Disease-germs / by J.H. Wythe.

  • Wythe, J. H. (Joseph Henry), 1822-1901.
Date:
[1879?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Disease-germs / by J.H. Wythe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    They are of short cylindric form, and have spontaneous mo- tion. II. termo is the ferment or cause of putrefaction. 3d group, Filamentous bacteria. Elongated cylinders, in- creasing by transverse division. 3. Genus, Baeilius: Straight filaments. B. anthracis is found in gangrene of the spleen.- 4. Genus, Vibrio. Wavy filaments,'seen generally in putri- fying solutions. 4th group, Screw-bacteria. 5. Genus, Spirochcetct. S. plicalilis is found in tartar from the teeth. G. Genus, Spirillum. Spiral shorter than the last. In this group also may be placed the Leptothrix buccal is; long, slender filaments from the mouth, etc. The principal argument in favor of considering fungi as the disease-germs of contagious and miasmatic disorders, are thus given by Professor Liebermeister in Ziemssen's Cyclopedia. In this connection there are facts of considerable importance, which have been furnished by recent investigations into the nature of many contagious diseases in animals and plants. The conta- gious diseases of the silk-worm, which have been a source of so much danger to the silk-worm culture, have been proved to be parasitic, and the history of the parasite has been followed pretty thoroughly. In flies and many other insects, we have known similar epidemics of a parasitic nature to have taken place. The epidemic and contagious diseases of the higher classes of cultivated plants, such as the potato disease, the grape-vine dis- ease, the ergot of grain, and others, all are derived from fungus- growth. The question, too, on which for a long time opinions were divided, as to whether the fungus were the cause, or only the consequence of the disease, has been answered by the bot- anists with unanimity. Where the development of the fungus had been thoroughly examined, they reported that it was the sole and sufficient cause of the disease. It is clearly evident, too, that the further the progress of investigation advances in human pathology, and the more frequently low organisms are shown in diseases, the more prominently will this question urge an answer. Professor Wagner, of Leipzig {Gen.. Pathology, p. 108), while acknowledging his belief that many important affections are