St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-02-22
BACTERIA AND DISEASE.


derful Organism.
So small are the bacteria, and &
simple in their structure and activitic!
that it has not been an easy task fc
scientific men to decide whether the
belonged among animals or plants.
is now definitely settled, however, tha
they are plants, and are closely relate
to the alge. The bacteria vary q goo
deal in shape, but in general they ar
either spheroidal or ovoidal, like
billiard-ball or an egg; or rod-shaped
like lead-pencil; or spiral-shaped, lik
. cork-screw.
They are generally 90 very small tha
We can hardly form . conception of then
excep: by comparison with some we'll
known objects. One of the most com
mon of bacteria is . little rod, SO small
that II you were to put l, 500 Of them ent
to end, the line would scarcely reacl
across the head of an ordinary pin
IL you look at them with . magnify
ing power SO great that, il it could
De applied to him, it would make man
look about four times as big as Noun,
Washington. they do not look larger
than this. We can make out, however
that they are made up of . slightly
granular material surrounded by some
what denser envelope. The bacteria
appear under the microscope as pale
translucent bodies, and the student usu.
ally finds it necessary, in order to SEQ
their outlines distinctly, to stain them
with some one Of the aniline dyes-red.
or blue, or violet-when they become
very distinct.
Warmth, moisture, oxygen and . Ger.
tain amount Of organic matter are re.
4uired for the existence of the bacteria
So rapid is the process Of reproduction
that single germ by this process Of
growth and subdivision may give rise to
more than l6.5OO, 600 of similar
organisms within twenty-four hours.
1t has been calculated by
an eminent biologist that. il the proper
conditions could be maintained. a little
rod-like bacterium, which would meas
urc only about thousandth of an inch
in length. multiplying in this way.
would in less than five days make q
mass which would completely fill as
much space - is occupied by all the
oceans on the earth's surface, supposing
them to have an average depth of one
mile.
There is really very little difference,
far as whOlesomeness is concerned, be-
tween the few thousand vegetable cells.
called bacteria, which may be clinginy
% the surface Of a grape. and few hun
ared vegetable cells Of larger size Of
which the grape itself is composed.
Both are alike worked over by the de
FESTIVE organs, under ordinary condi-
lions, into nutritive material for the
Ases of the body. Milk is . most
excellent food for many forms Of
bacteria, and among those which
ire commonly present in milk is one
which causes it to become sour when
eft to itself. Other forms of bacteria
levelop those peculiar chemical COM
'Ounds which give to cheese its special
md varying fiavors. 1t is, in fact, . |
'ery motley group Of chemical sub
tances which these bacteria set free in |
eeding themselves on natures waste
rgsnic materials. Sometimes they are
cry bad smelling gases, some times
substances, sometimes they
70 sweet sometimes they are sour.
tut sooner or later they are used by
ONE animal or plant, and so again
inter- the domain of life. Thus ever in
caseless alterations between life and
cath these elemental combinations
ONE and 60. And ever since life
merged from its primal simple forms
n earth, the bacteria have silently gone
n tearing the worn-out and useless
pieces and turning it over in new
to other forms Of life,-
Press.