The record-union., 1892-09-16
CHOLERA GERMS.
The Subject Discussed by the Mi
croscopists.
Appearance of the Microbe Under
the Microscope-Condit
Fatal to 1t.

The regular meeting of the San Fran
cisco Microscopical Society, held at its
rooms in San Francisco on the 7th inst,
was largely attended, and the proceedings
had more than usual interest President
Breckenfeld presided, and in the audience
were Mayor Sanderson, Professor Ritter,
ofthe University of,California, and con-
siderable number of visitors.
Two papers were read on an absorbing
topic. The first was by Henry E. San
derson, M. D., on "The Spirillum of
Asiatic Cholera" and the second by r.
II. Freund, "a History of the Cholera
Organism.''
THE CHOLERA BACILLUS.
DR.. Sanderson prefaced his paper by a
brief account of the method pursued in
laboratory work, with cultures of chol-
era and other disease germs. He said he
had no doubt most of his hearers were
already familiar with the methods, but
for the benefit of his lay hearers he ex-
hibited the various articles used and
some of the apparatus.
In 1S29-7 Europe, he said, was for the
first time attacked by a hitherto I'M
known disease, which spread with great
activity over the continent. 1t came
originally from Asia, from the region of
the Ganges delta in India, hence the name
of "Asiatic cholera" 1t has since reap
peared at varying intervals and has done
! its deadly work, but for many years its
cause was but mystic conjecture.
In 1888 as the epidemic again spread to
the confines of Europe and threatened to
cross the borders, the German Govern
ment sent q commission to the infected
regions to investigate the disease, and es-
pecially to search out the causative factor.
| At the head of this commission was Dr.
Robert Koch, who discovered in the dis
| charges the germ since known as the
| comma bacillus.
| In bacteriology there are three forms of
vegetable life; the bacillus or rod-shaped,
| the nllcrOcOccLS or berry-shaped and the
Uibqio or SpiTiLLunl, the spiral-shaped: The
cholera germ belongs to the Uibr&O Spi7-
| itLunl group. Some are very slightly
| curved, others more markedly So 1t is
one-half the length of the IWbercLe 6aciJ-
| las, much thicker and has rounded ends.
| Some are so much curved as to form al
| most a semicircle and occasionally, where
| two or more are joined together, spiral
| or letter S form results. Where marked
| spirals occur it is due to peculiar circum-
| stances such as restrict the ordinarily
| quick subdivision, by means of which
| multiplication occurs.
| The germ is very active in its move
/ mentS. In proper culture media and
with proper temperature they swim and
| wriggle around the field of vision like a
swarm of gnats. At one end of each is a
whip-like process or fiagellum, by means
| of which this motion is induced.
| HOW DOES IT PROPAGATE?
The question as to the existence OF
| spores is not yet definitely settled. No
one has ever been able to prove their
presence by staining methods. Hueppe
| claimed to have seen Sporuration taking
place in a hanging drop, but his observa-
| ton has not been confirmed. In order to
| prove the existence of spores in bacteria
| it is necessary to prove the existence OF
forms with far greater resistance power
than that possessed by the bacteria them
selves. No such enduring forms have
been found in connection with the cholera
| germs. On the contrary this germ is
| among the most sensitive micro-organ-
| isms known. A temperature over 100 de-
grees Fahrenheit kills them quickly.
| They stand chemical influences very
poorly, especially mineral acids. The
| hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice kills
| them, and if the gelatine culture shows a
| trace of acid the culture will fail Dry
ness kills in short time, sometimes in a
few hours, while in fluids they remain
| virulent for months. Other bacteria
easily overpower them, and in purifying
| fluids the germs of putrifaction are apt to
| kill them.
In artificial civilizations. as a rule, the
| free entrance of atmospheric air is re-
| quired, though under some circumstances
| thriving without it. In the intestinal
contents of man they thrive without at
mospheric oxygen, but produce oxygen
| from the chemical changes induced by
themselves. With a temperature under
500 and over 1070 Fahrenheit they do not
| flourish.
The method of infection of the general
system seems to be somewhat misunder-
stood, if one judges from newspaper
articles which have lately appeared in this
city. The bacteria themselves do not get
| into the blood and the various organs of
the body, but remain confined to the in
| testinal contents, with some invasion of
| the intestinal walls and occasionally of
the intestinal Emphatic glands. From
the intestinal tract INSCRIPTIONS of poison
Gus substances produced by the bacteria
into the system at large, absorption of
the stoxines," or toe aI6unlenS, and the
consequent poisoning, is what gives the