...

believed to be an attack of measles. It was his opinion he had caught them from pitching straw from an old stack. He stated that on December 4th he pitched from an old stack a load of straw, and unloaded it in his stable. Portions of the stack had become partially decayed . . the air became filled with a fine dust, which he freely inhaled. The dust tasted and had the odour of old straw. . . . His throat soon began to feel dry and irritated. When he returned to dinner he could still taste and smell the old straw. . . . During the following night he awoke with a very sore throat, which became much worse by morning. After getting up and dressing he was taken with a severe chill with pains in the head and back. . . . The chill was followed by a high fever and severe pains in the head, so much so that a portion of the time he was delirious. He felt a heavy congested feeling about the chest, his throat and fauces were swollen and inflamed, with severe catarrhal symptoms. An eruption like that of measles appeared on his face and neck, and the old straw taste continued. In the evening of the 9th he called at my office. His eyes were still red, inflamed, and sensitive ; throat sore, dry, and voice hoarse, and had a heavy congested feeling still about the chest. The blotches on his face could be faintly distinguished. He stated that he could still taste the old straw in his throat."

At a meeting of the local "Farmers' Club," several of the farmers stated that it "was very common after threshing wheat for persons to be taken with severe chills, followed by a high fever, catarrhal symptoms, and an eruption upon the face."

Dr. Salisbury examined straw taken from the camp beds, the stable of the infected farmer, and other places, and found fungi. He then packed some clean white wheaten straw in a wooden box, moistened it, secured the lid and placed it near a stove in a temperature of from 60° to 75° Fahr. In twenty-four hours the centre of the straw was found covered with a mould which gave off particles having the odour and taste of old straw. He resolved on introducing some of these particles into his own organism. He says: "I inoculated my arm (February 11th) with the spores and cells of the fungi of wheat straw, which I

obtained by placing a straw-covered with the plants-on a plate of glass and hitting it with a few slight taps. On removing the straw, under and both sides of it was a white cloudy band. . . . The straw from which I obtained these cells came from a stack near this place, and was the same kind of straw as that used for beds at the camp. Under the microscope the fungi presented the same appearance, and the cells disengaged in agitating the straw were precisely similar. (Next day) Perfectly well. No inflammation or itching around the point of inoculation. (13th) Slight nausea. A very slight redness and itching at inoculation point. (14th). . . Feeling of lassitude and nausea, redness and itching of inoculation wound increasing;. . . chilly all day; occasional sneezing; eyes sensitive; had a peculiar feeling about the scalp, as if red pepper or mustard had been rubbed into the pores. (15th) Nausea and lassitude continue; occasional sneezing; flashes of heat over the whole body; itching and inflammation of the wound on the arm increasing; thoughtlessly rubbed off the scab, which was about three lines in diameter. The peculiar smarting, burning, congested sensation over the whole scalp has increased since yesterday... heavy oppressive feeling about the chest; mucous membrane of fauces and throat dry and irritated. . . . (16th) Weariness and drowsiness, with nausea all day. Eyes red, inflamed and sensitive. . . . Whole scalp feels sore, with a constant, congested, burning sensation all through it to the bone. Arm itches; redness as large as a dime. A heavy congested feeling about the chest; have had more or less fever. Throat and fauces dry and swollen, and voice hoarse. Pains in back and head have been almost constant since Friday last (14th). (17th) The burning sensation of the scalp still continues. Eyes weak and inflamed still slight fever and nausea. (18th) Nausea; face feels as if it had been exposed to the heat of an open fire until it had become inflamed. The peculiar burning soreness of the scalp is somewhat relieved. Eyes still sensitive; catarrhal symptoms and fever less than yesterday. (19th) Very much better; the soreness of scalp almost entirely relieved; blotches and redness

of face disappeared; catarrhal symptoms and fever gone, eyes quite well."

Dr. Salisbury inoculated himself again that evening, as before, with straw fungi, without other result than a slight watering of the eyes, which passed off in a day. Subsequently he inoculated his wife in a similar manner. She suffered less than he had

done, and had "scarcely any perceptible blotches, yet the other symptoms were all present." He next inoculated some children with similar results, and under circumstances which appeared to him to show that the effect of the inoculation was to protect against measles. Then he inoculated twenty-seven boys in the Ohio State Reform Institution during an outbreak of measles there. The fungi invariably caused a red measle patch round the point of inoculation, as well as catarrhal and slight febrile disturbances and other manifestations of a measly type lasting from four to ten days. Of the twenty-seven boys twenty-three did not take the measles. The other four had the characteristic rash of measles and were in bed for a day or two; but it is not clear whether these boys contracted measles in the ordinary way, or whether the rash they had was a consequence of the traumatic introduction of the straw fungi.

This abridgment of Dr. Salisbury's two papers takes from the account of his views and experiments its air of genuineness; but it must serve. I have to content myself with saying that the inquirer who shall examine the papers for himself will see, however much he may dissent from the conclusions drawn or suggested, that whatever is set down as fact has the stamp of truth. It is necessary to mention that Dr. Salisbury conceived that there was an affinity between the exanthem sometimes caused among farming men in threshing musty wheat, or by handling mildewed straw, and the exanthem known as camp measles;" that he then found that the soldiers who had taken "camp measles" had slept on damp musty straw; and that, having concluded that the infective agents which induced the morbilloid affections of the farmer and the soldier were of kin, he went on to consider the question of the relationship, if any, between these exanthems and ordinary measles: but that from

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first to last he does not assert that these exanthemate are related. What he says is: "I have not been able to distinguish thus far any difference between the eruption and attendant symptoms of genuine measles and 'camp measles' or straw measles;" but he shrank, or abstained from boldly laying down the proposition that these similar-looking forms of eruptive disease are all of the one stock and of the same blood. Whatever his views upon the point, he would seem to have considered the evidence then before him insufficient to establish consanguinity. Hence the cautious heading to his paper.

This is a point upon which almost every critic has, more suo, overlooked, or disregarded, or misrepresented Dr. Salisbury's studiously chosen words. It would seem to have been agreed on all hands to make out that he had laid down his conclusions positively and dogmatically, and had "claimed" to have done this or that; whereas nothing can be more unassuming than his demeanour, or more calmly philosophical than his method, even where the pulse of the soberest inquirer might well have been stirred. He had good reason to believe he had made a grand discovery, yet he gives not the faintest sign of elation. From the fact that he not only thought out the question of inoculation with straw fungi as a protective measure against measles, but made a number of inoculations expressly to test the prophylactic power of the vegetation, the only rational conclusion is that he inferred that the straw fungi are ejusdem generis with what is called the contagion of measles. For on what other principle could he have looked for prophylaxis? Yet so far from asserting either that he had determined the nature of the infective agent in measles, or that he had indicated a sure means for the prevention of this disease, he observes diffidently:- "To what extent inoculation with straw fungi may prove effectual in protecting the human system against the contagion of measles, can only be settled by careful and extended experiments."

CHAPTER II.

Professor Wood's paper in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences on Dr. Salisbury's observations-References in the paper to Dr. Woodward's inoculations of himself and others with the straw fungusDetails of Dr. Pepper's inoculations with the straw fungus-Professor Wood's errors in statement-Review in The American Journal of the Medical Sciences of Dr. Woodward's work on Camp DiseasesExtracts from it relating to his inoculations and views-His misapprehension of Dr. Salisbury's views-The botanical point-ConclusionsThe supplementary account of Dr. Pepper's inoculations-Its inconsistency with the first account in Professor's Wood's paper, and the inaccuracies in it in regard to what is set down by Dr. Salisbury— The results of Dr. Pepper's inoculations, of equal negative value with Dr. Woodward's, do not affect the positive results obtained by Dr. Salisbury.

IN The American Journal of the Medical Sciences for October 1868 appeared a paper entitled "An Examination into the Truth of the Asserted Production of General Diseases by Organised Entities," by Horatio C. Wood, junr., Professor of Botany in the University of Pennsylvania. Space must be found for long extracts from this paper, inasmuch as they are absolutely essential to our inquiry. Professor Wood says: "In a series of papers published in this Journal, Dr. Salisbury claims to have discovered the protophytes which produce measles, rheumatism, and syphilis. If he has done this, the question of the nature of disease-poison may be looked upon as settled, and it is therefore very necessary to carefully examine his statements.

"Of all these memoirs, the most plausible are those in which the straw fungus is claimed to be the cause of measles.

D