206 MICROBES, FERMENTS, AND MOULDS. 



after inoculating himself, he performed the same 

 operation on several of his friends ; i^en on thousands 

 of people in different towns of the province of Barce- 

 lona, and throughout Spain. 



His inoculation consists in introducing, by means 

 of the small syringe used for hypodermic injection, 

 about a cubic centimetre of the vaccinal liquid, the 

 nature of which is kept secret by its author. There 

 is always a certain discomfort after the operation, 

 but it disappears at the end of a few hours. Ferran 

 himself states that one inoculation will not suffice 

 to ward off the contagion. A second, third, and even 

 more, are necessary for the attainment of this object, 

 but the discomfort caused by the operation always 

 becomes less. 



Up to this time the results obtained by the pro- 

 cess during the recent epidemic in Spain are not 

 accurately known, since Ferran has been unable to 

 produce the official statistics which are necessary to 

 confirm his assertions. 



We are, therefore, entitled to reserve our judg- 

 ment, both as to the value claimed for this vac- 

 cination, and as to the true nature of the microbe 

 cultivated by Ferran, and considered by him to be 

 the infecting agent of cholera. If, again, we recur 

 to the facts established by Boehefontaine, it may be 

 asked whether subcutaneous injection is the true 

 mode of inoculation applicable to this disease, and 

 if the process adopted by Boehefontaine, of intro- 



