tion of truth not originated within the pale
of the profession itself. I cannot better conclude this portion of my
story than by reading to you an extract from a letter addressed to me
some time ago by Dr. William Budd, of Clifton, to whose insight and
energy the town of Bristol owes so much in the way of sanitary
improvement.

'As to the germ theory itself,' writes Dr. Budd, that is a matter on
which I have long since made up my mind. From the day when I first
began to think of these subjects I have never had a doubt that the
specific cause of contagious fevers must be living organisms.

'It is impossible, in fact, to make any statement bearing upon the
essence or distinctive characters of these fevers, without using terms
which are of all others _the most distinctive of life_. Take up the
writings of the most violent opponent of the germ theory, and, ten to
one, you will find them full of such terms as "propagation,"
"self-propagation," "reproduction," "self-multiplication," and so on.
Try as he may--if he has anything to say of those diseases which is
characteristic of them--he cannot evade the use of these terms, or the
exact equivalents to them. While perfectly applicable to living
things, these terms express qualities which are not only inapplicable
to common chemical agents, but, as far as I can see, actually
inconceivable of them.'

Cotton-wool Respirator.

Once, then, established within the body, this evil form of life, if
you will allow me to call it so, must run its course. Medicine as yet
is powerless to arrest its progress, and the great point to be aimed
at is to prevent its access to the body. It was with this thought in
my mind that I ventured to recommend, more than a year ago, the use of
cotton-wool respirators in infectious places. I would here repeat my
belief in their efficacy if properly constructed. But I do not wish
to prejudice the use of these respirators, by connecting them
indissolubly with the germ theory. There are too many trades in
England where life is shortened and rendered miserable by the
introduction of matters into the lungs which might be kept out of
them. Dr. Greenhow has shown the stony grit deposited in the lungs of
stonecutters. The black lungs of colliers is another case in point.
In fact, a hundred obvious cases might be cited, and others that are
not obvious might be added to them. We should not, for example, think
that printing implied labour where the use