The Arizona champion., 1891-03-28
WHAT CAUSES DISEASES.
Interesting Facts About Their
 Minute Germs.
WHAT BACTERIA AaE AND HOW THEY EXIST
Filth is Their Nourishment.-An Idea
 of Their Size.

! actually known Of them by the average non professional; hence brief descrip- ton of them is likely to be of interest. | Bacteria are minute organisms; in fact, they are the smallest of living forms. As one writer has said, they form the bound ary line of life; beyond them life does not exist, so far, at least, as our present microscopic expedients reach, and these are not small The strongest of our mag nifying lenses, the immersion system of Hartman, give magnifying power of from three thousand to four thousand ! diameters, and could we view man un- der such lens. he would appear as large as Mount Blanc or even Chimb izo. But even under this colossal ampl a. tion the smallest bacteria do not ap ar larger than the points and commas 8 good print. These smallest bacteri may be compared with a man about as a grain of sand to Mount Blanc.
 Bacteria assume many forms-there are about two hundred varieties now known. Some under the microscope ap- pear as balls or eggs, others as rods of various length or as mere fbers, while yet others are of a spiral form, like cork screws. The bodies consist of an almost colorless substance, in which numerous shining granules are imbedded. Under conditions unfavorable to them, bacteria are motionless, and certain kinds never appear to move, but where the condi- tions are favorable to them those which have motion are excessively lively.
 PRESENT EVERYWHERE.
 These little living forms are present everywhere the air reaches, but they swarm only where the temperature is favorable and there is plenty of nourish- ment. When there is decomposition, fermentation or putrefaction they devel- op in masses. The action of bacteria Is seen in the following simple experiment.: Put piece of meat or 6 piece of any vegetable in glass of water and let it stand. After a time the water will thicken up more or less, and then be- come milky. The milkiness is due to the bacteria which fill the water. When putrefaction is ended, and all the organic matter in whatever was put into the water has been consumed by the bacte- ria then the water clears up and loses entirely the offensive smell which it had. Without nourishment the bacteria are no longer active, nor are they develop ing as they were while putrefaction was going on. They sink to the bottom of the glass, and there as white sediment lie motionless. After time they die.
 As regards the activity with which bacteria multiply, many of them can double their numbers every hour when under the best conditions. When they do that then, Professor Law tells us, single bacterium would in twenty-four hours produce no less than 16,777 ,220. At the end of forty eight hours the num- Der of offspring would number 281, ,500,- 000, ,000, and would fill half pint meas ure, all produced from a single germ measuring 1-15, 900 of an inch. "Fortu- nately, however, bacteria rarely so prop agate themselves; they will meet with all sorts of drawbacks, and thus, in spite of their enormous fertility, the survivors are in general only enough to keep fair balance in nature" But all bacteria do not multiply as rapidly as this; there are some which multiply very slowly-those which cause tuberculosis, for instance.
 As already stated, bacteria exist every where the air reaches; like other living things, oxygen is essential to them. Where decaying matter abounds there are they to be found in the greatest num- bers. On the tops of the highest noun tains and in mid-ocean they exist, but it is in such places that their number is the smallest.
 INFLUENCE ON HEALTH.
 Since we live in swarms of these mi mute beings, and almost everything about us teens with them, we naturally ask what influence they have on health.
 Science has conclusively proved that while many of the different forms of bacteria are practically harmless to men, here are some which seize upon him, and at times destroy him. It is known beyond all reasonable doubt that certain forms of bacteria produce certain dis eases. Tuberculosis, for instance; there can scarcely be question but that it is caused by special bacteria, and the most of the physicians of today will say that without these bacteria no tuberculosis; or, in other words, unless that peculiar form of bacteria is present in lung, there cannot be consumption of it.
 Then there is an anthrax, 8 malignant and fatal . ise of certain animals, and identical wool sorters' and rag piskers' di>rase; that we know to be caused by bacteria, for the same has been found and it's identity established beyond all question.
 The inference to be drawn from the is clear. All bacteria, be they harmless or do they threaten man, al- ways swarm in the greatest numbers and multiply with the greatest rapidity where filth abounds; and the more filth the more bacteria. One can never be l scot free from bacteria, but he can feel 1 quite free from the harmful sort if he lives in pure air, with good surround ingS, practices cleanliness, and has good | water to drink and food to eat Of ! course, disease germs may reach him | even then, but he will have very little 1 reason to fear them.-Boston Herald.
 The Growth OF EuNlish