The Worthington advance., 1882-08-31
The Germ Theory OF Disease.
Journal.

Chambers Journal.
Let us briefly SUM up what is at pres
cnt known about the germ theory of dis
ease. Experiments having shown that
no life is known to spring from inani-
mate matter, we may reasonably con-
clude that just US wheat does not grow
except from seed, 80 no disease occurs
without some disease germ to produce
1t. Then, again We may take it for cer-
tain that each disease is due to the de.
velopment of particular kind Of germ.
live plant smallpox germs, We do not
reap a crop of scarlatina or measles; but
disease has its own distinctive germs.
Each comes from parent stock, and has
existed somewhere previously. 1t is
true that complications occur, several
diseases running their course at one
time, or one after the other; but, how
ever uncommon, none Of them are new.
After y forest is cut down q new variety
OF trees may spring up; but nobody sup
poses them to have grown spontaneous
ly. The seeds existed there before, and
growth was due to the occurrence of
conditions favorable to their develop
nlent. So the disease germs which are
always floating about may frequently
be introduced into our bodies; but it is
only when they meet with suitable con-
d!tions that they take root and produce
disease. Under ordinary circumstances
these germs, though nearly always pres
ent, are comparatively few in number,
and in an extremely dry and indurated
state; Thus, thev may frequently enter
our bodies without meeting with the
conditions essential to their growth; for
experiments have shown that it is very
difficult to moisten them, and till they
velop. In q healthy system they remain
inactive. But anything tending to
weaken or impair the bodily organs
furnishes favorable conditions, and thus
epidemics almost always originate
and are most fatal in those quarters of
our great cities where dirt, squalor, and
foul air render sound health almost an
iMpossibility. Thus, too, armies sud
denly transferred from the regular
ity and comparative comfort of
harrack life to the dangers, toll,
and exposure Of the battle field and the
trenches are often attacked by epidem
les. Having once got u beginning, cpl
denies rapidly spread. The germs are
then sent in the air in great numbers and
in Il moist state; and the probabilities Of
their entering and Of their establishing
themselves even in healthy bodies are
vastly increased. For the same reasons
one disease not unfrequently follows
another The latter is commonly said to
have "ctIanged" into the former; but
probably the two are entirely distinct,
the second being simply due to the
weakening of the system.
Another widespread belief is that foul
smells give rise to disease 1t is not,
strictly speaking, the foul gasses, but the
germs present in them, that produce the
diseases. The eftiuvia, however, are
themselves injurious to health, while
they are indications Of a state Of matters
mnch more dangerous; and it is never
sufficient to destroy evil odors without
searching out and removing the causes
that produce them.
Climate and the weather have also
much influence Oh the vitality of these
germs: Cold IS preventive against
some diseases, heat against others. But
We have still much to learn regarding
their behavior under varying conditions.
Tyn.lall found that sunlight greatly re-
tarded and sometimes entirely prevent
ed putretaction; while dirt is always fav-
orabte to the growth and DEVELOPMENT
Of the germs. Sunshine and cleanliness
are undoubtedly the best and cheapest
preventives against disease.