Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-13

WHILE the investigations and discoveries
w Of DIR. Koch in Berlin have been attract
ing the greatest attention through all parts of
the civilized world, Appointment young scientist
in this city has been devoting himself to in
ve-tigstions that are largely in tine same diree-
ton. DIR. Koch has been to work on the tu-
bercular bacillus that makes so much trouble
in the human family. while in this city DR..
+. A. V. Schweinitz has been making a study Of
the class of bacteria that causes the two dis
eases--hog cholera and swine plague. Each
appears TO have been successful though of
course. it takes time 70 demonstrate the entire
success of such scientific discoveries.
AN EVIL OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.
Hog cholera is an evil of tremendous magni-
tude and does probably more harm to the
farmers Of the country than any kindred ILL.
The statistics in the matter show that this dread
disease causes n loss to farmers of the United
states OF from $4,000 600 to S25, 600, 900 every
gear. 1t is clear enough that any one who can
place an obstruction in the way of such an cpl
demic has not worked in vain.
For long time past the bureau OF animal
industry in the Agricultural Department has
been hard at work at the problem and DR.. v.
SchweinitZ, the chemist of the bureau. has at
last succeeded in hunting down preventive for
the disease. The success of the discovery Is ap-
parently assured. For over six months ne has
been studying the cholera germ, and to a STAR
reporter, who found him in his laboratory at
the department recently, he spoke very hope
fully of the probable results of his discovery.
THE PIONEER WORK.
1.-THE work OF Drs Salmon and Smith," said
he Twas the pioneer work in preventive inOcu-
latiOn with other than some form of the germ
of the disease itself. and this recent work WAS
of course. under the advice and direction of
DIR. Salmon as head of the bureau of animal
industry. without the careful meteorological
study of hog cholera. which has beer made by
the bureau of animal industry, this work would
have been impossible. From a scientific
standpoint orr investigation has proved
very successful though il is too early, perhaps,
to speak of its practical working. The cholera
germ has been located and studied. and here
In these little bottles you see its opposite, the
cholera preventive.
In the two bottles were n number of white
PARTICLES that might have beer any one Of a
good many things, but that DIR. V. Schweinitz
characterized as pOisOns. one an alkalOid and
the other an albumenoid. Continuing. he ex-
planned what they were and how they were de-
rived.
HOW CHOLERA GERMS ARE OBTAINED.
''The first thing to do. you must understand,
is to procure the cholera germ. This is taken
from the liver or spleen of hog that has died
of tie disease. The point of platinum wire is
touched to the diseased portion and number
of these microscopic germs are attached to the
wire. Then these germs are placed upon gela-
tine i'll a lass tube. This gelatine, of course,
has first to be sterilized or freed from all or
ganic life. This is done by heating 10 the boil
ing point or higher. The gela:ine tube is then
placed in the incubator, that is. an oven that
can be kept at the constant temperature. There
the germs generate and increase so rapidly
that before long they form quite a cOnsidera-
BILE star-shaped substance in the gelatine.
BY means Of the wire a few of these germs
are transferred and placed in a quantity of beef
broth that has hsew been steriliZed This is
kept at a temperature Of about 125 degrees
and the germs feed on the broth and increase.
so that the liquid that was quite clear at first
soon becomes clouded with them. Their
presence and feeding there make the two
pOisOns that YOU saw. The germs are removed,
the liquid filtered and by means of chemical
aids the two poisons are removed.
EITHER POISON A PREVENTIVE.
Either one Of these is preventive of the dis
ease. and the same is true of the swine-plague
germ and its two poisons that have been
treated and studied in the same way. Either
one Of the pOisons is dissolved in water and a
very small quantity of the weak solution is in
jected under the skin of the animal by means
of ordinary hypOdermic syringe. An
animal inOculated is proof against the
disease and will not be affected by il.
For example, a number of disease germs we're
injected into guinea pigs, some of which had
been inoculated and the remainder of which
had not. Of the latter every one died in eight
or nine days, while of those that were treated
not one was affected by the germs in the least.
The same experiment is now being tried in the
case of hogs. and the results SO far have been
highly sa satisfactory
Can the same method be Ased in, the case Of
other diseases?' asked the reporter.
IN all probability every germ disease can be
treated in the same general way Each one. of
course, must be studied separately, the proper
germ found, the right sort Of nutriment pro-
vided for them to increase upon, as in the case
of the broth and the cholera germs and the
poisons must be chemically removed. But, as
say, can see no reason why this may not be
successfully done in the case Of all germ dis
eases"