CHAPTER XXVI. 



The Spirillum (Comma Bacillus) of Asiatic Cholera — Its Morphologica 

 and Cultural Peculiarities — Pathogenic Properties — The Bacterio- 

 logical Diagnosis of Asiatic Cholera — Miorospira Metchnikovi — Micro- 

 spira ("Vibrio") Schuylkilliensis — Its Morphological, Cultural, and 

 Pathogenic Characters. 



THE CHOLERA GROUP OF ORGANISMS. 



At the conference held in Berlin in 1884 for the purpose 

 of discussing Asiatic cholera from the sanitary aspect, it 

 was announced by Koch^ that he had discovered in the 

 intestinal evacuations' of individuals suffering from Asiatic 

 cholera a micro-organism that he believed to be the cause 

 of the malady. The importance of this statement naturally 

 attracted widespread attention 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 

 localities, and was not a specific accompaniment of this 

 disease. 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 attention 

 could be easily differentiated from each of those with which 

 it was claimed to be identical. 



' Verhandlungen der Conferenz zur Erorterung der Cholerafrage, 1884, 

 Berlin. 



(522) 



