6i4 



NA TURE 



[Oct. 25, 1883 



no longer great, and does not by any means account for 

 the difference in results^between the two countries. The 

 German student as a rule works very much longer, that 

 is, he is a student for a longer time than the English 

 student, who too often commences his study of chemistry 

 not as a mental training but as a means'to an end : to 

 become a public analyst or a works analyst, and who 

 desires to learn only as much as is absolutely necessary 

 for some particular line he has chalked out for himself ; 

 or, worse still, to "pass" some "examination." 



The importance of chemistry, especially that more 

 regular and systematic chemistry of the carbon com- 

 pounds, as a philosophical training is not yet by any 

 means recognised in this country. And it is to be feared 

 that until this is remedied we shall still remain, in spite of 

 new schools, in a backward position. 



According to an authority like Prof. Wundt, even quali- 

 tative and quantitative analysis are, as logical methods, 

 superior to mathematical. 1 



There is no reason to suppose that the ordinary English 

 student is inferior to any other, and when this subject is 

 put before him in a proper light, as a mental training of 

 the highest order, and not simply a mechanical sort of 

 process, more cheerful results may be looked for. But 

 the students in our higher schools and universities 

 should not stop at qualitative and quantitative analysis, 

 but if possible do some synthetic work, as by this only is 

 a real grasp of the science to be obtained. 



When once we get a substratum of well-trained stu- 

 dents, not simply analytical machines, or examination- 

 passers, we shall not have long to wait for results of 

 theoretical and also practical interest. 



But our professors must also bestir themselves. In 

 very few institutions in England are more than elementary 

 courses of lectures given, generally the same thing one 

 session after another. The professor should always be 

 practically engaged in research work, so that his students 

 may have a real example to follow. This of course can 

 only take place when the present disproportionate amount 

 of teaching is reduced. Certain it appears that the enthu- 

 siasm and rapid advance of the students working in a 

 German university laboratory is in a great measure, 

 probably entirely, due to the example of the professor's 

 working. 



THE CHOLERA BACILLUS 



"pHE Report in which Dr. Koch, chief of the German 

 ■*■ Scientific Expedition, embodies the results hitherto 

 obtained by him and his assistants with regard to the 

 cholera in Egypt, deals in a very guarded manner with 

 the question of the discovery of a definite cholera bacillus. 

 As the result of experiments carried out both on living 

 and dead cholera subjects, it appears that, whereas no dis- 

 tini t organism could be traced in the blood and in the 

 organs which are so frequently the seat of micro-parasites, 

 yet bacteria having distinct characteristics and resem- 

 somewhat in size and form the bacilli found in 

 glanders were discovered in the intestines and their mu- 

 cous linings ; and this under circumstances which 51 

 to identify them with the disease from which the patients 

 were suffering. Thus, their existence in the intestinal 

 nembranes was obvious so soon after death that they 

 could not have been brought about by any post-mortem 

 ges ; they were present in the case of all patients 

 who were actually suffering from the disease, and in the 

 bodies of all those who had died of it, whereas they were 

 absent in the case of one patient who had had time to 

 recover from cholera but who had died of some secondary 

 I'lication ; and they were not discoverable in the case 

 ul patients who, during the cholera epidemic, succumbed 

 to other diseases. And further, the same bacillus had 



'Wundt, u'cal Studies," vol. i. p. 473, 1883. 



been met with by Dr. Koch, a year previously, in the 

 case of four patients who had died of cholera in India, 

 and portions of whose intestines had been forwarded to 

 him for examination. 



From these circumstances Dr. Koch feels justified in 

 provisionally holding the belief that these bacilli are in 

 some way related to cholera, but as yet he is not prepared 

 to say whether they are the cause or the effect of that 

 disease. The number of cases which the Scientific Expe- 

 dition were able to utilise for the purposes of their inquiry 

 was very limited, and it is also suggested as possible that 

 some of the experiments were vitiated owing to the cir- 

 cumstance that the disease was already subsiding in 

 intensity when the investigations were commenced. 

 Especially does Dr. Koch suggest that this may account 

 for the invariable failure to produce cholera in any of the 

 lower animals into whose bodies the intestinal secretions 

 were inoculated ; but as to this it must be remembered 

 that human diseases are rarely communicable to other 

 animals, and that, as regards enteric fever, a disease 

 which etiologically and otherwise has many points of 

 resemblance with cholera, every effort to communicate it 

 to other mammalia has hitherto invariably failed. But 

 the failure of infective power which may very possibly be 

 associated with the declining stage of an epidemic would 

 be very likely to interfere with experiments having for 

 their object the isolation and cultivation of the bacillus, 

 and hence we are glad to learn that Dr. Koch is to con- 

 tinue his investigations in India, where the varying stages 

 of the disease can easily be met with. In the meantime, 

 however, it will be well to remember that Drs. Lewis and 

 Cuningham have, notwithstanding laborious microscopic 

 and other researches in India, hitherto failed to identify 

 any of the organisms they have met with as specifically 

 related to cholera. 



One point is set at rest by Dr. Koch's Report, and that 

 relates to the actual nature of the disease which has been 

 epidemic in Egypt. Both pathologically and otherwise- 

 he declares it to be identical with Asiatic cholera. 



NATIONAL TRAITS IN SCIENCE 1 



HP HERE are at present three principal currents of 

 - 1 - scientific work — German, English, and French. 

 The scientific writings of each nationality are char, 

 istic, and, taken as a whole, offer in each case distinctive 

 qualities. German influence is now predominant over 

 the scientific world, as French influence was uppermost 

 during the earlier part of this century ; but the sway of 

 Germany over Western thought is far more potent and 

 widespread than was ever that of France. As students 

 once gathered in Paris, so they now flock to Germany ; 

 and thence back to their own lands they carry the notions 

 of German science, and labour to extend, imitate, and 

 rival them. Thus German ideas have been spread 

 abroad, and established in foreign countries. This has 

 set a common standard for scientific work, which is 

 accepted in most European countries. German influence is 

 evident by its effects in Switzerland, Russia, Italy, 

 Poland, Belgium, England, and America, and in degrees 

 indicated by the order given : in France, Spain, and 

 Portugal it is hardly noticeable. Holland and the Scan- 

 dinavian countries have for many years achieved so 

 much and so excellent work that their scientific develop- 

 ment may be said to have accompanied rather than to 

 have followed that of Germany. 



German science has unquestionably distinctive quali- 

 ties. Its pursuit is a special and honoured calling, 

 attractive to the highest talent : its productions have the 

 stamp of professional work. The German scientific man 

 is first and principally an investigator : he is obliged to 

 be so, otherwise he loses in the race. He wins his posi- 



1 From .S'. it >n c ■ f October 5. 



