Bacteriology for nurses / [Isabel McIsaac].

  • Isabel McIsaac
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Bacteriology for nurses / [Isabel McIsaac]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ible at this time, but they were regarded by many as evidences of an unbalanced mind, most writers at that period doubting the possibility of the micro- organisms being living things. In 1786 a Danish zoologist, Muller, described many structural details of bacteria of which his predecessors were ignorant, and also recognized the extreme difficulties of study- ing such minute organisms. “The difficulties,” he writes, “that beset the investigators of these micro- scopic animals are countless; the sure and definite determination [of species] requires so much time, so much acumen of eye and judgment, so much perseverance and practice, that there is hardly an5dhing so difficult.” (Jordan.) In 1838 Ehrenberg (1795-1876) made a valuable contribution to the subject in his work on “Infu- soria,” as the organisms found in infusions of meat, hay, and other substances were called. Ehrenberg was the first to introduce a really systematic method for the study of bacteria. It was not until Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), about 1850, began his investigations upon the souring and putrefaction of beer and wine that bacteria were recognized as organisms whose activities were of such significance to the human race. For two hundred years prior to Pasteur’s investi-
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