428 BACTERIOLOGY. 



as well and interfere with the dangerous forms 

 of proteid putrefaction which play a role in 

 intoxications and are of importance in the on- 

 togeny and phylogeny of parasites, and they 

 do good service also by favoring beneficial 

 forms of decomposition and oxidation, such 

 for instance as the process of nitrification or 

 formation of saltpeter in the soil. In this way 

 also they diminish the possibility of an adapta- 

 tion of saprophytes to parasitic conditions of 

 existence ; they diminish, that is, the likelihood 

 of the origination of new infectious diseases. 

 There is hence no question that works of san- 

 itation do exert an influence upon the disease 

 germs, although this influence has not the high 

 importance which we must attribute to their 

 effect upon human predisposition toward dis- 

 ease. 



Human beings may still be counted, and, as 

 individuals or groups of individuals, are amen- 

 able to treatment, but such is not the case with 

 the milliards of disease-germs. An attempt to 

 overcome the plague of flies by killing the in- 

 dividual flies would justly be laughed at, and 

 yet there have not been wanting bacteriologists 

 who a la Zacherl would take arms against the 

 individual bacteria and try to fell to the ground 

 every single bacillus. 



In localities where the danger from fire is 



