The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-01-02
THE Docrons AND ,ncnoBEs.


lctrs Points and Offers a Different Solu.
tIou.
lroltsur1 HtruM
DR.. Il. W. llazlctt, OF Wheeling, pub.
fishes report on tho pollution ofdrink-
ing water, and OF Ohio river water for
drinking water, particularly, that is cal
cuIated to set people against drinking
water, altogether. With all respect for
the doctor, than whom probably no
one in the Ohio Valley stands higher in
the medical profession, wewould like 10
enter our modest protest against some
OF his conclusions. We have not the
paper just ut hand, but there is one
point he makes to which weobjcc,, that
10, that the point IN contamination,
where running or any other water be.
comes dangerously unwholesome hns
been exceeded greatly aud frequently
ut Wheeling, and. presumably ut other
points along the Ohio.
The inference would DC that diseases
along tho river have greatly increased,
not only in tho older settlements, but
everywhere else along the banks whore
the water Is more or less used This
inference does not seem to DO borne out
By facts. Tho death ratio does not seem
to have materially increased since the
earliest settlements; and where city
mortality for temporary period has
gone beyond the normal figure, proba.
bly, 1t could BIO accounted for otherwise
than by attributing it to tho use OF
polluted river water. The numbcrless
and unmcntlonablc designations Of city
life, exposure OF every sort not neces.
sary to mention, may well account for
any excess in Wheeling, or any other
city mortality, OF which we have any
modern record, without resorting to the
microbe theory OF polluted and un-
wholesome water.
At this late day, Of course, it will not
do to invcigh against science or the
results OF Investigations into the hidden
causes ofthings, good and bad; the in
ventions and discoveries amcng the
hidden things OF nature, of modern
times, have been too numerous und
decided ior that, but ut tho same time
experience has shown us, that there is
nothing more unreliable than scientific
cropping among the subtlcr develop
lncnts OF animal life. The frequent dis
covcrcs and quick abandonmenta OF
panaceas and specifies in medical
science is proof enough OF that.
These discoveries are frequently
founded upon microscopical observa-
lions, but, after all, the microscope,
with all its powers, is little more than
scientific toy. For practical purposes it
is most uncertain instrument. Its
evidence must always be corroborated.
1t can demonstrate on paper that the
human blood corpuscle is disc OF
particular description, but whether such
and such . blood splotch was from the
veins OF a-human being or q rat or q
frog, hardly two microscopes in the
country will be found in precise agree
ment, and it is not probable that man
was ever yet convicted on the evidence
OF microscopic expert, however posi-
tive and precise his evidence.
These disease germs in water arc dis
covcrics OF the microscope; and may
not the learned doctors have overesti-
mated the deleterous Importance OF the
microbe and bacteria in the human
economy? Also.may they not have I'M
dercstimated the resistant and curative
powers OF natural agencies intended to
counteractthcm? May not professional
enthusiasm have misled them OCCASION
ally to attach undue importance to fav-
orite ideas pertaining to the occult?
May not their microscopical discoveries
be, some OF them. after all decisions,
and may not medical deductions from
the same be false? We humbly be-
lieve that something oil the sort is the
case. At any rate we would wait awhile
before abandoning the use OF Ohio
river water by reason OF the countless
millions OF microbe that can be seen
through piece OF glass, in drop OF
water
Those microbes have existed and
tlourished under similar circumstances
ever since the world was created for
anything We know to the contrary; and
we have no evidence that there ever
existed any peculiar or unusual innu-
ence on the health OF the human race
from the earliest periods down to the
present. Men have always congregatcd
along the rivers, and built cities on
their banks and in old times with much
worse sanitary regulations than at
present, and yet the race has managed
to hold its own and live through it all,
Notwithstanding that they depended
upon the rivers Tor their water supplies.
1t is truo they had their pestiences
and plaques from Babylon down TO
London, but the death rate per thou
sand over given periods has, from earli-
est recorded time, been very much the
same, century by century, population
apparently depending upon other con-
ditions, means OF subsistence, &C.,
without regard TO the animalcules in air
and water. So, We judge, it will con-
tlnue to be SO as long as men congre-
gate by the running waters.
Following the analogies OF nature,
these bacteria may serve some useful
purpose i'll the economy OF creation, and
though they need not he cultivated it
remains to be proven whether their
absolute elimination would be benefit
or not. That is something We will not
tackle, but not unlikely the physicist is
coming who will do justice to the mi
crobes and bacteria.
In the meantime, the learned doctors
to the contrary, We venture the opinion
that whiskcy, beer. the social evil in its
various forms are moro responsible. for
the diseases OF the river towns, or any
other towns than all tho microbes that
were ever absorbed between Pittsburgh
and the mouth. This does not say that
the water cannot be poisoned and rem
dered unfit for use. but only that the
danger to the public health from pollut-
ed river water is exaggerated. Let us
use all precautions. The rivers should
be protected from pollution, by all
means, ii not as measure OF health as