The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-14
TIE INVISIBLE TYRANT.
m IICROBE rs LITTER Am THE
RE,iL ross or THE EiRTH.
re Makes a. We'll or sicL-Hc ri,cs Up Our
Food for Bcticr or uorsc-Gc prrrorm.
the Miracle or Turning Brcr into Wine,
From ,he Washington Erenino 81

The Chemical Society of Washington met last
| night 10 receive the Presidential address o. Ur.
l.. A. DE S'hwcinltz. lie selected us his topic
1.-THE War with the Microbes" Dr. DE Schwcinitz
opened with II brief history Of the discoveries
which led up TO the germ theory OF disease.
Continuing, he said:
"Tho work of Plstcur thrCT light upon tho
origin Of these poisons. As the fcrincnt causes
the alteration in the grape juice. so does n mi.
croscopic form of life bring about the changes
which toko place In dead animal and vegetable
matter. and also these conditions in the living
body which we call disease.
MANY Of these microscopic forms Of single
celled plants, the bacteria. have their notural
habitat upon dead organic matter; but they may
flourish In tho living tody. and are almost TN.
limited in variety. appearance and behavior. 1t
Is possible also TO cultivate them upon specially
prepared solutions after their individual pccu.
l~iaritlcs have tocn studied. Some thrive best In
light, others in darkness; some like n goodly
supply Of oxygen. others prefer nitrogen; some
are very sensitive TO changes Of temperature,
while others readily accustom themselves to
vicissitudcs.
These different bacteria, further, are some
what eccentric within rs well as without tho
animal body. Some. as the diphtheria germs.
find their most comfortahlch habitat upon certain
mucous membranes. others in the lungs. some in
the digestive tract. still Others in the blood.
while others again continc themselves TO certain
external cells and membranes. In their artif.
clal cultivation this Is equally true. Whilo
nearly all thrive upon n beef broth, some prefer
tho beef broth with an excess of acid. others
with nm excess OF alkali. Some demand the nd-
dltion OF sugar or glycerine. others the addition
Of sugar together with acid. while some are sat.
''a nTt y w,,m + aif for OF Inimon and lis Tfs' as ann wIlf n
this city to demonstrate. In 1889, that the poi.
so" fo ri N fSr'n ,he SSslH ss " against ns mt" the ant Stt SeI'"a u
these same bacteria. This could be accom-.
rlished by introincing into the circulation OF
The poison which II produced was without effect.
What had been found true for one disease Of
animals proved nlso TO be true for many others.
and chemical vaccination was tried for diph.
iberia, tetanus; anthrax, cholera. typhoid fever.
diseases. but this discovery led TO another
that tho blood serum OF animals made i'm.
mune to a particular disease by injecting tho
had the effect OF destroying The germ Of the
disease; This excited renewed interest in the
was demonstrated by the work OF many. some in
this city In the laboratories before mentioned.
mails not only had the property OF comforting
immunity upon other animals, but also OF check.
iRS r"s SIsI tSIs S fact was va ne SeS SnHs pSsSa iirs 10y BY
Behring and subsequently by Roux and others,
In connection with diphthcria and tetanus, has
been dwelt upon often, and we know of the many
thousands Of lives that have been saved by the
antiloxin serEms.
which we have before described are injected
into different animals, preferably horses. and at
the end OF six TO twelve weeks the blood OF these
animals is found to yield IA serum containing
substances possessing both immnnizing and
The active principle OF this serum present 10
comparatively small in, quantity. but its iniu-
substance which directly chemically neutrslizcs
the poison, hut counteracts its effects within tho
animal in some unknown way.
" 1t is not only for protection against the two
diseases. %tetanus and diphtheria, that %antitoNio
fssr""' proved s%n e fhst typhoid a0f fever ,n cSoleT". an.
thrax, the plague. &c.. are amenahlc to similar
city that chemical vaccination received its first
impetus. but by other workers, IL has been DEM
losses 10 tho a"q Farmers NJ Of he SoSn try nav be com
trolled by antitoxic serum treatment, Investi-
f fSaf a in su isis ,","G Sn lhi9STfi10 iS t hhsS ssGsn s eaS
he produced in the serum OF animals.
E Sas nDad 5hGy ar" Sna rI rTopsTly , eT"ss in S SsiIh
ing experimental tuberculosis in small animals.
When We inquire, however. the character Of
the dark than in our efforts TO discover the ex.
oct nature OF ihc poison germs; Howsyer, II
form the a%ntitoxic principle from diphtheria
serum q minute amount of which will confer
plague, ..6o2 Y. OF which has been found to
cure animals weighing one pound, and even
form. All these solid a%ntitoxic principles resem;
tests and methods OF separation. showing albu-
mino!d reaction. but in their curative properties
other. The difficulty Of separating these anti:
toxins completely, from the other constituents Of
positive information as to their true chemical
character. As to their action, One theory, IS
the germ produced. but this does 81 not seem to 10
suhstantiatcd by experiment.
THE diphtheria a%ntitoNlc serum does not euro
tetanus, the swine plague serum does not cure
the cholera, In the case OF The venom Of ser
tiDnS will mnEp tho sprlnl NJ mn animal anti
toxic and curative against other venoms. The an
titoxic serum too, produced by the cobra venom
snake. 1t would seem from this that
there is a very close Relationship between he
the other. 1t seems very probable also that tho
will be closely allied. and that an anti,oyin for
one will also be an antiloxin for the other; In
OF the coli @cOmmnniS will protect animals from
the typhoid germ. To, which it /, closely allied.
many other diseases, where The germs are related,
"Whcn milk and cream are first collected
the air they soon become fllcl with those forms
Of lie which IRE pSTIsStly harmlsss: 7 PLACED
p%rratnTc, they will multiply very readily and
The milk becomes sour, due to the formation OF
l%nctic acid produced from the sugar u The milk
by one or moro Of these germs. II the germs
present, happen TO be those giving an ether and
ester which hnvca pleasant, havor and aroma,
good butter results; but u they Civ" rise, 10 tho
formation OF dis,grneIble THO "thcrs and cst"rs
or some aminos tho butter IL poor and bad,
Now, by i%sointing different germs found in
the milk, and cultivating them sculrItg!y 81 10
To- discover their own peculiar product, II is pos.
sihlc To Away make butter Of The same sort and
flavor by first destroying the other germs pres
ent by Pnsteur,1ation and, Then inotyl"iing tho
cream with the particular germ desires. A
number Of germs hive been %isOli,cl from milk
which will produce -ood butter, and any one %
sHS q Al T Trn inr, r GsinN! "" ,Iis 4, -" Gin Si@%f' n ,@2
NOR" p~,!"tohlc 10 different individuals. Ot
course. II great many germs have been found
which produce diSngrcclblC compounds, Gra 1t
III not possible to tell from their appearance siTo-
ply which be n Gu..rlhlc plant, but il is easy n
cultivate them in milk AMI note the resale, ncA
select the desirable plant co...
Fortunately, or unfortunately, tho use OF
these germs has been p~Ntcutcd, so that in the
near future ~" may see branded NJ on particn'
larry fin" buffers and rhCcsr patented IN 1921.
amended lSpG, rcissuCd 1908, Nc. MAY We cN-
poet soon u patented process for breathing, eat
ing, and sleeping
Recently II has been found. too, that malt, II
inoculntCd with u particular germ from the skin
OF The grape, will he converted into wine. und 10
is certainly not beyond the limits % possibilities
that In tho fItnrp 4 UlnrisoD h.ap nff.r ~ ,,NutHA