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they know less." Koch says the fluid which he injects causes the death of all the tissues in which the bacillus in growing. He does not say how this dead stuff is to be removed from the infected parts. The presence of such dead material would be a serious thing in the lungs, as gangrene might be one of the results. It is supposed that the bacillus in its normal state generates a poison, and it is possible to conceive that the addition of a little more of this poison might help to kill the tissues which have been attacked by the disease. Whether living or dead they would be more injurious to the patient Dr. Koch cannot tell us; he is too much occupied apparently with the bacillus. Somewhat more than eighty days' investigations on the human animal will be required for the completion of this most important part of the research. Dr. Delépine thinks there is very little doubt that Koch has succeeded in isolating one or several of the chemical compounds resulting from the metabolism, or change due to chemical affinity, operating in certain conditions due to the presence of the bacillus tuberculosis. This is as near as we have come to the secret at present. The scientific world awaits Dr. Koch's explanation, and it must be admitted that a certain amount of impatience is justifiable. "I can make no communication," says Dr. Koch, respecting the origin and preparation of the remedy, as my research is not yet complete." Is not this an astonishing and anomalous state of things? Is it possible that a man of science so eminent as Dr. Koch, is using and, more than that, is permitting a great number of other physicians to use-a remedy the manufacture of which is either not perfected or not quite explainable to other bacteriologists? Somewhat of this sort of thing has enshrouded in unscientific mystery the manufacture emanating from the laboratory of M. Pasteur. Dr. Koch must have a dispensation to permit him to use a secret medicine, as in Germany they are all strictly forbidden by law. Altogether this is a very unsatisfactory part of the business.

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It has been rumored that Koch demanded a clinic and bacteriological institute, but this was refused him and he is now determined to withhold his great secret until he has all he wants. Meanwhile, great indignation prevails in Berlin as to the way the lymph is being manufactured. It is

openly declared that great men, as Professor Leyden, Senator, and Gerhardt, strongly protest against the profound secrecy connected with the inanufacture of the lymph, which savors more of a quack medicine than the scientific work of an eminent professional man. It is complained also that there are great scandals in connection with the distribution of the lymph. The stuff is at a high premium and, as it is so scarce in consequence of the mode of preparation, from £1 to £5 an inoculation is being charged by those who are in possession of the virus, and the hospital doctors who are anxious to begin a course of experiments on their patients have to restrain their scientific ardor while their more fortunate medical brethren are filling their pockets with fees. It must not be supposed that Koch is a party to any such discreditable practices, but if his boon is so precious to humanity and he desires to gain nothing but the praises due to a benefactor of mankind, he should give his secret to the world as Jenner, for example, nobly and freely gave his.

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We may be on the eve of a medical discovery equal, if not far surpassing, that of Jenner's, but there can be no harm in restraining our enthusiasm till we have more information, and the many points are cleared up which demand time for the process. We are but just recovering from the disappointment consequent on the pricking of the Pasteur bubble, and the story of Koch's comma bacillus in connection with cholera is too fresh in our memory to permit us to rush open. armed on the newest of the medical Messiahs. It will be profitable to recall the events in connection with the cholera discovery. the outbreak of the disease in 1884-5, when it appeared first in Egypt, Dr. Koch was sent by the German Government to undertake a research at Alexandria. consequence of his investigations he came to the conclusion that the disease was caused by a minute rod-shaped organism, which he called the bacillus. Soon after this he was sent to Bombay, where cholera was present, and then he announced the discovery of a microphyte characteristic of cholera, which he christened the "comma bacillus" because of its curved shape. But the majority of Indian surgeons were strongly opposed to this opinion, and the late Dr. Timothy Lewis, the discoverer of the Filaria sanguinis (a parasite of the

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human blood), stated that the so-called bacillus is frequently to be met with in the mouths of perfectly healthy persons, and it was also found in cases of diarrhoea hy Prior and Tischler, in Germany. Dr. Klein and Dr. Heneage Gibbs were ther sent to India by the English Government to undertake researches on the subject, with the result that their report was unfavorable to the theory put forth by Dr. Koch. In 1885, the Royal Society, in conjunction with the Medical Research Association, sent Dr. Roy, Professor of Pathology at Cambridge, to investigate cholera, then prevalent in Spain. Dr. Sherrington was also sent to Italy to undertake a similar enquiry shortly after.

The result of all these investigations is distinctly adverse to Koch's theory. Dr. Burdon Sanderson and a Committee appointed by the Crown to examine and report on the evidence arrived at similar conclusions. Some bacteriologists, it appears, make no difficulty in catching for us a bacillus for nearly every disease. The trouble is what to do with the bacilli when caught; if Dr. Koch cannot kill them for us, it seems improbable that the destruction of some of the tuberculous tissues will avail for any great length of time to cure consumption. At any rate it is much too early to sound peans of victory over the terrible disease. With every wish to do the utmost honor to the good intentions of the great scientist, it seems a grave error on his part to have announced his incomplete discoveries at the Berlin Congress, when he must have been aware that his great reputation would give wings to his words and carry his premature ideas to the

ends of the world. Relying on experiments on dogs and guinea-pigs, but with no clinical experience to guide him, he sets in motion a medical agitation of the most disturbing character, which may have, and probably has already had, consequences which he would be the first to deplore. No consumptive patient with intelligence enough to read and understand stirring intelligence in the daily press will be satisfied without a prolonged visit to Berlin, or at least the injection of the famous elixir at whatever risk and cost. If the inventor himself is not yet quite sure of his ground, and is often surprised at the effects which his inoculations produce, how much more difficult will the work be in the hands of his pupils, how dangerous in the still less experienced practitioner at a distance! We read of an Italian physican who offered 5000 marks for a supply of lymph for a rich patient in his own country. many of the great host of consumptives will be able to bear the cost of a visit to Berlin and the high fees that, probably, will be demanded, but how many poor folk will be tempted to make sacrifices of their means, and to brave the risk of removal to an inclement climate in the depth of winter, led to expect so far too much from this discovery, of which the discoverer himself can, or will, tell so little. we read of the crowds of invalids who are flocking to Berlin from the better hygienic conditions under which they have been placed at home or abroad, we can but anticipate for them in most cases bitter disappointment, and in almost every one a great risk of a fresh stimulus to their malady.-Fortnightly Review.

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A NOVEMBER NOTE,

BY ALFRED AUSTIN.

I.

WHY, throstle, do you sing
In this November haze

Singing for what? for whom?

Deem you that it is Spring,
Or that your woodland lays

Will stave off Winter's gloom?

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A RUSSIAN SECRET STATE TRIAL.

I. LOPATINE'S CAREER.

BY ADOLPHE SMITH.

MADAME TSCHEBRIKOVA, in her bold letter to the Czar, sought to demonstrate how the most pacific and moderate-minded persons were driven into the ranks of the revolutionists. This is the lesson conveyed by Madame Tschebrikova's noble act of self-sacrifice. Fortunately Madame Tschebrikova's letter has received a wide publicity, and, by awakening the indignation of the civilized world, will certainly have a greater effect on Russian autocracy than if, as it too often happens in similar

cases, the whole incident was buried in silence. Therefore it is essential to bring into broad daylight other dark, nefarious attempts to conceal unwelcome truths. As a pendant to Madame Tschebrikova's unceasing efforts, the career of Lopatine should be related and known in all civilized countries. They both believed in progress by gradual development and legal means; and both had finally to confess that in Russia this is not possible. The whole of your system," says Madame Tschebrikova to the Czar, pushes those who are dissatisfied into the camp of the revolution

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ists, even those who feel a strong and natural repulsion for all ideas of blood and violence." Then, after describing how even young boys are condemned to exile in Siberia, she exclaims: "The youth of the country thus trampled upon become red revolutionists. I have a horror of bloodshed, no matter who may be the victim; but when, for the spilling of blood, we find that on one side decorations are distributed, and on the other there is but the rope and the gibbet, it is easy to understand the sympathies of young, enthusiastic and heroic youths."

The story of Madame Tschebrikova's life-struggle has been described in the col umns of the Times. It is known how she devoted twenty-five years of her life and the greater part of her fortune to develop the superior education of women in Russia, how the nurses who had been trained in her schools so distinguished themselves on the field of battle as to elicit the special and personal praise of the Czar Alexander II. Yet these schools never received any help from the Government, but were, on the contrary, suppressed by the Czar Alexander III. Battled in every legal effort, however moderate, Madame Tschebrikova at last committed the political crime of writing her now celebrated letter to the Czar. For this she was at once imprisoned, and, according to the latest advices, if these are reliable, has been sent into exile, without, of course, any such superfluous concession to Liberal ideas as that of instituting a trial. Nor was this omission any great loss, considering how political trials are organized in Russia. The secret State trial of Lopatine and his colleagues, which will be a secret no longer, will serve to show that political prisoners have not much to gain by being tried. They may just as well allow themselves to be condemned by "administrative order,' and dispense with the empty ceremony of a trial. This, and the story of Lopatine's career, will confirm the conclusion forced on Madame Tschebrikova that legal methods are unavailing in Russia.

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Though more than three years have passed since Lopatine and other prominent Nihilists were tried and convicted, details concerning this remarkable case only emerged from the secrecy in which they were enveloped long after the event. The trial commenced on May 26, 1887, at St. Petersburg; but the public were rigorous

ly excluded from the court, and the proceedings kept strictly secret. It happened, nevertheless, that, even among the most trusted servants of the Government, there were one or two persons who secretly sympathized with the prisoners. These friends, in the course of time, contrived to give a description of the trial and secure a copy of the records of the court. After overcoming many difficulties, this account has been smuggled out of the country, is now in safe hiding, and I have been privileged to look over these documents, taking notes of the points that seemed the most interesting. It is not an easy matter to convert into an abbreviated narrative such lengthy proceedings. This characteristic page of contemporary Russian history cannot be lightly treated. Nor would it be possible to thoroughly appreciate the importance of the trial without describing the career of the extraordinary personage who was the principal prisoner. This sketch will serve to show how difficult it is for a Russian to draw the line between legal and illegal action. Lopatine, it is therefore necessary to explain, was only twenty-one years old when he was persuaded to join the party formed by Netchaieff. The wonderful conspiracies conceived and carried out by Netchaieff, while he was confined in the celebrated prison of Peter and Paul, were fully related in a lengthy article entitled, The Father of Russian Terrorism," published by the Times on February 2, 1884. members of Netchaieff's party had deter mined to fire upon the Czar Alexander II., and their plot culminated in the Karakozoff attempt. But the party, at that time, had not taken Lopatine into their confidence. As a body, they were extremely austere, gloomy, and puritanical in their conduct, while Lopatine was, on the contrary, exceptionally gay and light-hearted. His jovial disposition had excited the suspicions of his companions. Nevertheless, when nearly all the leaders were arrested, the party was forced, by sheer necessity, to confide more in Lopatine, and it was then only that they began to appreciate his true value. By thus associating with revolutionists, he awakened the suspicions of the police, and was first arrested in 1866.

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Lopatine thereupon exaggerated his apparently gay and reckless disposition. Nikiforaki, who was then the chief of the

Third Section, or political police, was thoroughly deceived, and he released Lopatine on the supposition that he was a wild, infatuated, and dissipated youth. Having thus easily escaped from the clutches of the law, Lopatine now thought of organizing what were called the Rolling Rouble Societies. The object of these associations was to collect rouble subscrip. tions so as to send emissaries into the provinces to teach the peasantry to read, and, by thus elevating the people, to prepare them for the acquisition of freedom. It was, therefore, a perfectly legal society; but several of its members also took part in Netchaieff's efforts; and the Government sought to connect the two movements, though there was no connection between them. This led to Lopatine's second arrest, and matters now were not so easily arranged. Condemned to "administrative expulsion," he was ordered to reside with his parents in the Caucasus. Lopatine's father was a General in the army, living at that time on very intimate terms with the Governor of Stravropol, a province of the Caucasus. Supported by the influence arising from his friendship, Lopatine was appointed "Private Secretary of the province," and many important papers were confided to him by the Governor. In a short time, Lopatine was able to render considerable services in subduing a revolt that had taken place among the peasantry. This he did by bringing forward legal arguments in favor of the peasants' claims. But Lopatine was too intelligent to be satisfied with his position, and the semi-barbarians by whom he was surrounded. He therefore made his escape.

At that time Peter Lavroff was leading a miserable life of exile in the arid and uncivilized district of Kadnikoff, in the government of Voloda. Lavroff was surrounded by impracticable and timid. friends, who did not know how to compass his escape. It is said that Lopatine determined to assist in this work of liberation, and therefore made a détour, came upon Lavroff, and took him away. How this was done is not related, but all accounts agree in saying that Lopatine showed the most marvellous presence of mind, being able to understand and weigh the smallest details, and judge what was useful and what was dangerous. While thus engaged, he could carry on scientific NEW SERIES-VOL. LIII., No. 1.

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and instructive discussions, deceiving admirably all around him as to his real individuality and purpose. made their escape, Lavroff settled in Paris, and Lopatine now set to work to translate Das Kapital into Russian. He thus became intimately acquainted with Dr. Kail Marx and Mr. Frederick Engels. Dr. Karl Marx always declared that Lopatine was his truest and most interesting critic. active and restless to remain long in one place, Lopatine made several journeys to Switzerland and other countries in order to study the condition of the Russian refugees. He found them living lives rendered all the more wretched by the squabbles and quarrels that arose within their own. ranks. To appease these dissensions and unite these scattered forces, he conceived. the idea of bringing forward some one personality of such undoubted authority and trustworthiness as would group the party into a compact body and put an end to all disputes. For this purpose he selected Tchernichevski, and started for Siberia to study the life and surroundings,. and plan the escape, of that celebrated exile and scholar, who had popularized in Russia the works of John Stuart Mill and. other great English writers.

When Lopatine determined to carry out. this hazardous expedition, he did not know precisely where Tchernichevski was confined. To give himself an excuse for asking many questions, he pretended to be a. member of the Russian Geographical Society; but the people who talked to him found he possessed such exceptional knowl-edge that they suspected he was a secret einissary of the Government sent to con-trol local administrations. A mysterious. telegram, however, coming from Geneva,. probably from some police spy, warned the authorities of his real object, and Lopatine was arrested at Irkutsk. His impris onment did not divert him from the main object he had in view. On the contrary, he obtained more information concerning Tchernichevski within the walls of the prison than he had done outside. now concluded that the casiest way of liberating him would be to organize a party disguised as police agents, and, with the aid of false papers, claim the prisoner. This scheine, conceived by Lopatine, was subsequently attempted by Michskin, but failed.

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Lopatine had always very carefully

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