Abstract
AC the end of the nineteenth century, a new category of infective agents was discovered which are now classed as viruses, in the modern sense of the word. The chief property which unites them, and by which they have been distinguished from previously known minute parasites, is the extremely small size of their component particles, since these are smaller than bacteria, and many of them are not visible even with the highest powers of the microscope. Until quite recently, it was customary to speak of all viruses as invisible, but in some cases the minute granules of which the virus appears to consist can be clearly seen, when stained, by direct microscopic observation; but in most cases they cannot be distinguished by their shape, but only by their uniformity, numbers and their source in special parts of the diseased tissues. The recent investigations by Barnard with the ultra-microscope and photomicrography by ultra-violet light have added to our knowledge of their size and form.
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ARKWRIGHT, J. Viruses as the Cause of Disease. Nature 135, 718–721 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135718a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135718a0