170 THE DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE OF 
boiling water—we discover in the first place that all 
who advance such suppositions find it cenvenient to 
pass unnoticed the several series of experiments by 
which it has been proved, that Bacteria and their 
germs are uniformly killed by an exposure to 140° F. 
for five minutes. My opponents find it most con- 
venient to take no notice of these experiments, 
though no one has as yet attempted to dispute their 
cogency. They prefer to talk vaguely, as though 
such experiments had never been made, and to 
adduce various theoretical reasons whose validity 
they do not attempt to test experimentally. To do 
this, indeed—as they must be more than half aware 
—would be a vain attempt, since the suppositions 
which they advance are opposed to generally- 
accredited facts and scientific doctrines, even if they 
have not already been specifically refuted. 
The suppositions principally dwelt upon may be 
ranged under three categories. 
(a.) It is assumed by some that the mere minute- 
ness of the germs of Bacteria may serve to protect 
them from that destructive influence which heat 
exercises upon living matter generally.* This is 
* Some of those who rely upon this supposed reason have resorted 
to direct attempts to ascertain the death-point of the germs of other 
organisms, although their results have been, in part, vitiated by the 
evaporation of the drop of fluid employed—so that the organisms were 
subsequently exposed to the higher degrees of heat in a dry state. 
