[41] Every writer on the climate of Egypt has remarked, that the Endemic Fever which is so frequent, originating on the coast, particularly about Alexandria, becomes occasionally so virulent, that it cannot be distinguished from the true Plague.—Robertson on the Atmosphere, vol. 2. p. 384.
"Endemial Fevers of every situation become occasionally so aggravated, that they cannot be distinguished from such as originate from contagion; and in every unusual virulence of this Endemic Fever, it is probable that it may be propagated afterwards by contagion as every epidemic." Ibid. p. 388.
[42] Dr. Ure.
[43] "The metamorphosis of starch into sugar depends simply, as is proved by analysis, on the addition of the elements of water. All the carbon of the starch is found in the sugar; none of its elements have been separated, and except the elements of water, no foreign element has been added to it in this transformation."—Liebig, Organic Chemistry, p. 71.
[44] As regards starch there appears to be some peculiar faculty regarding it. It is converted into sugar during the ripening of fruit, and it is just possible that being as it is of a cellular nature, the property of vitality may attach to it until it has, by being converted into sugar, fulfilled its destination.
[45] Though I do not consider that the fermentation process is a fac-simile of diseased action, yet I think its phenomena generally afford an apt illustration of the changes which may be effected by living germs. Many able chemists still maintain the entire dependence of fermentation upon the Torula: "M. Blondeau propounds the view that every kind of fermentation is caused by the development of fungi."
The varieties of opinions found in the literature of this subject, forms a curious specimen of scientific enquiry, and is sufficient alone to convince us of its vast importance and extensive relations.
[46] By Dr. Mantell.
[47] Mitchell on Fevers.
[48] We wonder, and ask ourselves: "What does SMALL mean in Nature?"—Schleiden's Lectures on Botany.