164 MICRO-ORGANISMS AND DISEASE. [CHAR 



eyelids are intensely inflamed, as stated above, the skin and 

 subcutaneous tissue of the face, neck, chest, and even abdomen, 

 is found enormously cedematous, the pericardium, pleura, 

 lungs, and peritoneum very much inflamed, their cavities 

 filled with a large quantity of exudation. The exudations of 

 the conjunctiva, pericardium, peritoneum, the cedematous skin 

 and subcutaneous tissues contain no infectious property, and 

 as a rule no bacilli or spores of any kind, if examined in the 

 living animal or immediately after death. 



There is one point which requires careful consideration, it 

 is this : Sattler states that he has cultivated the bacillus, taken 

 from a poisonous jequirity infusion, through several successive 

 generations on solid material, and with the new cultures he 

 was able to produce the jequirity ophthalmia. I have no doubt 

 whatever that this is really the case, but it bears an inter- 

 pretation different from the one Sattler gave it. Sattler, and 

 most pathologists, would, of course, say this : if any micro- 

 organism taken from a soil that possesses infective properties 

 be carried through many successive artificial cultivations, all 

 accidentally adhering matter would hereby become so diluted 

 that it may be considered as practically lost ; that is to say, 

 the organisms of the further generations have become alto- 

 gether free of that matter. If the organisms of these further 

 generations still possess the same poisonous property as the 

 original material, then we must conclude that this poisonous 

 principle is identical with the micro-organism. I do not agree 

 with this whole chain of propositions, although I agree with 

 some parts. If a micro-organism be carried through several 

 successive cultivations in a fluid medium, always using for 

 inoculation of a new culture an infinitesimal dose, and as 

 nourishing medium a comparatively large quantity of fluid, 

 then, no doubt, carrying on the cultivations through four, five, 

 or six successive cultures, any accidentally adhering original 

 matter becomes practically lost, and if then the organism still 

 possesses the same poisonous action to the same degree as the 

 original material, then no doubt the conclusion that organism 

 and poison are in this case identical becomes inevitable. But 

 this is not the case with the jequirity bacillus. Taking from 

 a poisonous jequirity infusion full of the bacilli one to two 

 drops, and inoculating with it a test-tube containing about 

 four to five cc. of nourishing material, and using this at once 

 without previous incubation, we find that even a few drops of 

 this so diluted fluid still possess poisonous action. Precisely 

 the same result is obtained when taking from a perfectly fresh 

 jequirity infusion, i.e. before any organisms have made their 



