The Bacillus tuberculosis. 



125 



bringing on the above-mentioned anatomical peculiarities in the con- 

 nective tissue. 



5th. n 0 external etiological influences are necessary to cause 

 tubercular disease other than those which ordinarily produce inflam- 

 mation, and even scrofulous beings will not become tuberculous unless 

 local inflammation is set up. No inflammation, no tuberculosis. 



6 th - Non -scrofulous animals, so far as can be established now, 

 may acquire tubercular disease through injuries of serous membranes, 

 — viz., peritoneum, pleura, etc., — and even here without any spe- 

 cial virus whatsoever. Clinical observations on the post-mortem table 

 show similar conditions and prove the same in man. (Koch's own 

 experiments are also in favour of this proposition, as will be shown 

 hereafter; but he has overlooked this). 



7th. bacilli, which it is the merit of Koch to have first proved 

 to infest tissues affected by tubercular disease, are not necessary for 

 its causation, even if a special organism exist and be really possessed 

 of such property. The presence of bacilli (so far as our present re- 

 search goes) is secondary, and appears to condition the complete 

 destruction of the tissue already diseased and infested by them, and 

 this destruction is in direct proportion to the quantity of the orga- 

 nisms, which thus regulate the prognosis. The tubercular tissue seems 

 to serve merely as a nidus for the growth of the bacillus. 



8 th - An analysis of Koch's experiments shows that he has not 

 proved the parasitic nature of phthisis, or that there exists a special 

 Bacillus tuberculosis; so that the infectiousness of tubercular disease 

 is still sub judice. 



9 th - From the results of microscopic examination, from numerous 

 observations upon the post-mortem table, and on clinical grounds, I 

 have come to the conclusion that phthisis is not a specific infectious 

 disease, but that the individuals suffering from tubercular disease are 

 specific themselves originally, and form a special species of mankind, 

 the „ scrofulous". 



The idea of working up the anatomy of scrofulous persons was 

 suggested to me some years ago by the lectures of Prof. James Tyson. 

 Dr. Tyson in his lectures, as well as Virchow, lays great stress upon 

 the predisposition to tuberculosis, and designates it as a peculiarity 



