76 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[April, 



the club, without any description or 

 suggestion of what eleters are, is a 

 bad example, although a reasonably 

 good and instructive slide. 



The Bacillus of Tubercle. — 

 Dr. H. Formad is one of the few 

 conservative writers and students who 

 have boldly questioned the conclu- 

 sions of Dr. Koch and his many able 

 followers concerning the cause of 

 tubercular disease. While giving due 

 praise to, and showing a sincere ap- 

 preciation of, the value of Dr. Koch's 

 discoveries, he has declared, in an ar- 

 ticle read before the Philadelphia 

 County Medical Society, that the 

 opinions already expressed by him 

 have been confirmed by later experi- 

 ments and observations. 



The ground taken by Dr. Formad 

 is conservative, but not obstructive or 

 unprogressive. Looked at from our 

 own point of viev\^, quite outside of 

 the medical profession, we ai^e forced 

 to admit that there is scarcely any 

 experimental evidence to prove that 

 tuberculosis is caused by the bacillus, 

 that would withstand the severe and 

 critical examination required to es- 

 tablish a scientific hypothesis. There 

 are strong indications, reasonable in- 

 ferences, but these are not sufficient. 



The subject requires for its proper 

 study not only a knowledge of the 

 bacteria, but also of pathological con- 

 ditions. It possesses an interest, 

 however, to the whole w^orld — and, 

 at the present time, to the scientific 

 world especially — in that the conclu- 

 sions must yet be subjected to the 

 severe examination of scientific truths. 

 A subject of such vast importance 

 demands not only careful research by 

 the observers taking part in its inves- 

 tigation, but also critical examination 

 by others of the evidence adduced. 

 There has been scarcely enough of 

 this. Physicians have hastily ac- 

 cepted conclusions which have been 

 the outgrowth of the hypothesis put 

 forth by irresponsible writers without 

 the slightest reason or support, and 



have actually based their practice 

 upon them. What is now needed is 

 a conservative spirit and a critical 

 examination of the facts, not of the 

 probabilities. 



We would, therefore, venture to ex- 

 press the opinion, which is strength- 

 ened by reading Dr. Formad's article, 

 that enough has already been done in 

 the study of the bacillus, except as 

 regards its life-history which still 

 remains to be made out. It is time 

 that the bacillus per se should be let 

 alone, and that the subject of tuber- 

 culosis be taken out ot the hands of 

 mycologists, who are very good in 

 their w^ay, to be sure, but w^ho seem 

 generally incapable of going beyond 

 the discovery and description of spe- 

 cies of bacteria, and placed in the 

 hands of pathologists, who, working 

 in the light of recent discoveries, may 

 reach conclusions of inestimable value. 

 This is precisely what Dr. Formad 

 seems to believe, and we can but think 

 the influence of his work, when it is 

 published next summer, will be felt 

 for good throughout the medical pro- 

 fession. 



It was our intention to give a sum- 

 mary of Dr. Formad's article, but it 

 is too long to present satisfactorily in 

 this w^ay. It can be found in full in 

 the New-Tork Med. Journ. of Feb. 

 1 6th. 



A Method of Staining the Ba- 

 cillus. — The following method is 

 given by Dr. Hartzell in the Medical 

 Times : — 



' A small quantity of sputum is 

 spread as thinly and evenly as possi- 

 ble upon an ordinary glass slide ; it 

 is allowed to dry, which takes but a 

 minute or two, and is then passed 

 slowly several times through the 

 flame of an alcohol lamp or Bunsen 

 burner. One or two drops of the 

 fuchsin solution, recommended by 

 Gradle (prepared as follows : Car- 

 bolic acid, fifteen minims, distilled 

 water, one-half fluid ounce, dissolve, 

 and add saturated alcoholic solution 

 of fuchsin, one-half fluid dram) are 



