The sun., 1882-08-27
Tyndail's Latest Essays.


book form a number OF essays by DR.. TYNDALL.
which treat OF the Floating Matter Of the Air.
and its relation to putrefaction and infection.
These papers will be read with keen interest
by those who appreciate the Importance OF the
services rendered by the antiseptic system Of
surgery based. as that system is. on the germ
theory Of disease.
From various illusions to It in the course OF
these papers We may collect Prof. Tyndalls
definition OF the germ theory. In preliminary
essay on the floating matter Of the air he points
out that there is no respite to our contact with
the substances thus held in suspension. We
not only suffer from their mechanical irrita-
tion. but there is growing belief that a portion
of this floating matter lies at the root Of class
OF disorders most deadly to man. What is this
portion Some time ago the current opin-
ion was that epidemic diseases generally
were propagated by a kind of malaria
which consisted Of organic matter in n
state OF motor decay; that when such
matter was taken into the body through the
lungs. skin. or stomach. it had the power of
spreading there the destroying process by
which itself had been assaulted. Such power
II was alleged. was visibly exerted in the case
OF yeast Here "a little leaven was seen to leaven
the whole lump-a mere speck OF matter in this
supposed state OF decomposition being ap-
parently competent to propagate indefinitely
its own decay. In 1896, however. an uncSpect-
ed reply was given to this question by Cagn!ard
de la Tour who discovered the yeast plant. IL
living organism which. when placed in proper
medium. feeds. grows, and reproduces itself.
and in this way carries on the process which
we name fermentation. 1t appeared then that
the phenomenon exhibited by yeast was one of
active life instead OF motor decay; that. in
other words. fermentation was connected with
organic growth. Prof Tyndall goes on to show
that Schwann OF Berlin who had dis
covered the yeast plant Independently
about the same time) announced in 1887
another important fact. viz that when a decoc-
tlon of meat is efectually screened from
ordinary air, and supplied solely with calcined
air putrefaction never sets in. Putrefaction.
therefore. he affirmed to be caused not by the
air but by something in the air which could be
destroyed by sufficiently high temperature.
The outcome of Schwann's researches were
confirmed by the independent experiments of
Helmholtz. Ure. and Pasteur. while other
methods pursued by Schultze and BY schroeder
and busch led to the same result Neverthe-
less. as regards fermentation. the minds OF
chemists. influenced probably by the great
authority Of Gay-Lussac. fell back upon the
old notion of matter in a state Of decay. 1t was
not, they said. the living yeast plant but tho
dead or dying part of 1t. which. assaed by
Oxygen, produced the fermentation. Later ex-
pcrments have shown. however, that. as
matter of tact. when the plant is killed the fer
ment disappears. Tho inference is unavod-
able that the real ferments are living organisms
which find in fermentabe substances their
necessary food.
Side by side with these researches and dis
coveries, and fortified by them and otlsrs. has
N tho thaOrv of aniipmip d iepnSn. The
notion was expressed by kirchcr and favored
by Linnpus that epidemic diseases may be due
to germs which float in the atmosphere, enter
the body, and produce disturbance by the do
velopment within the organism OF parasitic
life. The strength of this theory consists in
the perfect parallelism OF the phenomena of
contagious disease with those of life. As
planted acorn gives birth to an oak competent
to produce II whole crop OF acorns. each gifted
with the power Of reproducing its parent tree.
and. rs thus from n single Seeding whole
forest may spring. so. it Is contended. these
epidemic diseases literally plant their seeds.
grow. and shake abroad new germs. which.
meeting in the human body their proper food
and temperature finally take possession Of
whole populations.
Some experiments made by Pasteur in 1860
indicated that germs are not equally diffused
through the air. but exist in a segregated, non
&C sinuous way. in the form of bacterial clouds.
He would sometimes. for instance. open a flask
containing water Of yeast in the midst Of a
bacterial cloud. when ho would obtain life. and
som,times in tho intnrSpace between two
clouds when he obtained no life. Prof. Tyn-
dali has recently instituted number OF elabo-
rate experiments. which have confirmed Pas
teur's conclusion in regard to the existence Of
bacterial clouds in the atmosphere 1t would
seem that certain caprices in the behavior Of
dressed wounds may possibly be accounted for
in this way. In hospital practice We should eX-
poet that the opening ot I! wound during tho
passage OF q bacterial cloud would have an
effect very different from the opening OF 1t in
the interspace between two clouds.
The application of the germ theory to surgery
by Prof. Lister OF Edinburgh is carefully de-
scrbed in one OF the essays in this volume.
Care is taken that every portion of tissue laid
bare by the knife shall be defended efrom
germs; so that II they chance to fall upon the
| wound they shall be killed as they fall. With
| this object in view, Prof, Lister showers upon
his exposed surfaces the spray Of dilute car