Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1885-08-06
SOILS AND HEALTH.
Soils and Health.

1t is this, because it IS also the tomb
Of all terrestrial living matter. Here
is the realization of the phGnIX myth,
the slow combustion of organic mat
ter leaving u resduum, from which
springs tho new life of succeeding
generations, These processes %! the
transformation of matter are the work
of the low forms Of microscopic life
which are known as bacteria, and are
gifted with the capacity Of enormous
and immensely rapid multiplication.
This world Of microscOplCal life is vast
as regards the distribution and num-
bcr OF its living entities. These mi
mute organisms are known to be ipti-
mattel Y connected with many Of the
fundamental processes of the organic
world, and our knowledge of their
range of activity is constantly increas-
ing. They may be considered prac-
tically to stand in close genctic rela-
tions to many diseases; but the ques-
tion of absolute differentiation of
forms with specific functions, or of
the possibility of prOtean functional
characteristics among them, varying
with their surroundings, IS one OF tho
present great problems of biology.
The great majority Of pathologists
now consider the infectious, and most
of the contagious, diseases to bo de-
pendent on these low forms Of life;
and the tendency is to consider that
certain diseases, or groups of dis
eases, arc produced only by specific
| forms of bacteria.
These organisms are wide spread,
especially the various forms that arc
associated with putrefaction and mold.
Only on high mountains, and far from
land on the ocean, is the air practical.
" free from them. Elsewhere the
air, water, and soil teen with them
Their abundance is necessarily pro-
pOrtOnate to the amount of deCOm-
posing organic matter in the neigh
borhOod, since they arc themselves
the scavengcrs ON which the processes
of decomposition depend. Few peo-
pie realize what an important part the
soil PLAYS IN our lives. The water we
drink (unlcss from cistcrns) has leach
oJ tbrnurb IL Tho air yyo brootbo is
tna',,,an,E f. laoJoJ w;,L i,s Jnst II is
ia' -, I,,. I"r"nS TIo s";I ;s L;1,bI,, noravs.
!" T"l .Oou, ,,.-.;aa' ~ S0 i,o,,,.a Po." ,;,.,
"r' "mo 'HI aIIoI ,ri,L wotor NV u,,,b nir
49, '.,.,,,,nJ 'io ,'.o,nri or ,,,romrd,oir, Tbo
grOund-air lluctuatcs with the varying
o"' I V,I', snil t y, ,ha ,,rnmnJ N rainU
"nI i'.i I VI ,"u Tio ',a,,,,d ,,',,a, nJ
an,t Wy 1.,i;,, 9,|iU 60 ,Lo i,a,,,,,,n,, ia,,.,
''STo i'-,',,,E "NvVa,,"E ,,, ,'';,L ',,'ao,,
VI a,a.1Jo1 m1 LaVI'"'fr n t,in,in "''' ~ '''''"
io''t"vu ,' " 'a'Vi,om' .;,,n,. co, t. I,,ut oror
on,; w." y" shont ' 81 '' sIonI,ro,iro 10 % W,Ji
eUt'.,m"Uus L,,,,, '"vo, o,or AMI V" nnS, ho,sns
ono "o'I hnii, ,i,''" H. mo,ar ;s aocnssil,I,
"io n"'t' m''0 Zoo, "I trm, " % "VH,.S,",' s,rfa"n
W. M,t"m INN m ,ho ,ao, @ ,,a, aV mrr W" oIIs anJ
H. ~ ''om ", Wy Wv ., ,,s,, ," nr
Wv v'''J' > W w, mo,,Va H. ~ ,i,oro
W iI, vi .'os. W. i,',I Isi"ati vG"aLio
w Poll",'vn' 1t WIS ''v"S' ~ u.'itn"!o ,I.n,,''
w "SoGi ~" " ,i,a.a m", 'f,o" w." ',I ~
w. suns I.' "' i''' Thi, inras,i.aS VGtS o"0
polIs w. D'u'u. ';i , 40, 81 f ,;nUa
""'oi' We ,I,.'H w. VIa ,L io ""'D.ai ';,.,i
po"Iu n VI no".'n ~ 'nU "a,'vi' "'sio,u" oia.
ny ~. pr' o.hS w. o'o"s"' o"' '0iS 'io"'
y '"itu ,, '"otH, .T e,,,. ,ho. ,.o,,,, ,,..,.
= ~ SUNS 'ln1i tn"n 'oll @ uo"i 80
snnu navy Pi"u.'ei.'y P,,,.,',,;y ooml,n"o"S ',
t"pau.y foa t "'iuS,S ;Sn,od '"o SPGiuo o1
U'e,ut.H ,T',l',!t , .to,n 'h'''''" "'' "''o'ou
'nIouSn lhg'n, -,,o. 49,. e.. .o.,
:, 40 SOL no ina..tt I I ho" @ nnc' 'aI f
arrest, arrest anu i,I', holu uach lio sPTIes VI
1"ct'rlu cont"'hcu II, Wa!cr' lno en-
Pur'lhel.' on Mu;En ,,,a,, WIS I''u5 st,,eli.euS
reStS consisted Ill ultGr'hS uister'lI"cU
water througn one hulluIou ieG' oi
Plpo n.lou l,, WIN liho s,i sanu Wn'ch na1 ,
Vcon Stcrl''"cu We, W "uallns " lcu
neat: inc pipe was Gohnectou ny an
air'tlSht JOINT win u uaSh OF s'erlHheu
Deei.lhiusloh' ana tne whoie apparatus
lett ior several weeks before use Inc
hrsI drop ol water lhal passed lhrongh
theSe huhared ieel Oh sanu inlecteu 'he
beei'iniusioh' causing IL 10 putrely'
g. Neither bacteria nor their spores
can detach themselves from liquiu or
from a wet soil and pass INTO the alr
except through the conversion OF the
water into spray or through the lorna
tion OF dust by evaporation.
The chief practical inierencos from
these results are that distances, even
of hundreds OF feet, between wells and
cesspools are no protection against
Infection, and that dry, or an alter
nately wet and dry, cellar may be
more dangerous than permanently
wet one. These results emphasize