1891.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 149 



interests they were undertaken. He saved the French silk industries 

 from threatened destruction by investigating the parasitic diseases of the 

 silkworm, and suggested a remedy. His investigations led to the anti- 

 septic treatment in surgical operations which is now considered indis- 

 pensable. His extensive experiments to obtain vaccines or attenuated 

 virus for protective inoculations have been very successful, especially 

 when the difficulties of producing an attenuated virus are considered. 



The process for obtaining the protective virus for rabies may be men- 

 tioned. He inoculates a morsel of the brain of a mad dog into the brain 

 of a rabbit, which attenuates the virus sufficiently to act as a protective 

 inoculation for dogs, or men bitten by dogs, suffering from rabies. At 

 first the attenuated virus from the rabbit was also passed through the 

 organism of the monkey before using. This feature has been discon- 

 tinued. This was the first successful step toward checking rabies. 

 Pasteur has a large institute in Paris for the treatment of rabies, and 

 there is now in this city a branch institute under the charge of Dr. Paul 

 Gibier, where about i6o persons have been successfully treated during 

 the past year. 



Considering for a moment the higher orders of plant life, the micro- 

 scope has shown conclusively that the functions of the fungi which we 

 see upon them is to undo the structure which has been built up by the 

 higher plants, returning the elements composing them to the air and 

 soil. This is of itself a work of great economic value, and must be 

 more generally understood to save our building timber and forests from 

 the natural process of decay. 



The rapid advancement of bacteriology in the last decade is largely 

 due to the arduous labors of Koch, who, by extensive microscopical 

 investigations, discovered the specific bacillus of several diseases, par- 

 ticularly of Asiatic cholera and tuberculosis. He originated a method 

 of staining a specific bacillus so as to difterentiate it from all others in en- 

 closed tissue or other media, and found them when others not using as 

 skilful methods failed. He originated a system of solid nutritive 

 media for cultivating and isolating a specific bacillus, producing pure 

 cultures. This has proven of the greatest value, for much has been 

 learned as to the manner of growth and products secreted of each bacil- 

 lus studied. With the pure cultures he carried out extensive inocula- 

 tions on animals, and carefully noted the eflects. The latter have 

 been analyzed, resulting in his extensive experiments with his so-called 

 lymph to check the bacillus of tuberculosis in the human system. It is 

 this feature of Koch's great work which has made his name a household 

 word to-day in all civilized countries. 



Yesterday he gave to the world the formula for his great discovery, 

 which, briefly stated, is a glycerine extract of a certain dilution from 

 the ptomaines or the products of the bacillus itself. 



The consensus of opinion from the tests is that it is a remedy of great 

 value. Besides its dii'ect benefits, the indirect ones will be even greater, 

 for the publicity given by the press to this and kindred discoveries is 

 rapidl}' educatingthe people to the important role played by the microbes 

 in contagious diseases, and the necessitv of efficient sanitary measures 

 for our cities as a preventive. Check the causes instead of dealing with 

 the dangerous effects, and have clean streets, wholesome water, and 

 efficient sewerage. Any one or all of these, when not in proper con- 



