The resemblance of the malaria parasite to that of recurrent fever is noted in the work of Sacharoff.  He states that there exists in the blood of those suffering from recurrent fever a haematozoon, which is most prominent after the fever has begun to fall, when it is of enormous proportions, twenty or more diameters of a red blood corpuscle, although smaller ones may still be found.  The parasite consists of a delicate amoeboid body containing a multitude of dark, round, uniform, sharply outlined, movable granules.  Besides these, the protoplasm contains a generally grayish homogeneous nucleus as large as one or two red blood corpuscles.  The protoplasm sends out pseudopodia (with granules), which sometimes separate and appear as small delicate pieces of protoplasm.  They vary in size, and are often swallowed by the red blood corpuscles in which they grow, and finally develop into the above mentioned amoeboid bodies.

Prof.  J. Lewis Smith has made a great many autopsies of children dead from cholera infantum, and almost invariably found the stomach and liver in a comparatively healthy condition.  Ganghen, who has given this subject considerable study, denies the existence of any specific germ in the summer diarrhea of infants, but claims to have found three different germs in the intestines of children suffering from cholera infantum, each producing a chemical poison which is capable of producing vomiting, purging, and even death.  A great variety of germs are found in drinking water, and no doubt countless numbers are taken into the digestive tract, and the principal reason why pathological conditions do not occur more frequently is on account of the germicidal qualities of the gastric juice.

The comma bacillus of Koch, and the typhoid fever germ of Eberth, are especially destroyed in normal gastric juice.  When the germs are very numerous, they run the gauntlet of the stomach (as the gastric juice is secreted only during digestion); and once in the alkaline intestinal canal they are capable of setting up disease, other conditions contributing—­ill health, deranged digestion, etc.

Mittnam has made a study of bacteria beneath the nails, and reports, after examining persons following different occupations, having found numerous varieties of micro-organisms; which are interesting from a scientific standpoint relative to the importance of thoroughly cleansing the hands before undertaking any surgical procedure.  He found, out of twenty-five experiments, 78 varieties of bacteria, of which 36 were classed as micrococci, 21 diplococci, 18 rods, 3 sarcinae, and 1 yeast.  Cooks, barbers, waiters, etc., were examined.

The blood, defibrinated and freshly drawn, has marked germicidal action; for bacteria its action is decidedly deadly, even hours after it has been drawn from the body.  Especially were anti-germic qualities noticed upon pathogenic bacteria.  Buchner put the bacilli of anthrax in a quantity of blood, and in two hours the number was reduced from 4,800 to 56, and in three hours only 3 living bacteria remained.  Other bacteria were experimented upon in blood with similar results, but the destruction of the organism from putrefaction was much less marked, and on some varieties the blood had little or no action.