Abstract
In latter 19th century, explosive growth of bacteriology transformed both theory and practice of medicine. This success, of course, depended on advances made in other disciplines, yet in popular mind theory of became symbol of progress in medical science. Today word has no scientific standing. If used at all in lay speech, it refers to bacteria or other infectious agents that cause disease. This usage, however, has only a slender connection with original meaning, namely, something primordial or rudimentary, out of which something mature will develop. We see this sense in metaphorical phrase, the germ of an idea. In earlier 19th century, meaning of was explicitly that of a seed out of which something will grow, and connection of seeds and disease expanded gradually over a tortuous route. At that time, three
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