262 
FRANK 8. BILLINGS. 
3. Baccilli—rods. 
4. The twisted organisms. 
Now, here comes Hueppe, a most prolific author and accred¬ 
ited observer, and throws the whole question into such chaotic 
confusion, that we can no longer make ourselves understood by 
a single word, but must add a detailed description, in such case, 
in order that other observers may comprehend our meaning, es¬ 
pecially when referring to past work. 
In his opening remarks upon morphology of the micro-organ¬ 
ism of the “ wildseuche,” Hueppe distinctly says that “ Im Bluter- 
scheint ein grosser Theil der Bacteria als Kurzes Stabchen, 
welches 2 bis 3 mal langer wie breit ist,” a translation of which 
has been already given, but repeated reads, “in blood a greater 
part of the bacteria appear as short rods—stabchen—which are 
two to three times as long as wide.” 
How in the name of logical honesty, any intelligent and edu¬ 
cated observer can transform an object “two to three times longer 
than wide” into a “ coccus,” or call it a “ short rod ” in one place, 
and then say that the same object should be called a “ micro¬ 
coccus,” (“ Wir mussen die bakterien der gattung mikrococcus 
zuweisen ”) passes my comprehension. 
Hueppe certainly understands the use of his own language, 
and I have no very insignificant knowledge of the same', yet in 
either English or German it is a contradictio ad absurdum to say 
that a “ stabchen ” (a short rod) is a “ micrococcus” or round ob¬ 
ject. 
No person with a grain of common sense can make a micro¬ 
coccus out of this object, nor would any competent observer at¬ 
tempt to define or classify a matured object by any intermediate 
stage in its existence. 
It would be equally logical and scientific to call the enpupped 
and comatose chrysalis a butterfly! 
Hueppe then gives the approximate measurements of the micro¬ 
organisms of the wildseuche, “ German swine plague,” and 
“rabbit septicaemia” and then makes (to my mind) the following 
absurd assertion: 
“ Even though I admit that the evidence is not complete, still, 
