Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-01-23
GRIPS GERM FOUND.
Doctors of the Bacterian Laboratory at
Vienna Make the Discovery.

special cable telegram to the New York
Herald states that the members of the faculty
| of Vienna are greatly agitated over the dis
covery Of the bacillus of influenza by Drs.
Macmillan and Adolphe Jolles of the bacterian
laboratory at the general hospital. The young
scientists had determined to keep their dis
covery secret until Saturday. when ut special
meeting Of the medical faculty they proposed
to relate their experiences and studies of the
last two months, which have been so successful.
l was let into the secret by one Of the many
American scientists who are studying in the
laboratory. 1 presented myself at the farm of
bacilli breeders and had an interesting talk on
the subject.
1--WE came upon the trace Of the bacilli quite
accidentally" said DIR. Macmillan Jolles,
''about the middle of December in a sample of
urine sent us by practitioner who thought
that his patient was suffering from kidney dis
case. Upon examining the urine microscope
cally we discovered bacillus which. owing to
the peculiar cassOck formation OF the head, we
called 1.-THE bishop of bacilli." 1t was a bacil-
lus we had never seen before nor had 1t ever
been signaled by any bacteriologist.
1--WE Immediately set forth with our whole
staff upon an examination of the detection and
urine OF influenza patients in the general hos
pital and in private practice and in every case
:,
while in excrement from various other mala-
dies examined at the same time the bacilli
could not be found"
THE BACrLLI SHOWN.
The doctor then introduced me into his labo-
ratory where, inserted in glass tubes the
bacilli were seen at rest, and where the cultiva-
ton of the bacilli was in successful progress
'As you see." said the doctor, "they resemble
in no way the cholera microbe, but have many
points of resemblance with the bacili of pneu-
monia discovered by DR.. Friedlander."
then carefully examined the bacilli in the
glass tubes stopped with cotton and half full
of gelatin. On top of the gelatin 1 noticed
what with the naked eye looked like milky
white spot round in form. In the microscope
saw small animalcule, elliptic in form and
sharply defined. The great majority were
yellow in color, but in the largest and Oldest
the cassock shaped heads were dark blue. They
were lying parallel and very close to each
other.
Then the doctor showed me a tube contain
ing Asiatlc cholera microbes, which looked
like fine threads and differed in every way
from the influenza bacilli. As seen through
the microscope, the cholera microbe resembles
an lntnitesimal comma. II hope" said the
doctor, THAT the Times will accentuate the
absolute difference in form and nature between
the two animalcule, because it is still gener-
ally believed that the influenza is a forerunner
OF cholera, which belief l think We have
scientifically disposed of. Now, on the other
hand. the influenza bacilli and the pneumonia
bacilli are undoubtedly of the same family and
analogous"
when j was shown the bacili of pneumonia.
discovered and cultivated by DIR. Friedlander,
they were less brilliant and less yellow in color
and not nearly SO elliptic in form and also
much larger, with heads quite as clerical look
ing as those of the influenza bacillus. In the
case of the influenza bacili one does not see
bnhblps tn he in no tyala ti
IN which the pneumonia bacilh is cultivated"
INCUBATION.
Looking around at this point noticed va
rious sized jars, resembling those in which last
spring two of NJ. Pasteur's talented assistants
endeavored to cultivate, alternate and prepare
for incubation purposes the bacilli of diph-
iberia Il see, doctor" l remarked, THAT you
are getting at the practical side OF the discov-
cry. When will you begin vaccination, or rather
incubation against infiuenza?'
We'll, have no idea. but would not like to
think that that happy process is postponed to
the Greek Kalends. Had you not noticed our
preparations l would not have spoken of our
attempts In that direction at all, up to the
present they have not been very satisfactory
We had bred the bacilh and attenuated salts
factory the virus. but our first case of inocula-
ton killed the patient rabbit, on whom we
tried 1t week ago. He died Immediately of
blood poisoning. l cannot speak about the ex-
periments upon which we are now engaged ex-
cept to say that they promise well.
Another curious discovery" concluded the
doctor, ''was made December 90, when the cpl
demic was at its height. / then examined some
of the water which comes to the city from the
Kaiser well. hundred kilometers away in the
Syrian mountains, and i found 22S bacilli in
every cubic centimcter of water"
The young discoverer is Viennese by birth,
of small size, blonde, with Vandyke beard He
has only recently taken up his present position,
having been for six years professor of bacteri-
ology at the University of WurZbnrg