, 1884-10-15
THE GERM THEORY.
Popular Explanation of the Doctrine
of Modern Pathology.
Minute Organisms which propagate
Disease-Sueeess of Professor
Listers DIsinfecfIng Pro-
eeas-sBacteria.o


puma Ait3n-l
There is a large class Of diseases OF which
1t has been known for a long time that they
all have certain characteristic petuliaritiei
in unison. They all are apt to appear as cpl
denies or are endemic in certain localities.
They are more or less contagious. They have
"A period OF Incubation e, a time during
which the poison causing them lies dor
mant In the system. For instance, a person
to-day exposed To the contagion OF smallpox
and infected by it will evince the first symp-
toms Of the disease by the fourteenth day.
During this Interval between the infection
and the first outbreak the poison was latent,
and this interval is called the period OF incu-
baton Another popularity i that these
diseases run "a definite course. They are
selflimited. Thus in an average case OF an
infectious malady, provided no complica-
tons occur, the physician may foretell the
exact duration Of it. Then one attack of
such Il disease usually insures at least for a
certain time, immunity against a second.
Al these p~eculiarIties seemed to point 10
some unknown agent, which needed a certain
period to ripen, when at maturity it deyel-
oped In the system symptoms always alike in
tho same disease and differing only according
10 the organ mainly affected and 10 the
idiosyncrasy OF the individual
That not one and the same agent caused
all these diseases was also. known. Some
maladies, as the Asiatic cholera, seemed to
have special breeding places, Others devel-
oped mainly II favored by the decomposition
OF animal and vegetable refuse, as, for in
stance, typhoid fever, and again Others ap-
peared only when many human beings were
collected in n narrow place. as typhus on
board Of ships, in prisons, and among soldiers
when in camp. Some were known to flourish
mainly in winter, ns small -pox; others, as
yellow fever, during the hot months. One
had shown itself always attacking the
throat, US diptheria; another the small intes-
tines, typhoid fever; ono the lungs, pneu-
mOnia, or the membranes of the brain and
spinal cord, cerebro-spinal fever, while n
whole class had its main seat in the skin
small pox, scarlatina, measles, erysipelas,
etc.
These facts were known and they proved
that each infectious disease was caused by a
morbid agent of its own. What thai agent
was for more than 5000 years no one could
tell. Finally, about fifteen years ago, 1t hap
pened that several observers noticed that by
the use Of certain drugs called disinfectants.
some Of these morbid agents could be so in
nuenced as to diminish or destroy their in
~fectious qualities. It was found that these
diseases spread less in the air surrounding the
patient. if his discharges, and his linen were
subjected TO the action of these disinfectants,
especially carbolic acid. In "a hospital in
Vienna, among lying-in women, "a dangerous
disease called puerperal fever had caused
such ravages rs TO put in jeopardy the life OF
every woman admitted 10 the institution.
The Introduction by manual examination Of
IA poison which was not to be removed by the
most thorough washing of the hands was sus-
pected. No physician nor any other indi-
vidual connected with the hospital was then
permitted 10 enter the lying-in wnrd without
having previously applied to his hands a dis
injecting solution Of carbolic acid. The con-
sequence was the stamping out Of the disease
no new cases happening.
Dark rumors of minute organisms that
were said to be contained In the pus to poison
surgical wounds and to cause the death OF the
Individual operated upon, about that time
commenced 30 pass through the medical pa
pers. At last it was definitely asserted by
reliable authorities that such micro-organ-
isms had feen found in the purulent dis
charge of wounds. Professor Lister, then In
Edinburgh, about ten years ago made the
first practical application of this discovery,
which then was still In its cradle and looked
upon with N%credulity. Professor Lister,
starting from the fundamental idea that il
such Heterogeneous were the cause of
morbid pus they should be totally excluded
from every wound, thenceforth operated
only under a spray Of carbolic acid in a room
whose air had been previously impregnated
with the same drug. His own hands. as we'll
as those Of his assistants, and all the instru-
ments and apparatus used were disihfected in
a similar manner. Before the operation the
skin over the part to be operated upon was
also washed with such a solution; while operat-
ing the arteries were registered with antiseptic
ligatures, and after completing the operation
the wound, still exposed to the carbolic acid
spray, was closed with antiseptic sutures and
then Il compress and bandage applied, which
are too complicated to be here described. and
Of which we will only say that they totally
excluded all air except such as had passed
through n disinfecting solution Of carbolie
acid.
The success of Listers procedure was great.
Wounds that had healed only after long sup
p~uration now closed within a few DAYS by
first intention; operations formerly followed
almost invariably by death due to the ex-
hausting discharge Of pus were now per-
formed with the greatest confidence, as they
healed without any untoward symptom, and
the opening of the abdominal cavity, once
justly dreaded on account OF peritonitis, now
became of daily occurrence, and saved
hundreds Of lives, especially Of women.
While these remarkable results drew the
attention Of the whole medical world 10 them.
the researches for micro-organisms were 81
lently going on, having received a new i'm
petus from Lister to success. Every morbid
discharge, every fluid and tissue, the seat of
a morbid process, were examined with the
view of finding heterogeneous. Suddenly
from all sides discoveries were announced.
In England the microbe of pynmia was de-
tected. Pasteur discovered that Of anthrax.
klebs that of typhpid fever Koch those OF
tubercle and recently OF cholern. In re-
lapsing fever, malaria. and many other in
fectious diseases, heterogeneous were
found.
These animalculn, microbes, micro-organ-
isms, or microzymes are known under the
generic term Of bacteria. According 10 their
shaps and other characteristics, they are
subdivided into microcrcc ci, bacilli, and
vibriones, the first usually appearing as di-
minutive cells and dots, the second as fine
rods. and the last IN all kinds OF fantastic
forms Cohn has classified them in a scien-
tiic manner, which would little interest the
general reader.
These bacteria are exceedingly small, some
OF them having a length OF less than three
thousandth part OF an inch. They can be de
tected only by the aid OF the most powerful
microscope, and most of them can not be
ev en- then recognized, and must be first sub
jected TO a peculiar coloring process which,
while dyeing them, does not influence the
tissues in which they are found. And in the
case Of the bacilli probably vibrionesD Of
cholera they can not be even demonstrated
this way; they have 1rst TO be isolated and
cultured to bring out their most character
istic points. A coloring process which will.
FOR Instance. bestow upon the tubercle-b acil.
lus n brown tint. has no such influence ON
other bRcillL