusses the validity of 

 Sternberg' s claim to priority of discovery, and points out 

 a sufficient number of differences in the original descrip- 

 tions of the organisms to establish conclusively the in- 

 dividuality of the Bacillus icteroides. 



It would seem, from a careful consideration of the 

 recent literature, that Havelburg had very little ground 

 for considering his bacillus specific, and that it is not 

 possible for Sternberg to establish the identity of the 

 Bacillus x with the Bacillus icteroides, while at the same 

 time Sanarelli's descriptions and arguments are convinc- 

 ingly in favor of the accuracy of his own work and the 

 specificity of his bacillus. 



1 Centralbl. fur Bakt. und Parasitcnk., Sept. 6, 1897, Bd. xxii., Nos. 6 

 and 7. 



2 Ibid., Bd. xxii., Nos. 22 and 23, p. 668. 



