Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-02-15

fiJal- 'iHfN. NfiB re
from its safe imprisonment. and wa
working its malign will upon q band Q
unoffending and most unsuspecting vic
TINS. The first week in Septembel
found. in each of these seven houses
cases of diphtheria, typhoid fever o
cefebrO- spinal meningitis. Members Q
the families who had been abse 1T durin
the excavation escaped, proving conciu
sively that the cause was local OF tn
victims some died, some recovered ate
a protracted siege of suffering, and one
at least, was left with such . weight O
infirmity and disability, thst when
three years after, death put all end t
her misery, every one, even her parents
said THANK God" sA
Now that all these diseases have beer
demonstrated to be produced by "blood
poisoning" " and are scientifically class
ed as preve1atible, it is no wonder tha
among the survivors should be fount
this splendidly aggressive enemy o
malaria, who has borne his honorabl,
share in the redemption of blightet
Memphis. and whose pen and voice ar
i sleeplessly active against the '.pestilenc'
that walketh in Darkness" j. e., hide
4 itself ina mantle of invisibility.
Exactly what was this decimating IL
h fuence which emanated from tina
freshly turned earth under the torrit
July sun? Exactly how did it wori
such deadly mischief? The potent de.
mon was-malaria and at the risk o.
being a little technical, we will try tc
examine it in the light of the latest
10 cientific discoveries. p9gGs gdI
The definition of malaria is bad AIR
Which six letters are the synonym of The
fru itful source of a countless multitude
Of h uman miseries. A constant supply
of good air-that pure, elastic fluid
whic b surrounds US on every side, and
which,, to emphasize its supreme uses
is called the vital air-is absolutely es
sential to the maintenance of life. Cut
off that supply for few minutes from
the most robust mamie is dead! II
fulfils its functions by passing into the
lungs in respiration; there it revitalizes
the blood, every drop of which is esti
mated to pass through our lungs three
times in every minute. Load this all
with minute. particles SAY of ether
mingling With the blood. work impor-
tant changes in the entire body. rs
The dwellers beside the trench of up
turned earth, breathed in along with
their vital air the invisible, jnpalpable,
and altogether iInperceptibie particles
which constitute malaria--a ''spirit OF
earth, {" which has wrought its cruel will
among the children of men unchalleng
ed. for thousands of years but in this
blessed, progressive, nineteenth century
it finds itself confronted by an army OF
patiently peering scien lists, who have
trained" myriad Of compound and
double compound lenses on it, and com.
PEELED it to give up its secret.
Take q portion of any vegetable-e. g
the beet or some grapes-crash them.
add little water, let the mixture stand
a short time, then pour off the liquid,
and you have the simplest form of vege
table infusion. Allow it to remain ex-
posed to the air at the ordinary tempera
ture, and shortly change will be found
to have passed over it, which is popular
ly called "souring." but which is
fermentation, and takes place as follows:
! The air is full of microscopic ''germs," F."
or ''spores," or ''cells"-the beginnings
Of life-which only need the right soil,
or matrix, to grow or develope. Let a
\ grain of corn remain in your coat pOck-
\ et-it will stay grain of corn but drop
4 il in some fertile spot of earth. and it
changes into tall-plumed spike, bear
\ ing many thousands of 81 milar grains.
| The glucose of the infusions is related
lto these universally diffused spores, Just
AS the waiting earth is to the grain OF
corn and spore which might have
stayed spore thousand years but for
the infusion, finds it's divinely. adapted
environment, lives its life. dies its death,
ana fulfils its mysterious but appointed
part in the economy of nature. 1t is SO
s.nall that it takes more than 5000 OF
them, ranged in line. to measure an
inch! But seen through q glass, in
which a hair looks like liberty pole,
with aste rnate branches trimmed off on
either side, its behavior is completely
visible. Cine spore having eaten its in
finitesimal morsel of glucose, it instant
ly becomes two; these, in turn. appro-
pirate their modicum of glucose, and at
once double; so that, by swift progress
sion, the natE re of the infusion Is chang
edit may be into alcohol, 1t may be
into something with boundless power
for mischief, to which science has not
yet fitted a name. Different forms OF
decaying vegetable life seem tc be adapt
GQ IOr CQ6 uOuIlSuu Cuc "a uihCi 0h Y hAAOo
of ferments, or infu. sOria.
Again If you let Y little beef's blood
stand exposed to the air, au analogous
change called putrefu, :tion takes place
in it, through the agency of still small
Ter devourer, the b0cteriaws ternao-the
albumen of the blood rep v.senting the
soil. Here is Prof 1. c. D.slton's de-
scription of the process: "W hLe actively
growing in putrefying infusion, they
are in constant process of i00ttlpllca-
ton by which their numbers are rapid
ly increased. The multiplication takes
place by spontaneous division OF the cell
by transverse partition which grows
across its middle After time the two
cells thus formed out of single one
separate from each other, and each re-
peats the process for ITSELF"
After the destructive mites have ap-
propriated every infinitesimal particle
Of glucose to be found in our animal and
v egetable solutions, each liquid becomes
c. ear, and layer of par rticles is found at
tt ie bottom which can b frozen into a
dc ,rmant state, or boiled so that theiI
vi tality Is destroyed: but as drop one
tn ree-thousandth of an ip ch in diameter
co, ltains one of these tiny creatures OF
Go d, very little of either added to its
apl ,ropriate animal or vegeta BILE prepara
tiol 4, at once sets up Its destructive, fol
oui infusion, though perhaps very good
alc ,hol, is no longer harmless treacle
or grape Juice; and our clarified and
tral isformed beef g blood would constl
tnte, very poor fluid to course through
the veins and build up the tissues OF the
living bullock. II
A cabbage leaf thrown out at the back
door of the "Irishman's shanty" grad
ually, as it decays, absorbs moisture, SO
that it forms very respectable 'soiu
tion;' and nature will not be slow Ia
exciting the productive energies OF the
univers ally diffused germs, which are
only W aiting to find their appropriate
In the dish water which
rinsed the utensils used in coo king the
animal food of the family, and which
too otter, is thrown out the side of the
cabbage leaf, or into the shallowest kind
of an one q drain, is found ready made