The first is based upon chemical
processes, the second upon the multiplication of living organisms. The
chemical theory maintains that after the infectious element has been
received into the body it acts as a ferment, and gives rise to certain
morbid processes, upon the principle of catalysis. The theory of
organisms, or the germ theory, maintains that the infectious elements
are living organisms, which, being received into the system, are
reproduced indefinitely, and excite morbid processes which are
characteristic of certain types of disease. This latter theory so
readily explains many of the facts connected with the development and
reproduction of infectious diseases, that it has been unqualifiedly
adopted by a large number of investigators. The proofs of this theory
had not, however, advanced beyond the demonstrations of the presence
of certain forms of bacteria in the pathological changes of a very
limited number of infectious diseases, until February, 1882, when Koch
announced his discovery of the tubercle bacillus, since which time
nearly every disease has its supposed microbe, and the race is,
indeed, swift in which the would-be discoverers press forward with new
germs for public favor.
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