76 ESSAYS ON BACTERIOLOGY. 



to sharp debate, for well-known reasons; but upon the 

 necessity of some measures to restrict the reckless 

 spread of this dread agent of destruction, there can be 

 no difference of opinion. The fact that the material 

 coming from tuberculous lesions contains a living 

 poison, capable, whether upon- the clothing, the floors, 

 the walls, or in the dust of the air, of exciting the dis- 

 ease; this fact, T say, is sufiicient warrant for some 

 measures looking to the protection of the public 

 against the danger. But whatever is done must be 

 done carefully, wisely, and under the direction of 

 those who understand the facts and the conditions un- 

 der which the action must be carried out, and who can 

 take broad, well-balanced view? of the situation. 



Tetanus. — There seems to be no longer any ques- 

 tion that the tetanus bacillus of Nicolaier and Kita- 

 sato is the specific cause of that malady. This has 

 been confirmed not only by the cultivation and inocu- 

 lation experiments, but in the production of artificial 

 immunity through the agency of the same germ. 

 Reference will be made to this matter later. 



Diphtheria. — There is now an apparently unani- 

 mous opinion that the Klebs-Loefiier bacillus is the 

 specific cause of diphtheria; that the exudative sore 

 throats accompanying scarlatina, measles, and other 

 acute diseases, while sometimes diphtheria, are usu- 

 ally of different origin, though not rarely of no less 

 gravity. It seems further agreed that the examina- 

 tion for the Klebs-Loefiler bacillus may be made of 



