1901] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 55 
is the causative germ. When I have found this germ in 
large numbers in cultures from anginas, I have put the 
attending physician on his guard and the rash has been 
observed when it might otherwise have been overlooked. 
In one case of an adult, the rash was so slight that there 
was some question about it, but a considerable amount of 
albumen appeared in the urine ten days after. A-con- 
gested throat may cause a soil in which the coccus may 
multiply and produce a severe angina. 
If the blood is not susceptible, it remains a local inflam- 
mation ; if it is, scarlet fever follows. In the diagnosis of 
gonorrhoea, the microscope is of importance in the acute 
stage. 
It will also show the value of different methods of treat- 
ment. Its greatest importance is in the examination of 
individuals who have had this disease at some remote pe- 
riod and who wish to know, before intended marriage, if 
the gonococcus is still present. In such cases the clini- 
cal symptoms may be entirely absent, but germs may re- 
main for long periods of time in the interstices of the 
prostate gland, or other parts of the genital tract, in suf- 
ficient numbers to infect a female under the conditions 
of marital relations. By the careful examination of the 
discharges from these parts, the gonococcus may be found 
and the unhappy consequences to the future wife averted. 
Microscopic evidence is far too often neglected in the 
diagnosis of influenza. There are saprophytic bacteria 
_ living in the human mouth which take on virulence un- 
der favorable conditions and produce severe catarrhal dis- 
turbances. These germs stand in a similar relation to in- 
flaenza that the germs causing anginas do to diphtheria. 
If a correct diagnosis could always be made, the germ 
would soon assume its proper position as a disease caus- 
ing factor. Influenza is contagious and should be isola- 
ted. Invalids and people of advanced years are suscep- 
tible, and it is the duty of the physician to protect them 
