ON THE EXTENSION OF 

 rTHE GERM THEORY 



TO THE ETIOLOGY OF CERTAIN 

 COMMON DISEASES' 



WHEN I began the studies now occupying my atten- 

 tion,* I was attempting to extend the germ theory 

 to certain common diseases. I do not know when 

 I can return to that work. Therefore in my desire to see 

 it carried on by others, I take the liberty of presenting it to 

 the public in its present condition. 



I. Furuncles. In May, 1879, one of the workers in my 

 laboratory had a number of furuncles, appearing at short 

 intervals, sometimes on one part of the body and sometimes 

 on another. Constantly impressed with the thought of the 

 immense part played by microscopic organisms in Nature, 

 I queried whether the pus in the furuncles might not con- 

 tain one of these organisms whose presence, development, 

 and chance transportation here and there in the tissues 

 after entrance would produce a local inflammation, and 

 pus formation, and might explain the recurrence of the ill- 

 ness during a longer or shorter time. It was easy enough 

 to subject this thought to the test of experiment. 



First observation. On June second, a puncture was made 

 at the base of the small cone of pus at the apex of a fu- 

 runcle on the nape of the neck. The fluid obtained was at 

 once sowed in the presence of pure air of course with the 

 precautions necessary to exclude any foreign germs, either 

 at the moment of puncture, at the moment of sowing in the 

 culture fluid, or during the stay in the oven, which was 



1 Read before the French Academy of Sciences, May 3, 1880. Published 

 in Comptes rendus de I'Academie des Sciences, xc., pp. 1033-44. 



2 In 1880. Especially engaged in the study of chicken cholera and the 

 attenuation of virulence. Translator. 



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