Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-02-26
MICROBES AND HEALTH.
Interesting Facts Developed by Scientists
4 Dangerous Habit.
fean FranciscO ChrOniclo.l

(san Francisco ChrouioeI
The bacill. or microbes, as VI. Pasteur
prefers 10 call them multiply and increase;
They are not vet classified into genera and
species. but that viii come yet. We SHAH
then have AL Of them got together IN
splendid illustrated volume with beautiful
tinted plates. like Audubon's Birds, ana
even the most unscicntlhc OF mortals
can pore over them at his leisure and
eudoavor 10 understand why an in
scrutable Providence sent them -
prey upon the human race. As 1t =.
we can only read of them in scientific
reports or in superficial journalistic arti-
clcs the newspaper writer not rcgatdl
the animal from it, scientific side, but
purely and simply as an interesting addi-
ton 10 hls news columns. We had already
the mcrObo that infests the spleen OF
sheep. and which acts as deadly parasite
to the silk-wOrlu, and those OF the yellow
fever. the cholera. and the consumption,
when along came that OF the influenza
and thouchtlcssly fell under the notice OF
the learned DR. Macmillan JOllps. pro-
lessor of bacteriOl0gy az WurZburc, IN Aus
tria. DR.. Jollcs fastened with aYiditv on
the newcomer. or what he supposed 10 be
such. established IA colony of the spe-
cics on gclhtlne surface, ana ied
them with an aniline color, which, after
they had absorbed il. rendered them
more plainly visible 20 the microscope.
The insect rcscmbled the bacillus Of the
pneumonia discovered by Dr. friedlander,
and vet IL was evidently not the same,
having q veilOWish body and round
porcelan head. somewhat swollen, ike
that Of the Young King OF Spain. Tho
first had been found IN an expectoration,
and when others. found in other cXpcctora-
tons i'm otherparts of Austria, were brought
and compared with these 10 was found lhhJ
they were 10, Ike rs two peas.
II is evident from all this that IN the
matter II microbes the world Is getting on:
When any particular mcrobe is discovered
and its habits sufficiently studied 1t IS
hoped. bv preparing mild virus with II,
to inoculate the human body. and thus
prevent the disease OF which lt- prOgeu-
tors are the cause. This has Teen done
with the spleen, with the sllk--worm,
with the smallpox, and with the hydro
phobia. As 90 the manner Of lnocu-
iation 10 prevent tho cholera, the con-
sumption. thc pneumonia, and the IN
huenZa. the scIontIstsnre still ignorant. and
while they remain ignorant the world VIII
have 10 wait One conclusion u Ut.
Jolles is particularly 10 he noticed. The
lnrce-headed bacillus of influenza that he
has discovered. hc saws, bears no resem-
blance whatever TO that OF the cholera,
hence he infcrs that the influenza cannot
be considered a. the precursor OF that
dread epidemic The learned Professor
might have looked little farther, On 40
least approached the matter from another
standpoint. Every one knows that the IN
flucnZa * disease of the superior part OF
the mucous membrane, and that the
cholera is "a disease of the same mucous
membrane II an inferior part Of the
body, this membrane serving TO line all the
Internal passages. IL sympathlzes through
the whole of ITS course. Some persons can
not have even "a common cold without
having general intestinal arrangement.
The influenza during the late epidemic
had often AS its final phase a sort OF cholera
morhus. What moro probable than that
the influenza fits the system for the favor
able reception Of the chOleral Should the
cholera not come at such n moment 80
much the better, but, IS the 81. Peters
burg physicians have pointed out, all the
great cholera epidcmics of the century
have been preceded by a similar epidemic
of influenza.
The discovery of the Koch bacillus and
OF those that cause the pneumonia and the
influenza would seem 10 leave few of these
auimacules TO be discovered IN the lungs
and air passages except those that cause
the catarrh and common cold Is the
time really coming when, to say nothing of
inOculatng for consumption. the pneumo-
MIA. the cholera. and the influenza. we can
10y this simple process be- Tree from that
nuisance. cold In the head? WHAT'S man
going TO die Of when the microbes that
cause all the diseases arc discovered, and,
reduced 10 the condition OF vaccine are
successfully injected into the system a.
preyentives? Everybody will then be
obliged 10 die of old age, to be struck by
lightning or 10 dry up and blow away, "a
men did in the pAtriarchal epoch.
In the mean time the European physi-
clans, particularly those of France. are
studying the means Of rendering less dead
ly the malady which causes more deaths
annually than all the opidemics known 20
medical extraordinarily, the consumption.
The question IS, In what manner is il pro-
pagated and how can ITS spread be pre-
vented? The consensus of opinion in
France seems To be, after half a dozen SEES
siOns Of the Academy Of Medicine devoted
to the subject, that the Infection is princi-
pally propagated by means OF the
appropriations. All agree that the
original cause Of the disease is the
Koch bacillus. which has been known
and studied for some years. II is an ami
NAL of extraordinary vitality and singular
vlrulence. Experience shows that II sur
wives and can transmit the consumption
even after approximations that have fallen
on the floor have been passed several
times through water, been dried, and re-
peatedly pulyerized. This is often the
case III hospitals where numerous patients
are assembled in the same ward. The ex-
pectOrations. dried and mingled with dust,
are held IN suspension in the AIR and in
halod into lungs perhaps already weaken
cd by the pneumonia or by heredity.
There are members Of the French Acade-
my of Medicine-a small minority il should
be said-who dissent partially from this
theory. They assert. and probably with
truth, that the consumption can be trans
mitted IN other ways than by expectOra-
tons The Koch bacillus has been known
10 make its first lodgment In a wound,
after which il found its way 10 the LUNGS,
its favorite habitation. The transmission
Of the disease by heridity must never be
lost sight Of. The milk Of tuberculous cows
is dangerous. but not to such extent a.
supposed by some, since that which
actually contains the microbes may
be neutralized by being mingled with
that which is free of them. To
the non-medical mind this proposition
seems highly contestable. IL is agreed
that approximations of consumptive per-
sons are virulont. and their Capitalization by
efficient methods is advised. such Az the pre-
sence of disinfecting liquid in the vessels
where alone the approximations should find
,1aca the partial Separation of a., ,,at;ant