98 
IX MCEACHRAN. 
Let only the spores be formed, and specimens of dried bacilli 
will be as fatal four years after as ever they were; but the fibres 
will not maintain their activity for more than five weeks. 
Koch thinks that the best way to rid ourselves of this “ de¬ 
stroying angel ” is to utterly destroy all substances containing 
bacilli, but fears that it is impossible to adopt so radical a meas¬ 
ure ; he thinks much might be done by placing all affected bodies 
in a dry pit to which air could not enter, and at so great a depth 
as to have a temperature always below 15°C. (Quarterly Journal 
of Microscopical Science.) 
THE MANNER IN WHICH DEATH IS PRODUCED IN ANTHRAX. 
Having thus reviewed the different investigations as to the 
nature of bacteria and their spores or germs, we will now briefly 
consider the manner in which they cause death. 
Two theories are advanced, viz : that they cause death by 
removing from the red globules of the blood the oxygen necessary 
for hsematosis. That is to say, oxygen is necessary to render the 
blood capable of supporting life, and in the healthy condition it 
is constantly being interchanged for carbonic acid, an impurity 
resulting from the blood’s function as a sewerage system for the 
tissues in removing waste products. The bacteria, by using up 
this oxygen in the blood, produces a condition similar to what 
would take place were an animal inclosed in a chamber exhausted 
of air. Among the advocates of this theory are Pasteur, Jou- 
bert, Bouley, Bollinger and Toussaint. 
Professor Toussaint, however, from recent experiments has 
somewhat modified this view by discovering that death is often 
caused by obstruction of the circulation by masses of bacteria. 
Bollinger (Ziemssen Yol. Ill, page 388), says: “By deductions 
from numerous experimental, chemical and anatomico-pathological 
results, I believe that I have adduced the proof that the action of 
anthrax bacteria (which are present in enormous numbers in the 
blood of animals suffering from apoplectiform anthrax, which is 
very common,) is apparently this : The bacteria, bv rapid increase 
in the blood, by virtue of their powerful need for oxygen and 
their enormous chemical affinity for the same, absorb it with 
