The Stolen Bacillus Chapter Notes | Gul Mohar Class 8: Book Solutions, Summaries & Worksheets PDF Download

About the Author

Herbert George Wells (1866–1946) was an English writer renowned for his science fiction novels, including The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. His futuristic ideas, such as email, television, and genetic engineering, were visionary. The Stolen Bacillus combines science, suspense, and humor to explore the dangers of biological misuse and human folly.

Key Points

• A Bacteriologist shows a pale-faced visitor a cholera bacillus slide under a microscope, sparking the visitor’s morbid fascination.

• The visitor, an Anarchist, steals a tube of what he believes is live cholera bacteria, intending to poison London’s water supply.

• The Bacteriologist, realizing the theft, chases the Anarchist through London, hatless and in slippers, creating a comedic scene.

• The Anarchist breaks the tube in a cab, drinks the remaining contents, and defiantly spreads the “disease” by jostling people.

• The Bacteriologist reveals the tube contained a harmless bacterium that causes blue patches, not cholera, leading to a humorous twist.

Detailed Summary

The Stolen Bacillus is a short story by H.G. Wells that blends science fiction, suspense, and humor to explore the potential misuse of biological agents. The narrative unfolds in a Bacteriologist's laboratory where the protagonist, a scientist studying bacteria, receives a mysterious pale-faced visitor. The Bacteriologist demonstrates a microscope slide containing the Bacillus of cholera, explaining its microscopic appearance as "little streaks and shreds of pink" yet capable of multiplying and devastating a city. The visitor, appearing intrigued and slightly sinister, questions whether the bacteria are alive and dangerous. The Bacteriologist assures him the slide samples are stained and killed but reveals a sealed tube containing live cholera bacteria, describing it as "bottled cholera."

The visitor's eyes gleam with morbid pleasure at the tube's deadly potential. The Bacteriologist, noticing the man's haggard expression, lank black hair, and nervous manner, contrasts with his own scientific demeanor and elaborates dramatically on how the bacteria could spread through water supplies, infecting unboiled drinking water, wells, salads, and ices, punishing houses and reappearing in unexpected places. He envisions the pestilence "creeping along streets" and destroying the city before it could be contained, but stops abruptly, aware that rhetoric is his weakness.

The visitor nods, his eyes shining, and mentions Anarchists as fools for using bombs when such bacteria exist. Interrupted by a knock from the Bacteriologist's wife, the visitor checks his watch, claims he has wasted an hour, and hastily leaves, thanking the scientist for the interesting display. The Bacteriologist, reflecting on the man's gloating over the disease germs, suddenly realizes the tube is missing. Panicking, he rushes out hatless and in slippers, shouting for his wife, Minnie.

Minnie hears the door slam and sees the visitor entering a cab while her husband gestures wildly in pursuit, losing a slipper but not stopping. Assuming he's mad due to his "horrid science," Minnie grabs his shoes, hat, and overcoat, hails another cab, and instructs the driver to follow around Havelock Crescent to find a gentleman in a velveteen coat and no hat.

Meanwhile, the visitor, revealed as an Anarchist, crouches in his cab, gripping the stolen tube, feeling a mix of fear and triumph. He plans to break the tube into London's water supply to make the world notice him, avenging those who sneered at or neglected him. Spotting the pursuing Bacteriologist, he urges the cabman to speed up, offering money. In the sway, he accidentally breaks the tube, cursing as the contents spill. Determined not to fail, he drinks the remaining drop, accepting a "filthy death" as a martyr for anarchy.

Realizing escape is unnecessary, the Anarchist stops the cab in Wellington Street, awaiting his pursuer with arms folded and a defiant laugh. He announces, "Vive l'Anarchie! You are too late, my friend. I have drunk it. The cholera is abroad!" and strides toward Waterloo Bridge, jostling people to spread the infection.

The Bacteriologist, arriving breathless, recognizes him as an Anarchist and starts to respond but checks himself, a smile forming. Minnie arrives with his belongings, convinced of his madness. The Bacteriologist laughs and explains the twist: intending to astonish the visitor (unaware he was an Anarchist), he had shown a tube of a harmless new bacterium that causes blue patches on monkeys, not cholera. The Anarchist, mistaking it for cholera, has ingested it, potentially turning himself blue. The Bacteriologist laments the trouble of preparing more but finds the situation amusing, as it might make things "look blue" for the city in a literal, non-lethal sense.

The story covers all key elements: the laboratory demonstration, the theft and chase, the Anarchist's misguided triumph and self-sacrifice, and the ironic revelation, emphasizing themes of scientific responsibility, misunderstanding, and human eccentricity.

Theme

The story explores the dangers of scientific power, human folly, and the unpredictability of intent. It highlights how misunderstanding and reckless ambition can lead to chaos, tempered by humor and irony.

Message

The message is that scientific knowledge, when misused or misunderstood, can spark panic and chaos, but humor and perspective can defuse such situations. Wells suggests that fear and overzealous motives can amplify minor incidents, urging a balanced approach to science and its consequences.

Vocabulary