Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1897-12-23
HOW MICROBES THRIVE.
eiost of Them Prefer Man and Make
Him Their Victim


Him Their Victim.
One would think that such trifiing
things as the microbes-several mil
lions of which could find comfortable
accommodation on the surface of
shilling not have any special
tastes one way or another. But they
really are quite particular as to where
they take up their abode. Onekind is only.
happy when it can locate itself in soue-
body's lungs; another goes to the liver
by choice; third is satisfied when it
gets to the back of the mouth Again,
one kind will find its billet in dog or
remain homeless; another prefers a
pigeon; a third likes the rabbit best; a
fourth is not content with anything
lower than man.
Most microbes like man when they
can get him, and the typhoid germ likes
nothing else. He is distinguished from
all others of his kind by the fact that
he will have nothing to do with any
other species of animal whatever, and
that, wherever man is, he is there also.
Whether in Iceland or Iudia, Canada
or Central America, England or Au-
stralia, the typhoid bacillus is always to
be found wherever men are gathered
together. And mountain is the same
as plain to him; inland as seaboard. To
look at, he is not much. Just little,
short, thick rod, with rounded ends.
He is always on the move. When very
short he moves quite rapidly; when a
bit long he takes things easier. No
doubt the great object of his motion is
to get into mans stomach and intes-
tines, for when he gets there he stays
there long enough.
He would stay there indefinitely
for no human power can eject him
but for the curious fact that after a
time he poisons himself. Fortunately
all microbes do this or they would soon
clear the earth of every living thing.
The typhoid bacillus does it usually in
about three weeks, sometimes even in
two, but often he takes four or five or
even six. The course Of the disease in
any individual case depends altogether
ON the length of time the bacillus takes
to poison himself. AS is well known,
doctors do nothing beyond sustaining
the patients strength and seeing that
ne is placed in the best conditions to
weather the attack. But from the
moment the bacilli enter the intestine
lN0y chHl1nu0 TO manufacture some eX-
traordinary destructive substance in
which, sooner or later, they all die. The
worst of it is that this substance is also
poisonous to human beings and often
kills them first. 1t is this, in fact, which
produces the fever. The bacillus him
self remains all the time in the intes-
the, but the poison, called tox albumin,
which he manufactures is absorbed into
the blood and brings about that ter
ri5le condition called typhoid fever.
Now and again the fever lasts five
weeks, and it may hot end even till the
fortieth day. Then comes the most
difficult period of all for those in at
tendance. A doctor positively does not
know what to do with a convalescent
typhoid patient. He is so ravenously
hungry that he would rather get a
piece of raw beef at once than wait five
minutes for a nicely cooked lamb outlet
Most medical men believe, however.
that for ten days after typhoid patient
is we'll on the road to recovery a solid
meal is as dangerous as the original
dose of microbes.-London Mail.