CHAPTER XXII. 



The spirillum (comma bacillus) of Asiatic cholera — Its morphological 

 and cultural peculiarities — Pathogenic properties — The bacterio- 

 logical diagnosis of Asiatic cholera. 



At the conference held in Berlin in 1884 for the pur- 

 pose of discussing Asiatic cholera from the sanitary 

 aspect, it was announced by Koch' that he had dis- 

 covered in the intestinal evacuations of individuals suf- 

 fering from Asiatic cholera a micro-organism that he 

 believed to be the cause of the malady. The importance 

 of this statement necessarily attracted widespread atten- 

 tion to the subject, and as one of the consequences there 

 existed, for a short time following, some skepticism as 

 to the accuracy of Koch's claim. These doubts arose as 

 a result of a series of contributions from other observers, 

 who endeavored to prove that the organism found by 

 Koch in cholera evacuations was common to other local- 

 ities, and was not a speciiic accompaniment of this dis- 

 ease. It was not very long, however, before it was 

 evident that these objections were based upon untrust- 

 worthy observations, and that by reliable methods of 

 investigation the organism to which he had called atten- 

 tion could be easily diiferentiated from each of those 

 with which it was claimed to be identical. 



This organism, known both as the spirillum of Asiatic 

 cholera, and, because of its morphology, as Koch's 



• Verhandlungen der Conferenz zur Erorterung der Cholerafrage, 

 1884, Berlin. 



445 



