Infection and immunity : with special reference to the prevention of infectious diseases / by George M. Sternberg.

Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Infection and immunity : with special reference to the prevention of infectious diseases / by George M. Sternberg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    adjective to indicate that the particular micro-organism under consideration is capable of producing disease, for there are numerous micro-organisms which are en- tirely harmless. The word pathogenic literally means disease-producing; a pathogenic micro-organism is therefore a microscopic organism capable of produc- ing disease. This sounds a little more scientific than “ disease germ,” and it has seemed to me necessary to spend a little time in explaining the meaning of the term, as I may have occasion to use it from time to time, although it is my intention to avoid the use of technical terms as far as possible. When we say that a certain infectious disease is due to a pathogenic micro-organism we have not committed ourselves as to the characters of this dis- ease germ. It may belong to the animal or the vege- table kingdom ; it may be round or oval or spiral in form ; it may be large or small, although microscopic. But when I speak of the micrococcus of pneumonia or the bacillus of typhoid fever, I am using terms which convey much more definite information with reference to the disease germs referred to, and before proceeding any farther it will be desirable to make the reader acquainted with the principal characters of some of the best-known pathogenic micro-organisms. Some of these belong to the animal and some to the vegetable kingdom. Although so very minute and
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