The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-11-30
To Be Brought to This Country
by Dr.. Gibier.
MANY PHYSICIANS skEPTlcAL
1he Antidots Il the Poison which ths
baotsrta secrsts -somsthing About
the Gsrms Of Disease.


for consumptives. DR.. Gibier was not only
one of Pssteur's most promising puuiis.
but be 10 almost n familiar With the in
terror OF Professor Koch's laboratory as
ne = with that of his own study. He was
associated with him in many experiments,
and Is entirely In sympathy with his meth
ods. Most metropolitan physicians are ex-
ceedineiy conservative In their exprAs-
slons on the subject of the discovery.
Iney remember the Brown-Sequard fiasco
and are not disposed to take anything for
granted. DR.. Gibier's experiences, how
ever, warrants him in speaking with con-
siderable freedom. He is not only on
terms OF personal intimacy with the great
German savant, but has himself devoted
much study to the problem which has ap-
patently been solved at Berlin. He re-
CARDS Pasteur - the pioneer, and describes
him - the man who was the first to show
that diseased germs can be cultivated
artificially. He is, however, undiseuised
In mis- admiration for DR.. Koch,s achieve
ments, and believes the remedy to be the
great medical triumph of the age. As
. matter of fact, DR.. Gibier. up to the time
OF the announcement of DR.. Koch's dis
covery, was engaged in work of q char
acter very similar to that which has had
such fruitful results in the German cap
ital THIS invests with considerable sig
nifcance what he has to say regarding DR..
Koch's elixir:
Il think that all DR.. Koch's claims will
be abdndanly verified" said DR.. Gibier.
The German professor is not an enthu-
siast He is q reticent, thoughtful and
serious man. He is exceedingly deli b.
crate and makes sure of one step before he
takes another. As far back as the time
when was associated with him, which is
several years ago, his experiments relative
to consumption were already far advanced.
His methods are substantially similar to
those of Pasteur, end had there been no
Pasteur there probably would have been no
Koch. What was well begun Dy one has
been wonderfully developed BY the
other. Ut course. We have for
some time known . good deal about
tuberculosis. 1t is the result of the raw
ages of bacteria. one of the lowest forms Of
animal life. These germs are so exceed
ingiy minute that . procession Of over .
thousand Of them would not stretch across
the head Of pin They increase with in
conceivable rapidity. When their environ
ments are favorable TO reproduction the
issue Of single parent will in twenty-four
hours run up into the millions. For some
years We have Iairly well understood the
character OF this insidious foe and the
scoops Of its operations Physicians have
been on it, track. 20 10 speak, and / be-
lieve Il has remained for Dr. Koch to show
us how to grapple with it.
perhaps the whole matter will be more
intelligsntly understood when say there
are bacteria and bacteria There is the
health-giving germ and the disease-produc-
ing germ. Our tissues are composed of
minute organisms called cells. These cells
are Of varied shapes and consistency, and
they display the phenomena TO which We
give the name of life Each of them has
its separate individuality, and each of
them has. in health, the capacities neces-
sary to its maintenance. These capacities
are displayed in tie various processes
which may be generally described as waste
and development A little higher up in
the scale you come to another perfectly in
dependent organism, this time composed
of several cells. As you ascend in
the process of evolution you find that
the operations of the individual cell
are conducted not solely with reference
TO its own well-being, but with reference to
the welfare of the whole group. In this
developed condition they are called upon
to perform special functions. for the good.
as it were. of the community at large. All
of these cells. even in their forms, are en-
dowed with the potentialities which make
this development possible. They are ready
in emergencies to come to the rescue, so to
speak, and are capable of astonishing
achievements when there is work to do in
the direction of reproduction and repair.
We begin, therefore. with the simplest of
living things. single cell, and end with
that triumph of evolution-the wonderful
aggregate with its differentiations in struc-
ture and functions, its complexities and
combinations. and its harmonious work
ings as q whole.
.Perhaps one of the most important of
the functions of the cell is that which it is
called upon to exercise in the expulsion of
invaders. Bacteria are usually rod-shaped.
have already given you some idea of
their size. 1t was for long time difficult
to determine whether they belonged to the
animal world or to the vegetable king
dom. It is now. however, definitely
settled that they are plants. Really they
are very simple forms of cell. They can
exist only in the presence of oxygen,
warmth and moisture. They have to
struggle for existence just Is theoretically
as higher forms of life. They are to be
found everywhere. There are thousands OF
different species of bacteria, and we are
indebted to DIR. Koch for q contrivance by
which these different species may be sepa-
rated with absolute certainty and cultivated
INDEPENDENTLY. sHe has done much to &C
quaint us with their habits and char acter-
istics. We can now cultivate them Is easily
as any other plant can be cultivated; we
can arrange them in groups, and We can
find out what conditions are most likely TO
either superinduce their develop
ment or to retard it. 1t unfortu-
na1eIy happens that there are o few
varieties which do not flourish in
nature after the fashion of other bacteri&
When they invade the human body they
grow at the expense OF the tissues with
which they come into contact This is the
disease producing bacterium, and it secretes
a NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. The invasion Is al
vays the signal for the beginning of q
struggle. 1t is fight for existence. with
the bacteria on one side and the cells on
the other. The latter attempt to either
swallow the invader or to so surround it as
TO cut of its sources of nutrition. If the
bacteria are victorious their poison kills the
cells. II the cell wins the bacteria are di-
ges.ed.
more than one-seventh of oil the people
who die are carried OFF by tuberculosis. 1t
is caused by that intinitesimal rod-shaps d
germ which has gained access to the body.
when the conditions are favorable TO their
orovth they give birth to new tissue, and