92 
Editorial. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1    February,  1900. 
cause  of  a  disease,  modefn  methods  of  cultivation,  staining,  or  both,  readily 
demonstrate  its  existence,  and  when  no  germ  can  be  found,  it  by  no  means 
logically  follows  that  one  must  be  present.  It  is  generally  admitted  that  the 
bacterium  is  pathogenic,  by  virtue  of  certain  highly  poisonous  toxins,  or 
ferments,  which  are  either  set  free  during  its  life  or  after  its  death.  There  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  substances  equally  poisonous  and  pathogenic  may 
be  formed  without  the  aid  of  pathogenic  bacteria.  Schleich,  the  noted  investi- 
gator, has  notes  of  a  surprising  number  of  cases  of  wound  infection  in  which 
pathogenic  bacteria  are  not  at  all  in  evidence.  He  explains  these  cases  of  infec- 
tion as  due  to  catalytic  or  contact  chemical  action  ;  for  instance,  rancid  oil  pos- 
sesses a  ferment  potency,  and  only  in  this  way  can  we  explain  the  infinite 
variety  in  wound  infection.  If  the  cause  of  infected  wounds  is  a  streptococcus, 
we  would  have  typical  symptoms,  one  case  would  resemble  another,  or  in  a 
word,  the  streptococcus  should  cause  a  specific  affection.  All  talk  about 
'increased  virulence,'  'favorable  soil,'  etc.,  is, to  a  certain  extent,  begging  the 
question.  Schleich,  in  addition  to  ( i)  decomposing  oils,  has  described  a  group 
of  wounds  from  (2)  infected  saliva.  Close  observation  teaches  us  that  the  bite 
of  every  species  of  animal  has  a  distinct  individuality.  Dissection  wounds, 
infected  by  decomposing  fluids,  constitute  a  third  group.  It  appears  to  be  cer- 
tain that  the  pathogenic  agency  in  all  such  cases  is  a  ferment.  Half  a  cen- 
tury or  more  ago  pathologists  wrote  much  of  ferments  as  causes  of  disease, 
but  at  that  period  we  had  no  evidence  that  such  bodies  existed  in  pathology. 
We  now  know  that  ferments  play  a  part  in  disease,  that  they  are  able  to 
liquefy  solid  tissues  and  coagulate  albuminous  fluids.  One  of  the  most  strik- 
ing forms  of  local  surgical  infection  takes  the  form  of  a  solidification  and 
necrosis  of  subcutaneous  fat,  and  surely  nothing  but  a  ferment  could  produce 
such  a  condition  ;  while  it  is  almost  certain  that  this  ferment  is  not  of  specific, 
bacterial  origin,  but  may  be  formed  in  the  disintegration  of  organic  com- 
pounds, in  which,  at  most,  only  harmless  saprophytes  play  a  part.  The  truth 
is  that  men  of  the  type  of  Rosenbach  and  Hueppe — two  of  the  pioneers  of 
foacteriology — have  always  had  conservative  leanings  in  regard  to  the  patho- 
genic power  of  bacteria.  It  is  the  man  without  practical  knowledge  of  micro- 
organisms who  claims  everything  in  pathology  as  the  work  of  the  latter,  and 
it  is  another  sciolist  who  takes  the  opposite  ground  of  bacteriological  ni- 
hilism. The  attitude  of  Schleich  is,  therefore,  one  to  be  copied  by  men  at 
once  conservative  and  wise."  1  The  subject  is  one  of  great  interest,  and  while 
apparently  positive  information  of  all  kinds  is  at  our  command,  it  is  well  to 
remember  that  the  truth  as  finally  revealed  will  no  doubt  tend  to  show  that 
certain  of  the  micro-organisms  may  exist  in  a  symbiotic  relationship  in  the 
plant  and  animal,  others  apparently  only  live  on  tissues  when  in  an  unhealthy 
condition.  Still,  in  other  cases,  a  diseased  condition  of  the  organism  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  either  the  leucocytes  have  not  been  able  to  destroy  the  invading 
pathogenic  bacteria  or  that  the  organism  has  not  produced  physiological 
antagonistic  substances  to  counteract  the  poison  secreted  or  excreted  by  the 
bacteria.  Our  knowledge  of  bacteria  is  more  objective  than  subjective,  and 
until  more  extended  results  and  observations  are  at  our  command  in  regard  to 
the  relationship  between  micro-organisms  in  the  healthy  and  diseased  condi- 
See  Pediatrics,  1899,  pp.  3°4-3°5- 
