THE GERM THEORY 387 



loses its virulence at the moment that the adult vibrio 

 dies; for such a substance should also lose its virulence 

 when the vibrios, changed to germs, are exposed to the 

 air. Since the virulence persists under these conditions it 

 can only be due to the germ corpuscles the only thing 

 present. There is only one possible hypothesis as to the 

 existence of a virus in solution, and that is that such a 

 substance, which was present in our experiment in non- 

 fatal amounts, should be continuously furnished by the 

 vibrio itself, during its growth in the body of the living 

 animal. But it is of little importance since the hypothesis 

 supposes the forming and necessary existence of the 

 vibrio.* 



I hasten to touch upon another series of observations 

 which are even more deserving the attention of the surgeon 

 than the preceding: I desire to speak of the effects of our 

 microbe of pus when associated with the septic vibrio. There 

 is nothing more easy to superpose as it were two dis- 

 tinct diseases and to produce what might be called a septi- 

 cemic purulent infection, or a purulent septic emia. Whilst 

 the microbe-producing pus, when acting alone, gives rise to a 

 thick pus, white, or sometimes with a yellow or bluish tint, 

 not putrid, diffused or enclosed by the so-called pyogenic 

 membrane, not dangerous, especially if localized in cellular 

 tissue, ready, if the expression may be used for rapid re- 

 sorption; on the other hand the smallest abscess produced 

 by this organism when associated with the septic vibrio 

 takes on a thick gangrenous appearance, putrid, greenish 

 and infiltrating the softened tissues. In this case the mi- 

 crobe of pus carried so to speak by the septic vibrio, ac- 

 companies it throughout the body: the highly-inflamed mus- 

 cular tissues, full of serous fluid, showing also globules of 

 pus here and there, are like a kneading of the two 

 organisms. 



By a similar procedure the effects of the anthrax bac- 

 teridium and the microbe of pus may be combined and the 

 two diseases may be superposed, so as to obtain a purulent 

 anthrax or an anthracoid purulent infection. Care must be 

 taken not to exaggerate the predominance of the new mi- 



Tbe regular limits, oblige me to omit a portion of my speech. 



