The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-09-19

ter may belong Manifesty it is better that
he should be honest and educated. bat IL he
is not, the amount of harm he can infict is
neither large nor fatal The same Is equally
true of law, education, etc. but with med
ical quack il is quite the opposite, and the
facts in ihe case are so numerous and patent
that argument is not REQUIRED.
In the September number OF the Popular
Science Monthly we fad lecture de-
Evered before ths Chicago Philosophical
Society 10y Professor II. Cradle, NJ. d.,
on 1.-THE germ theory of disease theory
of disease which is rising tosuch importance
in medical discussions that it can not be ig-
MOI ed by that part of the laity who aspired to
a fair general inform alton" Science has pro-
duced the microscope. said to be an ''omnip-
otent instrument" and with this the investi-
gator is able TO indemnity the trichina and
worms found in the blood OF certain rare
diseases. as also hosts commonly called bdc-
terra, which belongs to the lowest order OF
fungi. Special names have been given to the
different Subdivisions of this class of micro
soopio beings, the rod shaped bacteria; being
termed bGeilIi; the granular specimens
micrOcocci; while the rarest
{ ms of the shape Of screw are known as
sPiciila." We do not propose to reproduce
the learned Professors lecture, our object
being simply to call attention to the cease
less investigations going forward by educated
scientific men to obtain correct knowledge Of
the origin of disease, aud to create healthy
detestation of medical quscks. Those who
Cradles lecture will at once become pro.
foundly interested in the cogency of his
arguments and it may be said just here that
very much is gained for the commanding
dignity OF the medical profession when alb
struse questions relating to disease are
treated with such clearness that men of av-
erage intelligence and education are able to
comprehend the facts. The Professor, after
referring to the requirements necessary to the
bacterial origin of disease, says:
If we apply these rigid requirements, there are
not many diseases Of nan whose bacterial origin Is
beyond doubt AS the most unequivocsl instance
we can mention tplenic fever. or anthrax, dis
ease OF domestic auimsls which sometimes attacks
man, and is then known as malignant pustule.
The existence OF parasite In this affection in the
form of minute rods and is power of reproducing
the disease among the bes: established facts n
medicine. II is also known that these rods form
seed, Or spores. as they are termed In their In
terror, 6iter ire death Of the patient, which ger
nina e again in proper soil Thee spores are the
most durable aud resisting objec's known In ami.
mated nature. II kept in the state of spores they
possess m absolute immortality; no temporal n
short of proloI ged boiling can destroy them,
while they can resiEt the action OF most poIsons
ALciher disesse OF vastly greater importance to
man, has lately been added tho list OF tcourges
OF unquestonsble bacterial origin. Lreer to tuber
cu'Osis. or consumption. 1t is true this claim Is
based uwon the work OF but one investigator
/ Robert Koch. Bat whoever IesGs his original de-
sc1iption must admit that no DAFT Of cIiicSm can
ssssil his impenetTaS,e position Here also rod
shaped bacillus. extremely minute and delicate,
has been found the Inevitable companion Of the
disease. With marvellous patience Koch has sue
Ceeded I'm getting the parasite grow in pure blood
and freeing il from all associated matter. II must
have been rare motion that filed the soul OF
that indoisucable man, when he beheld for the
first time, in its Isolated state. the fell destroyer
OF over one-eighth of al mankind, None of the
animals experimental upon could Withstand the
concentrated virulence Of the isolated parasite.
This bacillus likewise produces spores OF persist
broadcast into the world.
Relspsirg fever is another disease OF definitely
proved origin. II we mention, Furthermore, abb
scesses, the dependence OF which on bacteria has
recently been established, we have about exhaust
ed the list OF human shlctions about the cause OF
which there there is no longer any doubt Some
diseases peculiar 10 lower animals belong also to
this category. The classical researches Of Pas
teur have assigned the silkworm disease and
chicken cholera 10 the same rank. Several forms
OF septicemia and pye 1ais have also been studied
satisfactorily in animals. Indeed, the analogy be-
tween these and kindred forms OF blood poisoning
in man is so close that there be 10 reasonable
doubt as to the similarity OF the cause. This as
sumption, next door to certainty, applies equally
to the fevers of childbirth. The experimental
demonstration Of the parasitic nature OF leprosy
/ eIysipelas. and diphtheria IS not yet complete
though nearly So MaIarial fe Fer also is claimed
to belong 10 the category OF known bacterial dis
eases. but the proofs do not seem as ire
I proachable to others as they do to the authors.
II will readily occur TO the reader ii the
/ germ theory of disease, as elaborated by Prof.
! Grad ? is correct, and it challenges investi-
! CATION, that an advanced step has been taken
| in branch of knowledge of the highest i'm
! IoTtance TO the human family. and the
! learned lecturer points out the benefits and
! blessings accruing from a thorough knowl-
edge of the germ theory OF disease as follows:
| The most direct outcome OF the germ theory as
/ far as Immediate benefits are concerned. is our
ability 10 act more inielligently in limiting the
] srresd of contagious diseases Knowing the ma
ture OF the poison emanated by such patients, and
studying the mode OF its distribution through ma
| ture. we can prevent il from reaching Others and
thus spare them the personal struggle with the
! parasite. In no instance has the benefit derived
! from q knowledge OF the germ theory been more
brilliantly phed than in the principles an
fseptic surgery inaugursted by Lister. This bene-
isetor OF mankind recognized that the great dis
turbirg influence in the healing OF wounds Is
the admission OF germs 1t had been well known,
prior 10 this day, that wounds heal kindly il un
disturbed. and that the fever and other dangers to
life are an accidental, not sn inevitable eonse-
quenee of wounds But Lister was the first to
point out that these accidents due to the en-
! trance OF germs into the wounds, and that thfs
dangerous complication could be prevented. By
| EXCLUDING the parasites fgon the wound, the sur
geon spares his patient the unnecessary and risky
| struggle, giving the wound the chance to heal in
the most perfect manner Only he who has COM