for the year 1884. xxv 



surface exposed to air and chemical change. It is difficult, 

 therefore, to admit, in our present state of knowledge, that 

 they are necessarily the cause, or even the carrier, of the 

 disease which they are always found to accompany. On 

 the other hand, having regard to the part played by the 

 yeast plant in producing fermentation, and to the induction 

 of disease by inoculation, it appears quite possible that these 

 minute organisms might be carriers, if not germs, of disease. 

 While, therefore, withholding judgment, we cannot fail to 

 watch with the greatest interest and admiration the untiring 

 investigation of Professor Kohn, Professor Koch, Dreschfeld, 

 Pasteur, and others. In this particular line of research 

 some of our own members have already essayed inquiry, and 

 have contributed the results in our last year's Transactions. 

 It is an ample field, every advance in which confers a boon 

 on humanity ; and, in concluding, allow me to express the 

 hope that next year we may find that our Society has con- 

 tributed substantially to this most important subject — for 

 questions bearing upon prevention and arrest of disease, on 

 sanitation, and upon many cognate questions in social 

 science, are among the most useful and important our Society 

 can occupy itself with. 



