Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-10-22
ASIATlC CHOLERA R
cHEY LOOK LIKE THE n as
USED IN PRINT.
Tiny Germs Furnishes a Descrip-
ton OF Them. y

Francisco, has been entertain
ing 4 newspaper reporter with
Il view OF the wonderful lab.
oratory wherein he is said to cultivate
disease germs after the manner of DR..
Koch. From the. reporters interview
re quote as follows:
1.-The cholera germ" said DR.. Mouser,
~icannot only survive cold, bu, the dis.
sase has ragged in Russia during the
depths o. winter. Dry heat kills the
germ. 1t is we'll to remember this. No
substance subjected to 100 degrees cent?
iradc will shelter ever such t~enacious
life as the comma bacillus possesses. Lee:
he show YOU"
DR.. Mouser escorted his visitor down.
'talrs, across a rear yard 10 a plain frame
structure, which he opened. "This is
my laboratory" he explained. He took
from a shelf a tiny tin tray that held up
right an array of glass tutes. Each tube
contained a gelatine-like substance, fill
'ng about a quarter of the space, and
each tube was corked by a wad Of cot
tor. There was death in almost any one
OF them. The gelatine was covered by
q scum, or partly covered by a splotch
shat had not spread over the entire sur
face. This indefinite scum is made I'D
in every instance of germs OF some NAL
ady. Here i. the very essence of fever.
of phthisis; here are atoms which, II.
reduced into the purest blood, would
:urn it to corruption and clog the arter-
les Of life. And here, innocent to the
J eyes, ls the common bacillus, the inhab-
liant Of India, that at Irregular intervals
inds its way abroad. and scourges the
world.
Cholera in a bottle, and the cork cot
:on.
1t may console the timid reader 10
know that the germs are dead. Dr..
Mouser experimental with them until
be had ascertalned all he desired to
know about them, and then turned his
attention in other directions. TIE poor
germs, neglected, subjected to unseemly
temperatures, allowed no filth \ upon
which to thrive, gave up their several
ghosts, and ell that the tube now con.
tains is their inanimate remains.
To the naked eye the comma CONVEYS
no impression, bcing" individually invis-
ible. Magni6ed 700 times it assumes
the size of the ordinary comma used in
newspaper print, and a glance at its
image shows why it is known by its
peculiar title.
One naturally handles tie tubes with
some care, as a splinter of g9ss convey
ing INTO a chance wound a speck of the
virus would, in regard to most of the
specimens on the day, be fatal.
The malignity of the comma bacillus
has been shown in experiments. A small
animal lnoculated with it dies in a short
time IN all the agony of cholera, and is
SO charged with the germs that inocula-
ton from the first victom to a second is
as certain and speedy in its fatal results.
A man so treated would have no more
hope of surviving than the guinea pic,
VINO Is usually chosen as a subject for
the trial. A pin thrust into the pic and
then INTO a man would kill the man. And
yet the actual germ has not been found
10 the muscular tissues or in the blood.
1t concentrates its malign force along the
ailmentary canal and in the intestinal
membranes. Science has been studying
1t Tor several years. In a general way
science has determined its actual deriva.
ton and its etfect-it kills. But lust
how, just why, science, led by the great
Koch, cannot tell. The theory is that it
sets up a poison. Even this theory is
IN some quarters, and opponents
OF ooh aQcnrt %1,A
Is only such during a siege of its develop
ment, and other germs are also present
IN cholera. But Koch's doctrine is
standing the test, and thoughtful and
learned men are glad to learn of him.
Dr. Mouser is such a man. "Koch."
said he, holding a tube with a carmine
coating over its deposit of gelatine u D
the light, "Koch is the greatest man
"a this line in the world. Mex. after
him comes Sternberg, an American. now
n Brooklyn. sternberg, by the way.
'ent me this tube. He thought be had
.ound the yellow-fever aerm, but he
Nobody has. S~ternberg has
'een hunting this germ ten years, going
IS Tar as Cuba and South America"
1he doctor displayed the delicate ap.
with which the laboratory
ounds There are ovens for dry heat.
sea to sterllize the tubes ana cotton,
':ner ovens are for the purpose of main
aiming q temperature at which the
develop.
"Since Koch discovered the comma
'acli'us has any specific been designed
0 meet it," asked the reporter.
There is no specific. Oi course We
re naoled to meet the disease in 8 more
n'elligent manner" the doctor replied.
WHAT would You advise a nerso,
iseoVeEinS symptoms Of cholera in him.
to dof What should he take:"
lhe germ e1perinenter smiled rather
~ would advise nin "a aa
ut q doctor WITHOUT losing time he
,Qlled, 'tthe bes. one be knov