As there have been no epoch-making discoveries in bacteriology during the past year, I shall not confine my remarks to what has been brought to light during that time, but rather attempt to show what bacteriology of to-day is in its relation to the sphere of medicine, and incidentally mention a few of the resuts of more recent investigation.
While bacteriology is still in its infancy, and thousands of bacteriologists are devoting their best energies to the development of the science in its various phases and along different lines, we are all of us aware that the benefits which it already affords to the practitioner and to the public are manifold and far-reaching. Though broad in their scope, they are definite and tangible. Some of the most patent ways in which bacteriology has contributed to the advancement of medicine are: 1, in affording a quick and certain diagnosis; 2, in