The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1894-06-29
Sunshine And Microbes.

Percy Frankland. has an interesting
article in the Nineteenth Century on Sun
shine and Microbes. He says that the
power Of sunshine TO destroy nicroorgani-
zatisms has long been known. About six
teen years ago, two Englishmen, Downcs
and Blunt, established the remarkable fact
tina, if certain liquids capable Of unoer-
going putrtfaction are exposed to The
direct rays OF the sun, they remain perfect
ly sweet, while exactly similar liquids kept
in the dark become tainted and exhibit
innumerable bacteria under the microscope.
In this way the lethal action Of the suns
rays as regards this world of microorgan-
isms was shown for the fret time and quite
a new aspect given to the healthy and in
herent cravings which we feel for light in
our houses and general surroundings. Ex-
periments were next made TO determine
how these resuts were brought about and
upon what factors they were dependent.
In the first place it was found that the
suns action increases or diminishes with
the amount OF oxygen present. This con-
clusion has recently been confirmed q, the
Pasteur institute by NJ Mon.ont, who ex-
posed the bacilli OF anthrax to sunshine in
, the presence and absence of air, with the
result that while those exposed 10 the sun
in the presence Of air were killed in two
and half hours. those placed In vac
uum were still alive after Fifty hours ex-
posure TO sunshine.
The next problem TO be attacked was to
ascertain whether all the solar rays were
equally responsible, or whether the differ
ent colorei rays produced different effects
The problem was most successfully attack
ed by DR. Geisler, Of st Petersburg, wht
found that the rays at the red end had it'll.
or no effect on the growth Of the baeiIli
while the most powerful deleter;ous actor
was obtained in the ultra violet, the eifec
becomming less and less marked in pass
ing from, this to the red. Experiment.
with the electric light showed that II had
very little potency n comparison with to-
Sun.
But, lerhaps, the most important resui
of these Investigations is the discover.
that exposure 10 the solar rays may mate
rally modify tie character of baeteri
without destroying them. Much hygieEi
Importance attaches to some investigation
| in this direction made 10y DR. Palermo, o
: Naples, which have Only recently bee
published The microbes selected for ex
! pertinent KocL's cholera bacilli. Thes
. bacilli, which are almost universally cred
, tied with producing Asiatic cholera i
! man, are also fatal to GuineA pigs In abou
eighteen hours. DR. Palermo placed som
! Of these bacilli in the sunshine for variou
, periods Of time, and be found that Will:
when be protected them from The sun. the
killed Guinea pigs in eighteen hours q
usual. after they had been summed frcl
: three and half to four and half hour
: they were perfectly harmless. the animal
{ EXPERIENCING no evil results whatever froi
: inoculAtion with them. These cho'er
: bAcilh thus rendered innoeuoas had ns
5 been destroyed. nor had their total numos
! suffered any diminuiion by the action {
the sunshine during this short time, bu
their viruience or disease pso.lacing pove
: had been destroyed. More than this ih
I further important discovery wac made 'ha
the Guinea pigs which had survived Il
Z inoculation with these isolatei baeiili ha
c acquired immunity from the disease, lha
r is 10 say, they were pso.ected from con
tracing il aiterward. This was prove
eight days later, when these pariioula
Guinea pigs were inocula,ed with viruleb
: cholera bac,illi. and showed themselve
quite unaffected by doses which tc orti
nary Guinea pigs proved rapidly fAia
We are as Jet only on tie threshold c
this interesting branch ol bacterio.ogies
research; bat the results which hAy
been already obtained open no the Possi
bilities Of discoveries Of vital impor,aDc
in byGienie science