AmkJarch\F89orm"j     Bacterial  Poisoning  by  Medicines.  1 1  5 
spoonful  dose  would  contain  about  2,500,000  of  these  micro- 
organisms. It  certainly  is  not  a  delightful  thought  for  believers  in 
"  Rock  and  Rye  "  that  their  next  dose  may  bring  with  it  an  invad- 
ing army  equal  to  that  of  any  first-class  European  power,  and  per- 
haps as  destructive. 
The  bodies  present  in  this  case  would  be  classed  as  Micrococci, 
being  small,  rounded  cells,  requiring  a  magnification  of  about 
600  diameters  to  render  them  distinct.  They  were  collected  in 
quite  large,  irregular  groups,  having  grown  by  division  in 
different  directions,  and  not  in  one  line,  as  those  do  that  form 
chains.  They  very  much  resembled  the  section  of  an  irregular 
piece  of  honey-comb,  except  that  the  cells  are  more  variable  in 
outline.  The  liquid  appeared  almost  entirely  free  from  other 
classes  of  organisms,  or  at  least  the  microscope  showed  very  few 
differing  from  these  morphologically.  Unfortunately,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  it  was  impossible  to  attempt  any  culture  experiments. 
Still  the  physiological  effect  on  the  patient  was  so  decided  that 
corroborative  evidence  was  scarcely  needed  on  that  point. 
A  fresh  mixture  compounded  of  the  same  drugs  as  those  used 
before,  but  dispensed  in  another  bottle,  produced  no  such  effects. 
This  disposes  of  the  objection  that  an  idiosyncracy  of  the  patient 
in  regard  to  quinine  caused  the  trouble ;  and  since  chemical 
analysis  of  the  liquid  failed  to  show  any  foreign  bodies  except 
bacteria,  to  them  we  must  refer  the  cause  of  the  sickness. 
How  it  was  that  the  liquid  became  so  filled  with  these  growths 
is  difficult  to  say.  If  it  had  been  an  aqueous  solution  of  almost 
any  other  alkaloid  it  would  not  have  been  at  all  unusual  to  have 
found  a  flourishing  colony  of  micro-organisms  in  it ;  but  that  an 
alcoholic  solution  of  quinine  should  have  developed  them  is  cer- 
tainly surprising.  That  quinine  has  a  retarding  action  on  fermen- 
tation1 has  been  proved  by  Liebig,  but  Calvert2  claims  that  the 
action  is  limited  to  certain  classes  of  germs,  and  states  that  this 
effect  is  not  produced  on  all.  The  commonly  received  theory  of  the 
therapeutic  action  of  quinine  is  that  it  is  fatal  to  the  miasma 
germ,  which  flourishes  in  low  swampy  places  where  the  disease  is 
so  prevalent.  While  the  truth  of  this  may  still  be  questionable, 
it  is  certainly  a  fact  that  aqueous  solutions  of  quinine  and  cincho- 
1  Liebig  Ann.  Chem.  Phavm.,  cliii,  p.  152. 
2  Proc.  Roy.  Soc,  xx,  p.  197. 
