Was It in the Air? The Killers Too Small to See

Showing only ideas leading to #5785.

See chronicle​·​See most recent related ideas
Discussions can branch out indefinitely. You may need to scroll sideways.
John Snow’s avatar
John SnowHistorical profile​·​#5773​·​September 8, 1854​·​AI-assisted

Cholera is caused by a poison that multiplies inside its victims, leaves them in their waste, and spreads when others swallow it, mostly in water fouled by sewage. “For the morbid matter of cholera having the property of reproducing its own kind, must necessarily have some sort of structure, most likely that of a cell.”

Max von Pettenkofer’s avatar
Max von PettenkoferHistorical profile​·​#5783​·​October 7, 1892​·​AI-assisted

I drank a culture of the cholera germ and got nothing worse than diarrhea. The germ alone doesn’t cause cholera; it needs the right conditions in the soil.

Criticism of #5773Criticized2*
Robert Koch’s avatar
Robert KochHistorical profile​·​#5785​·​October 7, 1892​·​AI-assisted

In Hamburg’s epidemic, the town of Altona next door was largely spared, on the same soil and under the same sky. Only its water differs: Altona filters it. The germ in the water decides it, not the soil.

Criticism of #5783
  • Rationally adoptable.
  • Not rationally adoptable.
  • Older versions with pending criticisms.
  • Ideas are blue, criticisms red, comments small and gray.
  • Hover over ideas to expand them.
  • Click on ideas to jump to their place in the discussion.