ETIOLOGY OF TUBERCULOSIS. 
251 
The eager search went on, and in 1865 Villemin showed 
hat the disease could be communicated to healthy animals 
iy inoculation. This was a great advance, and now the fore- 
nost pathologists assumed an organized entity as the cause 
)f consumption. At last, in 1881, the illustrious Robert Koch 
completed the long search by finding the bacillus tuberculosis. 
Te announced and demonstrated that every tissue is tuber¬ 
cular which is excited into a morbid state by the pathogen¬ 
etic action of these specific bacilli discovered by him. He 
cultivated the germ in artificial media for several generations, 
ind, subsequently, with the products of his untiring zeal, inoc- 
ilated various animals, transmitting to them the original 
lisease with its peculiar semiology and post mortem lesions, 
Towing conclusively that this particular bacillus was the 
cause of phthisis. In addition, this same bacillus has been 
liscovered in all the various forms of tuberculosis, which are 
called by different appellations. Of these names, one of the 
nost common is phthisis, from the Greek cp%ieiv, “ to waste 
uvay,” so designated on account of the extreme marasmus 
tccompanying the last stages of this withering ailment; if the 
esions are confined principally to the lungs, it is spoken of 
is phthisis pulmonalis, decline, pining, wasting or consump- 
ion; if it is enteric in its nature, the name tabes mesenterica, 
l perishing of the entestines, from the Latin tabere , “ to de¬ 
cay,” is used ; if the lymphatic glands are involved, it is 
called scrofula from the Latin scrofa, “ a breeding sow,” as 
logs were supposed to be subject to a similar complaint, or 
>erhaps the swellings on the throat bore a fancied resem- 
ilance to little pigs. The cervical adenitis is also called 
[uince, strumes from the Latin “ struma ,” “ a scrofulous 
umor,” hence those affected are said to possess the strumous 
liathesis, or king’s evil, from its marked frequency in the 
oyal families of the Old World, which were notoriously in¬ 
cestuous in their marriages, and this custom undoubtedly 
avored the propagation of the disorder. From the shape 
.nd color of the tubercular deposits in various parts of the 
cadaver, it is called in France pommeliere, a term allied to the 
^atin “ pomum” “an apple,” signifying “lumpy,” or “in 
