Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-03-03
SCIENTIFIC.

SCIENTIFIC.
The SUPPOSED CAUSE OF SMALL-Pox
AND TYPHOID FKvER.-For many years,
in fact, since it was understood by men
Of science that the changes which We
call fermentation" were due to the
growth of very lowiy organized fungi in
the fermenting liquids, medical men
and Psychologists have had the notion
that certain diseases, those of the
zymotic class, such Is scarlet and
typhoid fevers and smallpox, may be
due also to the growth and activity
within the blood and tissues of the
human body, of lowly organized fungi.
Many times individuals have fancied
that they really had found the fungus
belonging to q particular disease. Thus
it was with the so-called cholera fungus
and again with other contagious dis
eases. More recently it has become a
scientific fact, that all
is due to the life OF minute
organisms known as Bacteria and it
has been shown that there is series of
varieties of putrefaction, each of which
has its special and appropriate Bacte-
rum as the cause, and that in the alb
sence of Bacteria or allied organism,
putrescible substances remain perfectly
sweet. Thus, in some putrefactions,
one kind of smell and corresponding
fetid chemical substances are pro-
duced in other putrefactions other
such fetid substances of a distinct
kind. Moreover, in some cases, the
special kind of Bacterium at work pro-
duces vivid coloring matter, red, or
green, or blue, according to the spe-
cies. Now these discoveries have helped
on considerably the acceptance of the
theory that many diseases are due to
the presence in the human body of
minute organisms. Just as there are
color-producing Bacteria, that is to
say, Bacteria, the effect of whose life
and multiplication in the blood or other
fluids of the tissues is to produce poi
sonous chemical conditions in those
fluids. There are certain diseases in
which Bacteria have been detected in
great quantity in the blood, and to
which we are justified theoretically in
attributing the disease. In the lower
animals, among silk-worms and other
very humble creatures, such diseases
have been very clearly traced to the
presence of enormous numbers of ex-
cessively minute and simple corpuscles,
which are of o similar nature to that of
heminute fungus-ike organisms known
as Bacteria. In man, there is no doubt
that the terribly fatal disease, known
as malignant pustule, is accompanied
by, and probably caused by, enormous
numbers of a minute Bacterium.
This fact has been established within
the last two or three years, as also the
fact that py@mia-the putrefaction of
the blood which follows after putrefac-
ton of wounds-is equally connected
with the presence of swarms of Bacteria
in the blood. Again, the swiftly fatal
and little known py@mic condition
which so recently took from us most
able physician, DIR. Anstie, was in all
probability another of these Bacterious
diseases. Now these facts stand upon
much surer and more numerous obser-
vations than any of the "fungoid theo-
ries" of disease which have before
engaged the attention of medical men.
We are really beginning to see light in
this matter. But must important of
all, and claiming really the very closest
attention at this moment, are the re-
Gently published discoveries of Prof.
Kline, of the Brown Institution in
London, an observer whose character
for accuracy and acuteness is so well
known, that .his statements may be
accepted with full reliance. DIR. Kline
has shown, and can still show by means
of his prepared microscopic sections,
that in the smallpox Of the sheep the
lymphatic vessels in the loose tissues
beneath the skin and elsewhere are
occupied by the branching filaments of
a fungus-like organism. In the pustules
which form on the surface these fila
ments give rise to minute rounded
spores, and it is these spores which
have been seen by other observers and
recognized as special 'corpuscles" of
the diseases small-po and vaccinia.
DR.. Kline's account of this organism is
published by the Royal Society. Fur
ther, DIR. Kline has extended his re-
searches to other Zymotic diseases, and
has published this month his results as
to typhoid fever. He has made the
most careful microscopic study of the
intestines, which become liberated, and
are the chief seat of mischief in typhoid.
DIR. Kline finds that minute round vel
lowish-green colored organisms are
present IN immense quantities, both in
the tissues of intestinal wall and in the
will on the surface At present, DIR.
Kline has not published figures of
nrfhar nf fhncn {ha f,n
of smallpox or the micrococei of ty-
phoid-but we may have sufficient con-
tidence in his accuracy as an observer,
and his entire freedom from theoretical
prepossession, to accept the result of
these researches as definitely establish
ing the parasitic origin of some, at any
rate, of the zymotic diseases. Athe-
n1uDi.
PHOTOGRAPHY ASA MEDICAL ASSISTANT.
Our papers make mention of a new
application of the camera that has been
accidentally discovered by a photo
grapher in Berlin. A young lady whose
blooming cheeks denoted apparently
perfect health, went to have her photo
graph taken, and was placed before the
instrument in the usual manner. On
examining the negative, the operator
discovered that the face was disfgured
with numberless very fine black spots.
A new plate having been prepared, the
same phenomenon occurred, which
completely mystified the operator, as
he had prepared the plates with the
greatest care, and he could detect
nothing in the face of the youno lady
to account for the disturbance. Two
more trials producing the same result,
he contented himself by hoping a re-
touching of the plates would remove
the fault. The third day after the hus-
band of the lady informed the operator
that his wife was stricken with small
pox.-Berlin Cor. Cincinnati Gazette.
JAPANESE BRoNzE.-A curious bronze
is produced in Japan, which. when
made in thin plates, resembles slate,
and is covered with designs in silver