postulate
(pos´tu-lāt)
a proposition that is assumed or taken for granted.
postulate of causality
the postulate that every phenomenon has a cause or causes, i.e., that events do not occur at random but in accordance with
physical laws so that in principle causes can be found for each effect.
Koch postulates
a statement of the kind of experimental evidence required to establish the causative relation of a given microorganism to
a given disease. The conditions are: 1, the microorganism is present in every case of the disease; 2, it is to be cultivated
in pure culture; 3, inoculation of such culture must produce the disease in susceptible animals; 4, it must be obtained from
such animals, and again grown in a pure culture.
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