The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-21
MICROBES AND now THEY THRIVE.
Most of Them Prefer Man and Make
Him Their Victim.
From the London Mail.

A@bAANN'A
One would think that such trihing things
as the microbes-several millions of which
could find comfortable accommodation on
the surface of a shilling-would not have
any special tastes one way or another
Tut they really are quite particular as to
where they take up their abode, one kind
is only happy when 1t can locate itself In
somebody's lungs; another goes to the liz
er by choice; a third is satisfied when 1t
gets to the back Of the mouth. Again,
one kind will find its billet in a dog or
remain homeless; another prefers q pig
con; third likes the rabbit best; 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. Wheth-
er in Iceland or India, Canada or Central
America, England or Australia, the ty-
phoid 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
intestnes for when he gets there he stays
there long enough.
lie would stay there indefintely-for no
human power can eject him-but for the
curious fact that after a time he polsons
himself. Fortunately all microbes do this
or they would soon clear the earth of
ha
does 1t 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 al
together on the length of time the bacll-
lus takes to poison himself. AS Is well
known, doctors do nothing beyond sus-
taining the patients strength and seeing
that he is placed in the best conditions to
weather the attack But from the mo-
ment the bacillus enter the intestine they
continue to manufacture some extraordi-
nary destructive substance in which,
sooner or later they all die. The worst
Of 1t Is that this substance is also poison
Gus to human beings and often kills them
first. 1t is this, in fact, which produces
the fever. The bacillus himself remains
all the time In the intestine but the pois-
on, called tox albumin, which he manu-
features is absorbed into the blood and
brings about that terrible condition called
typhoid fever.
Now and again the fever lasts five weeks
and 1t may not end even till the fortieth
day. Then comes the most difficult period
Of all for those i'm attendance. A doctor
positively does not know what to do with
a convalescent typhoid patient. He is so
generously hungry that he would rather
get piece of raw beef at once than wait
five minutes for a nicely cooked lamb cut
let. Most medical men believe, however.
that for ten days after a typhoid patient
is wei on the road to recovery a solid
meal is as dangerous as the original dose
of microbes.