CHAPTER XXIV. 



The spirillum (comma bacillus) of Asiatic cholera Its morphological 

 and cultural peculiarities Pathogenic properties The bacterio- 

 logical diagnosis of Asiatic cholera Microspira Metschnikovi 

 Microspira ("Vibrio") Schuylkilliensis Its morphological, cul- 

 tural, and pathogenical characters. 



THE CHOLERA GROUP OF ORGANISMS. 



At the conference held in Berlin in 1884 for the pur- 

 pose of discussing Asiatic cholera from the sanitary 

 aspect, it was announced by Koch 1 that he had dis- 

 covered in the intestinal evacuations of individuals suf- 

 fering from Asiatic cholera a micro-organism that he 

 believed to be the cause of the malady. The importance 

 of this statement necessarily attracted widespread atten- 

 tion to the subject, and as one of the consequences there 

 existed, for a short time following, some skepticism as 

 to the accuracy of Koch's claim. These doubts arose as 

 a result of a series of contributions from other observers, 

 who endeavored to prove that the organism found by 

 Koch in cholera evacuations was common to other local- 

 ities, and was not a specific accompaniment of this dis- 

 ease. It was not very long, however, before it was 

 evident that these objections were based upon untrust- 

 worthy observations, and that by reliable methods of 

 investigation the organism to which he had called atten- 

 tion could be easily differentiated from each of those 

 with which it was claimed to be identical. 



This organism, commonly known both as the spiril- 

 lum of Asiatic cholera, and, because of its morphology, 



i Verhandlungen der Oonferenz zur Erorterung ;der Uholerafrage, 

 1884, Berlin. 



457 



