The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1888-10-04
BLOSSOMS LATEST STUDY.
Seeking a Cure for Yellow Fever.

New YoRK, September ~ Thomas
r lisun. the inventor. since the middle
Of the month, has been conducting i
series Ut experiments ID order TO d'scov-
er some cheap and effective way TO DIES
troy the germs Of yellow fever. Thar
the germs are carried in the ali is a RI
diculous idea, because they would at
once spread all over district, he said
to i reporter yesterday, ard just as
plainly are the germs organic and net
inorganic because tier spread Is always
stopped by tie coming OF cold weather.
I am. therefore. forced TO one or two
conclusions either the fever germs
must be organisms OF they must be fun
GUS growth. believe thai the fever
microbes are parasites which crawl
along the ground, as in several instan-
ces their spread has been known to-
have been stopped by street improve
ments began first experimenting in
1878 to find some chemical to destroy
the Colorado beetles. Tired every kind
of chemical substance on the beetles,
and found gasoline to be the most etfec
tive. As we Lave not had yellow fe
YER germs, we have been experimenting
on insects which are extremely tenacious
of life A glass j r was filled with
moding sand and at depth Of 7, l6,
10, "a, rs and 80 centlmetres from the
surface little cell prisons we're made
with their open ends against the glass.
Ants were placed in these cells and a
layer of gasoline .O6 centmetres in
thickness was poured on the surface Of
the sand. The seven centimetre ants
died at the end Of sixteen minutes, the
sixteens at the end Of nineteen minutes,
the nineteens after forty minutes, and
in three hours all were apparently dead
except the lowest, or 80 centimeters
ants, which appeared stu ehed. How
ever, the next morning the three lowest
grades had recovered Satisfactory ex-
periments were also made on clans,
earth worms and cheesemites,
"I'he only way to stop the spread of
the disease IS to put a Gordon Of gaso
line around the infected pace. If that
don stop it nothing can 1t would cost
$24 to sprinkle street $50 feet long
by 60 feet broad with gasoline, and that
would kill everything in the soil.
Caustic soda should be used in damp
places A square yard could be COW
cred with caustic soda IN depth of
one-eighth of an inch for Il cents and
no organism could possibly survive it.
In room heated to 81 degrees Fahren-
heit coat was dipped in rhigoline, and
in fifteen minutes the temperature of
the coat fell to % degrees and the coat
was covered with hoar frost. Now, as
cold weather is known efectually to de-
stroy the fever microbes, this would
prove an effective way Of disinfecting
clothing, as the rhigoline will evaporate
within half an hour.
Experiments have shown that alter
the gasoline has been applied for ten
minutes it soaks into the soil and there
is no danger of its becoming ignited. A
whole year has been wasted, which
should have been given to experiments
on the means Of checking yellow fever
at the South. | shall have micro
scope costing ST 500 or 81 600 in few
days to use in these Investigations. If
the blocks where the fever broke out in
Decatur and Gainesville had at once
been surrounded by Gordon Of gaso-
line or caustic soda, $500 expended in
this way in each place would have pre-
vented the panic .