CHARBON AND THE GERM THEORY OF DISEASE. 
137 
Now, I am convinced that these extreme views must be mod¬ 
ified before we arrive at the truth; of themselves, however, they 
are not evidence either for or against the germ theory. In science 
a fact must be demonstrated before it can be accepted, and when 
once properly established, it must remain a fact, no matter what 
results are attained by other lines of investigation. In other 
words, facts do not contradict each other, and when they appear 
to do so, it is only because our knowledge of the subject is super¬ 
ficial. This principle seems to have been neglected, however, by 
many of those who are discussing the etiology of charbon ; and, 
now, after a demonstration has been made of the pathogenic ac¬ 
tion of the Bacillus anthracis , we are continually being told that 
this demonstration must go for nothing because results attained 
through other lines of research appear to some to be inconsistent 
with this fact. 
If these points are unduly insisted upon, it is because it seems 
necessary to be positive in regard to these fundamental princi¬ 
ples ; but it is not my intention to disregard other observations or 
the conclusions which may be reasonably drawn from them. Facts 
must agree, no matter by whom discovered, and I shall not set 
the example of suppressing any of them. We will, therefore, 
consider the observations which are believed by some to conflict 
with the germ theory as applied to this disease. 
1. The bacillus anthracis is not always found in the blood 
of animals which have died of anthrax. —Although it is mani¬ 
fest that septicasmia has been frequently confounded with char¬ 
bon,* I am willing to accept it as a fact that there are some un¬ 
mistakable cases of charbon in which the Bacillus anthracis 
cannot be found in the blood by direct microscopical observation ; 
and it at once becomes a question whether this fact is in opposi¬ 
tion to the conclusion we have reached in regard to the patho¬ 
genic action of this organism. 
When animals are inoculated hypodermically with charbon 
virus this does not seem to be absorbed by the blood vessels, but 
by the lymphatics; that is, the Bacillus anthracis multiplies in 
* L. Pasteur. Communication to Paris Academy of Medicine, July 17, 1877 
also, RccueiL de Medecine Vctcrinaire, 1877, pp. 763-4. 
