I have found them in the urine of persons suffering or having suffered from intermittent fever.
When I was at the Naval Hospital in Brooklyn one of the accomplished assistant surgeons, after I had showed him some plants in the urine, said he had often encountered them in the urine of ague cases, but did not know their significance. I might multiply evidence, but think it unnecessary. I am not certain that my testimony will convince any one save myself, but I know that I had rather have my present definite, positive belief based on this evidence, than to be floundering on doubts and uncertainties. There is no doubt that the profession believe that intermittents have a cause; but this belief has a vagueness which cannot be represented by drawings or photograph. Since I have photographed the Gemiasma, and studied their biology, I feel like holding on to your dicta until upset by something more than words.
In relation to the belief that no Algæ are parasitic, I would state on Feb. 9, 1878, I examined the spleen of a decapitated speckled turtle with Professor Reinsch. We found various sized red corpuscles in the blood in various stages of formation; also filaments of a green Alga traversing the spleen, which my associate, a specialist in Algology, pronounced one of the Oscillatoriaceæ. These were demonstrated in your own observations made years ago. They show that Algæ are parasitic in the living spleen of healthy turtles.
This leads to the remark that all parasitic growths are not nocent. I understand you take the same position. Prof. Reinsch has published a work in Latin, "Contributiones ad Algologiam," Leipsic, 1874, in which he gives a large number of drawings and descriptions of Algæ, many of them entophytic parasites on other animals or Algæ. Many of these he said were innocent guests of their host, but many guest plants were death to their host. This is for the benefit of those who say that the Gemiasmas are innocent plants and do no harm. All plants, phanerogams or cryptogams, can be divided into nocent or innocent, etc., etc. I am willing to change my position on better evidence than yours being submitted, but till then call me an indorser of your work as to the cause and treatment of ague.
Respectfully, yours, ------
There are quite a number of others who have been over my ground, but the above must suffice here.
PLATE X.--EXPLANATION OF FIGURES.--1, Spore with thick laminated covering, constant colorless contents, and dark nucleus. B, Part of the wall of cell highly magnified, 0.022 millimeter in thickness. 2, Smaller spore with verruculous covering. 3, Spore with punctulated covering. 4, The same. 5, Minute spores with blue-greenish colored contents, 0.0021 millimeter in diameter. 6, Larger form of 5. 7, Transparent spherical spore, contents distinctly refracting the light, 0.022 millimeter in diameter. 8, Chroococcoid minute cells, with transparent, colorless covering, 0.0041 millimeter in diameter. 9, Biciliated zoospore. 10, Plant of the Gemiasma rubra, thallus on both ends attenuated, composed of seven cells of unequal size. 11, Another complete plant of rectangular shape composed of regularly attached cells. 12, Another complete, irregularly shaped and arranged plant. 13, Another plant, one end with incrassated and regularly arranged cells. 14, Another elliptical shaped plant, the covering on one end attenuated into a long appendix. 15, Three celled plant. 16, Five celled plant. 10-16 magnified 440/1.
I wish to conclude this paper by alluding to some published investigations into the cause of ague, which are interesting, and which I welcome and am thankful for, because all I ask is investigations--not words without investigations.
The first the Bartlett following: