The Bacteriologist (The Stolen Bacillus)

Overview

The Bacteriologist is the unnamed scientist who receives a visitor carrying an apparent introduction from an old friend. He demonstrates microscopic specimens and enjoys the visitor's fascination. The narration identifies rhetoric as his weakness: rather than simply explaining his work, he dwells on its frightening possibilities. His later confession to his wife Minnie reveals a more specific deception. To astonish the stranger, he has falsely identified a specimen as a deadly disease. The story therefore turns on his performance of scientific authority as well as on the visitor's intentions.

When Minnie briefly calls him away, the visitor leaves with the specimen. Discovering it missing, the scientist rushes into the street hatless and in carpet slippers; one slipper comes off during the pursuit. Minnie follows in another cab with his hat, shoes and light overcoat, believing his behaviour irrational. Her description supplies his velveteen coat, while the final encounter identifies his spectacles. The cabmen treat the succession of vehicles as an entertaining race. These ordinary clothes and the domestic chase give the scientist a comic identity distinct from an ominous inventor or a supernatural figure.

The visitor eventually declares that he has swallowed the stolen liquid and believes he can spread fatal illness. The scientist checks an explanation and watches him depart, then tells Minnie what the specimen really was: an experimental bacterium which, in his account, has coloured animals blue. He explicitly cannot say what will happen to the man. No ensuing epidemic, death or blue transformation is narrated. His laughter and concern about replacing the specimen make an uneasy ending: his irresponsible lie has met the stranger's murderous ambition, and the reader learns the correction only after the chase. His speculative judgement about the visitor's ethnicity belongs to the character's prejudice, not to an established ancestry.

First appearances & development

Individual character in H. G. Wells’s authored English fiction; retained historical collection title, not a real case report.

Canon & continuity

Complete selected 51-paragraph tale including its narrative framing and ending; complete original title, dedication, acknowledgments and contents.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents

   H. G. Wells · 1895

   Selected tale: The Stolen Bacillus. Retained dated title transcription; no independent physical-copy or first-appearance verification.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary authored English fictionThe Stolen Bacillus - complete historical authored textResearch access: 2026-10-21

Image credits

Original AI literary interpretation.