578 IIEPOE.T — 1882. 



suggested the possibility that there may he a quasi-spoutaneous formation of some 

 ' cyanoid ' poison in the blood. 



7. TJ;pon some new Methods of investigating tlir, Physiologij of the Mammalian 

 Heart. By Professor "H. N. Martix. 



TUESDAY, AUGUST 29. 



The following Papers were read : — 



1. Considerations arising from Kocli' s Discovery of the Bacillus of 

 Tuberculosis. By F. J. Faraday, F.L.S. 



Two great discoveries, Pasteur's discovery of the decreasing virulence of specific 

 disease-germs when kept in the presence of oxygen, and Koch's discovery of the 

 bacillus of tuberculosis, have been made within the past two years. The author 

 suggests a possibly useful relation between these discoveries. Referring to the 

 suggestion of Dr. William Roberts, F.R.S., of Manchester, in his address to thfe 

 Medical Association in 1877, that disease germs may be 'sports' from _ harmless 

 saprophytes which have acquired a parasitic habit, he asks whether deprivation of 

 oxygen, or cultivation in gaseous mixtures from which the normal supply of free 

 oxvgen present in good air is absent, may not liave an influence in converting harm- 

 less ferms present in the atmosphere into the l)acilli of tuberculosis. He refers to 

 Carl Semper's researches on the influence of the environment on animal modiflcation, 

 and to the fact that many larvaj of insects live in situations where tlie air is un- 

 doubtedly mixed with gases which tlie higher vertebrata could not breathe without 

 injury, and suggests that the adaptability of organisms, and their impressionability 

 by surrounding conditions, may increase as the scale of life is descended. He also 

 refers to a paper by Mr. Frank Hatton, F.C.S., read before the Chemical Society, 

 on experiments with bacteria in various gases. Mr. Hatton gave the chemical 

 results, but it would be interesting to know the influence of cultivation in 

 such media on tlie character of the bacteria themselves. Dr. Angus Smith has 

 argued that the putrefying process, when carried on in confined places, such as 

 sewers, may develope disease-germs which are not developed when the same 

 process goes on in unconfined places ; typhoid fever seems to be developed by pro- 

 cesses in sewers which, carried on in the Clyde for instance, do not originate any 

 well-marked disease. Analogous conditions may be presented in the lungs of 

 persons engaged in dusty trades, breathing vitiated atmosphere in ill-ventilated 

 rooms, or engaged in sedentary occupations, and not taking healthy exercise; 

 and also in the lungs of persons who are hereditarily narrow-chested, weakly, 

 and of feeble inspiratory habit. Innoxious germs present in the atmosphere 

 may be inhaled and retained in the lungs of such persons, and there by suc- 

 cessive culture and deficient aeration acquire a parasitic or deadly character. 

 The author refers to Pasteur's method of restoring the virulence of ' atte- 

 nuated ' germs by successive culture in the bodies of different animals, as possibly 

 explaining the communication of tuberculosis to persons of sound constitution, the 

 parasitic habit of the tubercle ' sport ' being so strengthened and confirmed by suc- 

 cessive culture under the assumed favourable conditions, as to enable it eventually 

 to establish itself under certain conditions in a milieu, which would not be suitable 

 for the origination of tlie culture. He refers to a new treatise by Dr. Ferdinand 

 Kroczak, of Brlinn, entitled ' Die Heilung der Tuberculose,' and shows that Dr. 

 Kroczak's arguments in support of the special treatment recommended by him 

 are in harmony with the hypothesis advanced. 



The decrease of mortality from consumption in the army since the improvement 

 of barrack ventilation, and the relief afforded to patients by sea voyages, the air of ■ 



