The herald., 1893-10-31
microbes which weB

are about to examine.
Shut the eye, or cover it with the
hand, and apply the other eye to the
tube of the Instrumentation unless you
are an expr3. uced microscopist you
will not be .>,e to see anything plainly
with both eyes open. Now what do you
see?
A circular space, or "6eld," as it is
called, which is evidently illuminated
from below, for everything therein APP
pears transparent, occupied by some
brown medium, which contains at inter-
walls more or less great what at hrst
sight might be taken for air bubbles.
Some of them are round and some
slightly oval. some isolated and some
grouped together in clusters, others
have the appearance OF chains or strings
OF pearls. They appear to be about the
siza OF the head of very small pin,
but they are magnifed 1000 diameters--
that ia to cay that il 100 OF them were
placed side by side the whole of them
would be as wide as one OF them sp-
pears when seen through the micro
scope. These bubbles are the strepto-
cocci of diphtheria one OF the organ
iams that is supposed to give rise to
that disease
Now move the slide gently along the
stand on when II rests and you will see
many more Il these microbes. for this
field which ,.n nave been examining is
really only ;,'y miaute part OF the
drop under Tho c Yer slase.
If Won were 10 remain long enough,
and the conc lions were favorable you
might be abe 10 observe their method
of propagation.
At frat yor, would see the round bod
les become more elongated, then there
would be formed al depression in the
middle, caualnx them to assume the
shape OF hour glass, when they would
either part from each other and form
separate organisms, each perfect in it
self, the process to be repeated again
and again, or they would still hold to-
gether and form d chain such as was be-
fore referred to.
II this process we're uninterrupted, IN
few days time the progeny OF one bac-
terium would form MAS as big as a
church, but this can not be, for food
supply 10 necessary for their propags-
ton, and food eupply is limited. 9th
erwise there would be no room on the
face of the earth for mankind and other
animals.
We are accustomed to refer to cloud
OF locusts, to eymboize the devastating
power. But give one healthy microbe a
fair field and plenty of food, aud all the
grasshoppera that Kansas ever produced
would simply not be ''in it" with him,
Remove the slide you have been ex-
amining and replace it with another
from the table.
What you now see differs materially
from the last. They look for all the
world like drum sticks. a little short
ened, but still drum sticks. This is the
bacillus tetanus," and is the cause of
lock- jaw. The bulge at the end contains
the ''spore," which for want OF better
comparison, may be likened to the egg
or seed of the organism for whereas
the "micrococi," or round bacteria, only
propagate by splitting themselves into
two, and not by spores, the bacillus"
or long kind use both methods.
Take another slide. These too are
"bacilli," and are shaped something
like sausages, appearing both eingly and
in chains. such as are to be seen hang
ing in butchers, shops. Those are the
"bacilli anthracis" which are the cause
of anthrax in cattle and the wool sort
ers disease" in human beings.
For last look we will take this slide
on which the cover glass has been &C.
mented and the contents of which look
dry and hard. Here wesee great num-
ber OF ill-defned little twisted rods,
which have a general resemblance to
the comma mark, such as those used in
this newspaper. From this likeness
they were named the comma bscilli".
by the celebrated German scientist, DR..
Koch, for they are the much talked of
hao nf tha AaeQtic ehnIara
1t is perhaps as we'll to remark that it
ia not universally admitted among
scientists that they are the cause OF that
dread disease--in any case you need not
be afraid of them here, they are all
dead-still it is we'll to leave the cover
glass intact.
Let us pause awhile before leaving and
ask ourselves what our investigation has
taught US regarding the nature of these
organisms, OF which We have been such
interested observers. We are obliged to
answer-not much. They are like moth
ing with which we have had any pre-
yious acquaintance and we are tempted
TO dismiss the subject in the words oil
the Scottish captain:
''The earth hath bubblesas the water has,
And these are OF them"
We believe them to be living beings,
for we have seen them move and repro
duce themselves, but aB to what king
dom they belong we are entirely with
out the means OF judging.
Fortunately we are not obliged to de-.
pend upon our own investigation for in
formation on the subject. Many emil
nent men OF science have, during the
last generation, devoted their whole
energy to the solution of this problem,
and the result maybe learned by the
study of any one of several excellent
books on this subject, written by cele.
brated bacteriologists.
They are not and never can becoEe
animals--to describe them as insects
being the very quintessence of absurdity
plants they are, in a sense, that is, ii
in the course OF evolution. by the aggre-
CATION OF cells, they become more highly
Organized, they will be plants and will
belong to the fungus or mushroom
family.
Though the particular organism which
we have been examining are disease
bringers. this is by no means the case
with all species of bacteria.
Some, most of them in fact, are active
ly beneficial. Without them mankind
could not long continue to exist. These
harmless species are called non-path O.
genie, in contradistinction to the pRtho-
genie, or disease breeders. Out OF about
500 known to science but very lew are
the cause OF disease in mankind. The
reat are natures scavengers, and their