A MEMORANDUM 



ON 



THE "COMMA-SHAPED BACILLUS" ALLEGED TO BE 



THE 



CAUSE OF CHOLERA. 



BY 



Surgeon-Major T. E. LEWIS, M.B., 



ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PATHOLOGY, ARMY MEDICAL SCHOOL. 



September 1st, 1884. 



> • » • < 



With a view of studying the phase which the cholera question has now entered 

 upon, in consequence of the publication of the results of the investigations of the 

 Grerman Cholera Commission in Egypt and India, I availed myself of the opportunity 

 which the present vacation at the Army Medical School afforded of proceeding to 

 Marseilles, where the disease has been prevalent since the end of June. Sir Joseph 

 Fayrer was so kind as to enlist for me the valuable assistance of Dr. Le Roy de 

 M^ricourt, Medecin en Chef of the French Navy, who, in various ways, did his 

 utmost to further my wishes. Dr. Marroin, the Chief of the Sanitary Department 

 in Marseilles, was so good as to introduce me to the authorities of the Pharo 

 Hospital, where the cholera cases are treated, and where, with the permission of 

 the principal medical officer, Dr. Trastour, I was able to renew my acquaintance with 

 the disease, and to collect material for studying afresh the microscopy of the intestinal 

 discharges. 



Before, however, referring to the results of my own observations, it will be 

 convenient to epitomise the published history of the German Commission; to point 

 out the salient features of the results of their investigations in Egypt and in India ; 

 and to make a few brief comments on such of the circumstances and conclusions as 

 appear to call for notice. Shortly after the arrival of the Commission in Egypt, 

 Dr. Robert Koch reported, on behalf of himself and his colleagues, that no special 

 micro-parasites had been discovered in the blood, the lungs, the spleen, the kidneys, 

 r in the liver in cholera, but that the intestinal mucous membrane was permeated 



