, 1876-11-12
GERMS OF PESTILENCE.

GERMS OF PESTILENCE.
The Process of FerInentation-Virulcnt In.
fictitious Diseases-Fearful Ravages Due to
Atmospheric Dust.
/ Edlnourg Scotsman, Oct. 70
The first OF q series Of science lectures to be
given in Glasgow during the winter months goq
delivered IN the City Hall last night By Prof:
Tynda1l, the subject being tFermentation. .
about fermentation, not in a metaphorical, but
in the real sense, and he was perfectly certain
that the only thing needed to make the subject
interesting was suitable treatment. Our knUwl-
cred was augmented greatly Of late, and eye1y
fresh acquisition confirmed the hope that
its final issues would be OF incalculable adyaa-
tage to mankind. One Of the most remarkable
characteristics of tbs age was its tendency to
connect itself organfcaily with the preceding
ages. Our forefatlers may have been sa7ages'
but they must have been clever and obseryant
ones (laughtcrl, having fully explained the pro-
cess OF fermentation. In Pasteur's researches
tho bactarium remained bactarie:m, the vibrio
torula torula- Sow any Of these iu a state Of
purity tn m appropriate liquid and you get it,
] and it alone, in the subsequent crop. In like
manner SOW smallpox in the human body, your
crop is smallpox: SOW scglatina, and
cholera. The disease bears as constant q
relation to its contagium as the microscopic Or
ganEs1ns enumerated do to their germs, or rs
| thistle does to its seed. No wonder, then, with
| aualogles so obvious aud 50 striking, that the
| conviction was spreading and growing daily IN
| strength, that reproductive and parasitic lie Is
at the root OF epidemic disease. The living fer
J ments finding lodgment in the body, increase
there aud multiply directly, running the tissue
on which they subsist, or destroying life indi-
rectly. BY the generation Of poisonous com7
pounds within tho body. This conclusion,
! which came to us with presumption almost
amounting to demonstration, was clincbed bv
] the fact that virulent infectious diseases had
been discovered with which living organisms
were as closely and as intlissoluby associated ct
] the growth Of toru1a is with fermentation Of
beer; and here, if they would permit him, he
would utter word Of warning to well-mcaning
people.
They had now reached a phase of this ques-
tion when it was Of the very last importance
that light should once for all be thrown upon
the manner in which Contagious and infectious
diseases took root and SPREAD. To this end the
action Of various ferments upon the organs and
tissues Of the living body must be studied; the
habits Of each special organism concerned III the
production Of each specific disease must be de-
tcrnlncd, and the mode By which its germs
we're spread abroad Us sources Of further in-
fcctlon- It was only by such rigidly accurate
inquiries that we could obtain final nnd COM
plcte mastery over these destroycrs. Henvr,
while abhorring cruelty OF nll kinds, while
shrinking sympathetically from all animal suf-
feringg,-sutfering which his own pursuits never
tall upon him to intlict,-au unbiased surrey
Of the feld OF research now opening out before
the psychologist, caused him TO conclude that
no greater calamity could bcfal1 the human
race than the stoppage OF experimental inquiry
in this direction. lady, whose philanthropy
has rendered her nlustrious, said to him, some
time ago, that science was becoming immoral;
that tile researches OF the past, unlike those of
DrHSaut. n1 IN
lie replied to her that the science Of kepier aud
Newton, to which she referred, dealt with the
law and phenomena OF inorganic matter, but
that one great ntlVance made by modern science
was In tue direction OF biology or the science ol
life, and that in this new direction scientitic In
uury, though ut the outset pursued at cost Of
some temporary suffering, would In the end
prove It Thousand times more beneficent than
he saw that the researches which tho
lady deprecated were leading us to such
knowledge Of epidemic diseases as
would enable us finally to sweep these scourges
Of m the human race from the face OF the Garth.
4 lie very first step toward tho cxtirpation Ut
these contagia was the knowledge Of thcir na-
turc. The question then, which he wished to
submit to their iudgment Was this: Was The
knowledge which revealed the nature and which
assures the cxtirpation Of disorder not well
'mportant that assemblies Ike the present =
Should clearly see the issucs at stake III such
questions is this, and tIat tue properly inform
"a common sense of the community should
temper, not restrain, the rashuess Of those
VINO, meaning to he tender, would virtually en-
net tue most hideous cruelty by the imposition
Of short-signted restrictions uuun physiological
lnVestisatlon. 1t was modern instance II
q: zsal 1or God, but not according to knowledge
The cxccsses which zeal co1nmitted. puhfic
opinion must correct
!, tnere we're other reflections connected with
LUIS SUBJECT which, even were he to puss them
over without remark, would sooner or later
1Icur ~ every thoughtful mind in that assem-
~. ne had spoken OF the floating dust Of the
III, and the means OF rendering it visible, aud
Inc perfect immunity from putrefaction
oAleh ACCOMPANIED the contact Of gernles5
nattef ,,h!. and lnotecss air: Consider the woes
prehistoric ages have inflicted on 1nankind: cou-
'luer the loss Of life in hospitals from putrefy-
us WOUNDS; consider the loss in places where
mere are plenty OF wounds but no hospitals,
..u hill. ~ she aees before hopitals were anywhere
ounded; consider the slaughter which has
hitherto followed that OF the battlefield, often
Jsoouc!ng n q mortality far greater than that Of
ne battle itself; add to this the other col-
eption that in times Of epidemic disease the
I,..s.. IoailnS matter has frequently, Il not
,mays, ay, mingled with it special germs which
'loauce tue epidemic, being thus enabled to
~" pest1icnce and death over nations and COZ
all this, and you will come to
ne ;1e conelnsion that al the havoc Of war, ten
'are3 n;ut..pl.eo, u.;.t would be evanesccnt com
'aseo er VIII M the ravagcs due to the atmospheric
ust lhls preyentablc destruction is going on
o~ua}3 Auu IL has been permitted to 20 On for
ges WITHOUT whisper of Information regard
y !ts cause to the suffering sentient world.
' e have been scourged BY invisible thongs, at
ackeu from lmpenetrable a1nbuscatcs mud It Is
my To-day that the light Of science is being let
J upon the murderous dominion Of our foes.
~ Ien . Oh GiassoW, facts like these excite in me
fr~r n%