MORPHOLOGY. 
of the largest of the bacilli is said to be about 
1-12,000 of an inch in length, and 1-50,000 of an 
inch in thickness. We are told that it would take 
six thousand billions of the average sized bacilli 
to weigh one grain, and that fifteen hundred of 
the largest bacilli if placed end to end would not 
reach across a small pin head. Some forms of 
bacteria move about quickly, others do not. 
Weigert* in the year 1877 discovered that 
micro-organisms could be colored by the use of 
aniline dyes, so as to be distinguished from the 
media in which they are cultivated. Up to that 
time great difficulties stood in the way of their 
successful study, because of their transparency 
as well as their minuteness. Since Weigert’s 
discovery that they can be colored, many of the 
peculiarities by which their varieties are deter¬ 
mined have been pointed out. 
We have said that one condition necessary to 
the growth and development of bacteria is proper 
soil. A perfectly healthy body with normal re¬ 
sistive power is not favorable soil for the devel¬ 
opment of disease germs. In such a body certain 
cells exist which are foes to these germs; they 
have the power either to absorb or destroy dis¬ 
ease-producing bacteria. These cells are called 
phagocytes and the process of destruction or 
absorption is known as phagocytosis. The name 
phagocytes (from the Gk. phago *T eat”) was 
given to these cells by the man who dis¬ 
covered their province, the scientist, *Elie 
Metschnikoff, a Russian, one of the most 
♦Professor Carl Weigert, anatomist at Frank¬ 
fort, Germany. 
♦Metschnikoff was born in the government of 
Kharkoff in 1845. Was professor at Odessa in 1870. 
29 
Weigert’s 
Discovery. 
Function of 
Phagocytes. 
