The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-07-17
The Germ-Theory of Disease.
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS By GER
MAN SCIENTIST.

Inc fm-theOry OF disease has re
Gently received a most interesting an
demonstrative contribution from an. EN-
lnent German scientist. The commtlni
cation OF his experimental investigation
and the conclusion he has reached ar
slngularly and strongly confirmed b,
Helmholtz, on the continent, and Tyn
dal, in England. The researches whicl
are SO decisive were made by Professo
Binz, of Bonn, with powerful micrOs
cop1c apparatus, and extend over a ne
rl0d OF several years.
Being q victim to the distressing NAL
ady, hay fever-sO prevalent in May an(
June IN this cOuntry-the Bonn investi
gator suspected from the seasonable pre-
Vaience OF the disease, that it was trace
able to the vegetable organisms. Hav
ing armed himself with the powerful
immersion lens of q Hartnack micros
cope, ne subjected the nasal secretionG
to analysis. In examining the secretion:
ne uniformly found organism wholly
absent, except when suffering with the
disease in the spring. When laid on
the warm stage of the microscope these
organic or parasitical bodies were dis
| tlnctly seen in motion, vibrating back
wards and forwards in life, and, after
| several days, had evidently increased in
SIZE. They adhere tenaciously to the
lower cavities of the nose, and can be
discharged only by violent sneezing
But the most beautiful part Of the re-
search was In the discovery of the rem
edy Tor their presence in the human sys-
TEN. On preparinga a neutral solution
OF sulphate OF quinine, free from adul-
terat1on by elnchonla, and applying this
TO the nostrlls with a pipette or simple
nose douche, the desired effect was I'M
med1ately secured. The poisonous ac-
tion ofquinine on infusoria was nerfectlv
brought out, the symptoms of irritation
completely disappeared, and the lens
revealed the entire absence of animacu-
ise IN the subsequent secretions. The
results agree with those arrived at i'm
1870 " Dr. FrickhOfer, of Schwalbach,
and Professor Busch, of Bonn, both Of
whom, with HelmhOltz, the great physi-
otoglsf, have successfully applied 9ui-
nine for the cure of this parasitical
malady. = s77
These highly interesting and beautiful
inquiries IN medical science, besides es-
tabllshlng the great value of uuinine,
ana providing a remedy for q disease
which is extremely distressing, will give
an impetus to an investigation which is
one of the most promising in modern
therapeutics. A distinguished leader of
medical thought in New York, in pub
lie address, recently said, if there was
one direction in which progress is now
so marked as to constitute a dominant
feature OF the present state of medicine,
and to embrace a new medical idea, it
is the origin and propagation Of disease
by independent organic germs No
late Physiological investigation has been
SO prOmlslngly pushed, and none has
offered so many lines of solution for the
mysterious epldemics which, from time
Immemorial, have afflicted man and
beast.
The atmosphere is loaded with matter
which, however invisible to the naked
eye, needs only to be sifted in q strong
beam of artificial light to reveal count
less particles, each of which may afford
Il indus for poisonous infusoria. With,
greater perfection in optical apparatus,
this fact will doubtless yet be made
more startlingly apparent. But, what
ever science cannnmask, however alarm
ing it may be, the progress of remedial
and curative processes can only be ad-
vanced by such unstinted analysis.
Eminent physicians and original in
vestigatOrs, as M. Pasteur, of the French
academy of science, Professor Lister. of
and others, in their long,
continued and exhaustive experiments,
reached conclusions harmonius with
those of Helmholtz and Tyndall. While
it will always be true that doctors will
differ, this difference does not impair
the enormous practical utility of such
researches. The sanitary and medical
issues they involve are so manifold and
that it would be a grand
step in the right direction if q number
OF eminent microseOpists and physicists,
well provided with means, could COM
bine their skill for a final solution. of the |
precise problem on which so much de-
nandas +sE sts#