578 Microscopic Organisms in Blood and their Relation to Disease.\yK^i in. 



and, as he himself was not versed in the medical and veterinary arts, had associated 

 himself with M. Joubert of the College Rollin for the purpose of more satisfactorily 

 dealing with the matter. Their joint paper* was published a few weeks before the 

 publication of the details of M, Bert's experiments ; it was their remarks, indeed, 

 which led to the latter being published. They obtained charbon-blood and made 

 numerous cultivations of it — transplanting it from vessel to vessel or from animal 

 to animal. Outside the body it was found that almost any fluid adapted to the 

 nourishment of minute organisms was suitable to the cultivation of the bacilli — " one 

 of the best and most easily obtained in a pure state being urine made neutral or 

 slightly alkaline." In this way, it is affirmed, poisonous bacilli could be prepared 

 by the kilogram, if required, in the course of a few hours. When the material was 

 filtered, the clear fluid was found to be inert, even though from ten to eighty drops 

 were taken, whereas a single drop of the same unfiltered proved fatal to the inoculated 

 animal : hence it is inferred that the organisms were left behind on the filter and 

 were the cause of their death, f 



The foregoing paper was followed by another in July 1877 J by the same authors, 

 in which it is stated that they had repeated M. Bert's experiments and found that 

 he was perfectly correct as to the destruction of the bacilli and of the poisonous 

 property of charbon blood at a certain stage under the influence of compressed oxygen, 

 and that, too, even with but a moderate amount of pressure ; but that when the 

 bacilli had proceeded to the formation of spores, they withstood the heat of boiling 

 water, the prolonged action of absolute alcohol, as also the influence of compressed 

 oxygen (=10 atmospheres for 21 days). The "spores," therefore, are most remarkable 

 organisms, seeing that they withstand influences which are destructive to every other 

 form of vegetable or animal life. True " invisible germs " are accredited with this 

 marvellous power, but, as yet these " spores " are the only visible bodies for which such 

 persistent vitality has been claimed by eminent authorities. Now, however, that it has 

 been shown by Dr. Cossar Ewart that they are not more exempt from " the tendency 

 to death " than other organisms of a like kind, seeing that they can neither withstand 

 the action of compressed oxygen nor boiling, it is probable that MM. Pasteur, Koch, 

 and their adherents will apply the doctrine at present fashionable, and aver that, though 



* C&inptes Rendiis, t. Ixxxiv, p. 900, April 1877. 



f A similar result was obtained by M. Onimus, but the interpretation was very different. M. Onimus found 

 that if the blood of an ox, horse, or person suffering from " typhoid fever," be placed in a dialyser, and the latter 

 placed in distilled water at a temperature of 35° C, a prodigious quantity of organisms would appear, identical in 

 appearance with those in the putrefying blood. But whereas all the animals which were inoculated with a drop 

 of the blood contained in the tlialyser died in a short time, those which were treated with the dialysed material 

 (though crowded with organisms) were unaffected. The same result followed when putrefying blood from a 

 rabbit was subjected to similar treatment. Hence M. Onimus infers that the poisonous material is an albuminoid 

 substance, and therefore not dialysable {Bulletin de VAcademie dc Medivim, March 1873. Cited by M. Ch. Robin 

 in Leqom sur Ics Humvxirg, p. 251, 1874). Clcmenti and Thin, Schmitz, Bergmann and others, have obtained 

 more or less similar results. 



J Comptes Rendug, t. Ixxxv, p. 101. 



