^ournTjSrn^^^^^^^ Great Pathological Processes, 15 
knave. By leaving the stupid things out of sight, I have therefore 
a chance to hberate the spirit and effect my object. 
When I was requested to give a paper on the cholera fungus, I 
replied that I should be unable to admit a connection between fungi 
and cholera, and that my discourse must be critical. Let me add 
that it is my intention to make the critical part as short as possible, 
and that it will be my endeavour to gain some positive advantage 
out of a sketch of the researches on cholera, which it was my pri- 
vilege to carry on in 1866 for the Medical Department of the Privy 
Council. It will then be easy to satisfy you that the Microscopical 
Society, as a body, might take some beneficial action with regard to 
the question of cholera even now, when the disease seems far off. 
I will then present you some general views, which will enable each 
of you to contribute his share to the work which will have to be 
done if the words Medicine, Pathology, or State-Medicine, are to 
be more than hollow sounds. 
Cholera is at present a word which, if you mention it either 
to the readers of a scientific journal, or to practical physicians, or 
to ordinary people, generally excites a sense of tedium. It is only 
a year and five months since there was an epidemic in this very 
town of London which seized 20,000 people and killed 8000 among 
them. During the last four years there have died in Europe cer- 
tainly not less than 200,000 people of this very disease. Many 
more have been ill from it, and the loss of life and health, of work, 
and in affairs which has been caused by it, is so enormous that I 
fear to present to my own mind any estimate of it. How is it pos- 
sible then that such a plague can be looked upon with indifference 
by anybody who is concerned, or may be concerned any day, in the 
treatment, contemplation, or endurance of it? It is not easy to 
explain this fact; it has, at least, partly arisen from this, that 
theories have been made on it which had no or little foundation 
in fact and experience. The mere perusal of the hypotheses which 
have been ventured will convince you how impossible it is upon a 
small basis of experience to construct any merely probable theory 
of cholera. I shall convince you that although we have made a 
little progress, nevertheless further progress can be made only by 
studies upon a much larger scale than have hitherto been deemed 
necessary. I shall put before you that which has been achieved 
and that which has to be done, because, if it is to be done, it is you 
and those like you who are now engaged in scientific study who will 
have hereafter to achieve it. 
We are now generally agreed that cholera is introduced into the 
human body by the mouth. We have a direct proof that cholera 
can be so introduced, from certain experiments which were first 
made at Munich in the year 1854. Professor Thiersch then 
happened to investigate the foetal development of whiter mice ; and 
