SYNOPSIS OF CONTINENTAL VETERINARY JOURNALS, 465 
never to pronounce on a fact unless it has been absolutely 
demonstrated. Faithful to this principle, although I had 
observed, described, and even figured the microbium of 
fowl cholera, though convinced of its pathological signifi- 
gance, as may be perceived on perusal of my observations, I 
did not feel authorised to particularise it as the sole cause 
of the disease before completion of more experiments similar 
to those which have been undertaken with so much success 
by MM. Pasteur and Toussaint. But I desired as a pre¬ 
liminary measure to go to Paris, consult with M. Pasteur, 
and work in his laboratory, in order to attain sufficient 
acquaintance with the methods of culture of virus. I, in¬ 
deed, made the journey in September, 1878, but family 
misfortunes recalled me to Turin in a few days, and later 
materials were wanting, so I found myself unable to try the 
experiments on the culture of virus which I had seen carried 
out in the laboratory of Pasteur. To continue the special 
observations of which I speak it would have been necessary 
to find a method of complete isolation of the microbia, such 
as M. Chauveau did long ago with glander corpuscles, to 
wash them well, and finally to inoculate with them to see if 
they would reproduce the disease. But even supposing I 
had attained my aim, would I have been able to affirm, 
from this single result, that the granules or morbid germs 
were microbia or micrococci in the true sense of the term as 
used by Hallier ? In spite of my private conviction that 
they are truly germs, that they might be termed micrococci 
after Hallier’s definition, it would have been necessary to 
cultivate them to obtain not only other identical microbia, 
but also the development of a higher micromycete. But 
those who have tried cultures even of the sporules of Tricho- 
vhyton tonsurans know how very difficult it is to exclude 
specimens from invasion by foreign germs, and they know 
also that the results of Hallier’s experiments have been very 
rarely confirmed in a solid manner. In my descriptions of 
the microbium having the form of round or ovoid granules 
isolated or in pairs, I named it micrococcus to indicate a 
microscopical coccus , a germ corpuscle, rather in the sense 
of Chauveau and Pasteur than after Hallier.” With re¬ 
gard to M. Toussaint’s observation that the memoire of Per- 
roncito was published only in April, 1879, the author shows 
us that in June, 1878, Dr. Baron Ungern Sternberg, trans¬ 
lated the paper into German, and it appeared in the October, 
1878, number of Muller’s Archiv fur Wissenschaftliche und 
practise!ie Thierheilkuncle. i( The real state of affairs is 
that my most careful observations on the typhoid epizootic 
