A brief review of our knowledge of the relation of micro-organisms to diseases in man / by William Robert Smith.

  • Smith, William Robert, 1850-1932.
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A brief review of our knowledge of the relation of micro-organisms to diseases in man / by William Robert Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    A BRIEF REVIEW OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE RELATION OF MICRO-ORGANISMS TO DISEASES IN MAN. When you did me the honour, Sir, to ask me to read a paper before the members of this Society upon the relation- ship of micro-organisms to disease, so far as our knowledge has extended to enable us to speak with some certainty as to such organisms being the direct cause of certain well- known specific infective disorders, I was thoroughly alive to the importance of the subject, and regretted that for such a review you had not chosen one better able to deal with it. Such a relationship is now, I think, on all hands, admitted to be very intimate; and although it may not be of such a universal nature as some perhaps would have us believe, yet, so far as many diseases are concerned, it has been abund- antly shown to be of a most direct and positive nature. A knowledge of what is known regarding these minute bodies is not only necessary for pathological study, but for the rational treatment also of infectious diseases ; in that department of medicine known as preventive, the special value of such knowledge is very evident. So long as the cause of a disease is unknown, the views held as to its origin must be vague, and the measures adopted against it frequently ineffectual; but when the cause is known, and especially when it can be isolated and its life-history studied, together with its behaviour outside the body, its mode of entrance into the system, and the best methods for destroy- ing it, then indeed, and only then, can measures be adopted both precise and effectual. A medical officer of health should, however, not alone be conversant with the literature on this subject, but should have a practical acquaintance with the best methods of research. It is to be regretted that opportunities have not been afforded in this country such as those which exist in Berlin for health-officials to obtain this practical knowledge;