THE BACTERIAL TOXINS.

Our object in presenting this paper is merely to outline the theory of the nature and action of the bacterial toxins which we are endeavoring to demonstrate, and to describe our method of work and the results which we have reached through the experiments we have so far made, which are very incomplete and really only a beginning toward the thorough working out of the subject. We have been led by observation of many facts concerning the pathogenic bacteria and their action in the various infectious diseases, their resistance to heat, to disinfectants and stains, etc., and by the results of some investigations carried on by others and by ourselves with certain species of these organisms to formulate a theory which we believe to be in some respects new, and which may be stated as follows: The specific poisons of the pathogenic bacteria are formed within the bacterial cells, and