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GERMANY 303 GERM THEORY tinuation of German laws and regula- tions in so far as they do not contradict the new constitution. The people accepted the new constitu- tion with comparative calmness. There continued to be, however, internal dis- sensions and industrial troubles. On January 13, 1920, a mob of 50,000 per- sons gathered in front of the Reichstag building, and overwhelmed the military guard. The police were obliged to use bombs and machine guns to suppress the riot, and over 40 persons were killed. A counter-revolution against President Ebert's government, inspired by Pan- Germans, suddenly broke out on March 13. Wolfgang Kapp proclaimed himself chancellor. President Ebert fled to Stutt- gart, but immediately proclaimed a gen- eral strike of workmen, which spread throughout the country, stopping all transportation and cutting off food and water for the cities. Dr. Kapp resigned on March 17, and Gustav Noske, Minis- ter of Defense, assumed charge of the government. President Ebert returned on March 21. The radical elements among the workmen began a second rev- olution in the industrial centers. They captured Essen and other towns and demanded the resignation of Noske. The Ebert government agreed to this and the rioting ceased. Elections were held on June 6, 1920, for the first Reichstag under the republican government. The majority Socialists won 112 seats, the Independents 81, the Centrists 67, and the German Nationalists 65. The Reichs- tag, on July 31, passed a bill abolishing compulsory military service. The gov- ernment ordered general disarmament of the civilian population and this was carried on throughout the remainder of the year. The Allied Powers found considerable difficulty in enforcing the terms of the Treaty of Peace. The question of rep- arations was the most difficult. Ger- many insisted on being told the exact amount which would be exacted and the terms upon which it was to be paid. The Allied governments, however, refused until February, 1921, to give explicit terms. It was then announced that the sum of the indemnity would be practi- cally 59 billion dollars, to be paid during an indefinite period. A meeting was held in London in March, 1921, to con- sider the method of payment and Ger- man delegates were invited tg be present. They protested against this sum levied upon Germany, and proposed instead an indemnity of about $7,000,000,000. This proposal was rejected by the Allies and the German delegates withdrew. Fol- lowing this, the Allied forces, composed chiefly of French troops, marched into Germany, taking possession of the cities of Diisseldorf, Duisburg, and Ruhrort. This occupation was accomplished with- out any hostility on the part of the in- habitants of these cities. The German Emperor, having fled into Holland, for several years resided at the Castle of Amerongen, under the pro- tection of the Dutch Government. He afterward purchased an estate at Doom. The Crown Prince had fled to the island of Wieringen, where he remained a practical exile, although he was per- mitted from time to time to visit his father and mother. See World War; Peace Treaty, and the articles on the various German states. GERMERSHEIM (ger'mers-him) , a town of the Bavarian Palatinate, occupy- ing a marshy site on the left bank of the Rhine, 8 miles S. S. W. of Spires. Founded in 1276, it fell into the hands of the French in 1644, 1674, and 1688; and in 1793 the Austrians here defeated the French. GERMINAL (zhar-mi-nal') , the 7th month of the first French republican calendar, March 21 — April 19. GERM THEORY OF DISEASE, the theory that certain diseases are com- municated from an infected person to an uninfected one by li'ing organisms which gain access to the body of the afflicted person by the air or food, or drink, and which, growing and multiplying in the body they invade, produce the changes characteristic of the particular disease. The period during which the living parti- cles of contagious matter retain their vi- tality, like the rate of their growth and multiplication, varies in diflferent cases, but it is limited in all. Few, if any, re- sist the destructive influence of a tem- perature of 300° F., while most succumb at the temperature of 200° or even less, particularly if exposed for some time. Animal poisons generally are destroyed by boiling, and clothes, sheets, etc., in- fected, may be rendered pure by being exposed to a temperature of 300° F. These living organisms are grouped to- gether as microbes or micro-organisms, and are divided into different classes. The micrococcus is a round form about the 32,000th of an inch in size, and mul- tiplies by fission. The bacterium is rod- shaped, about the 10,000th of an inch long, with rounded ends; it also multi- plies by fission. The bacillus is a third form also rod-shaped, and somewhat larger than the bacterium. They often form long chains or threads, and increase by division and by spore formation. Vi- brio and spirillum are somewhat similar forms; and, like the others, increase with