Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-01-27
MAN AND THE MICROBES.

Revue ~Pedagogique, DR.. H. Beauregard an
swers Il question that every thinking man
has no doubt often put to himself in some
thing like the following form: Do microbes
deserve all the noise that has been made
about them, and are they as universal and
dangerous as has been generally repre-
scented?
At the outset the doctor declares that all
that has been said about the microbes is
true and that they are entitled to all of the
notoriety that has been given TO them.
They are everywhere. in the air that we
breathe. in the water that we drink. in the
food that We swallow; dust contains in
Vulnerable quantities of them, our gar
ments are covered with them, our hair af-
fords an asylum for legions of these tiny
insects" Then why is it hat man does
not more easily and frequently succumb to
the perils which surround him on every
side? If il is true that microbes cause the
most terrible maladies. those which deci-
mate populations like the cholera, plague,
typhus. yellow fever, scarlatina, why is 1t
that man ever reaches a good old age and
dies from the exhaustion OF his functions
instead OF disease? DR.. Beauregard an
swers all these questions by showing that
man is peculiarly armed to fight off the
wicked little creatures.
Suppose" says he, that a legion of mi
crobes attack us from the outside. Some
fastcn on the shin. others penetrate by the
mouth or the nose. Before reaching us.
they lave already encountered conditions
which put them, in q certain measure, in a
state of inferiority. The oxygen of the
air and light are agents which injure the
vitality of the microbes. From this fact
results the elementary principle of ny
giene to keep the apartments in which We
live well aired, and to admit into them
floods Of light. Having reached the skin,
microbes find an effioacious barrier in the
cells of the epidermis. of which those di-
rectly on the outside are horny and thus in
the best condition for not being traversed
easily, and are, moreover, in a continual
state of desquamation or scaling off. This
may be called the physical defense of the
epidermis. That is not all. The skin con-
tains glands, producing sweat and oily mat
ter. These matters are eminently unfavora-
BILE for keeping up life in microbes. If
some Of them. however. awaiting themselves
Of the openings of these glands. get within
and think they lave overcome the obsta-
cles which prevent them from reaching the
internal tissues which are the object of
their travels, they are mistaken. for so
soon as the glands work a little actively.
in consequence of labor-provoking perspir-
alton or the active secretion of the oily
matter. the microbes. borne on this current
Of secretion, find themselves promptly
turned out Of doors. Hence the efficacious-
ness. from a hygienic point of view. of
care of the skin, of active Precipitation,
and the like
Returning to the microbes which have
says these cavities are clothed with a
membrane formed of little cells, not unlike
the cells of the epidermis of the skin. and
this membrane is constantly moistened
with liquids which are not at all favorable
to the development of the assailant. "If
he, continuing his march. manages to get
into the o%esophagus and so reach the stom-
ach. he finds there conditions which are
not good for his health, in the shape of
gastric secretions, such as chlorhydric, lac
tic and other acids. This is so true that
many microbes are absolutely incapable of
getting through the stomach and penetrat-
ing the intestines, for they have been so
battered and knocked about. and their vi
tality has been SO much lowered by their
troubles on the road, that they end by be-
ing destroyed and even digested in the
stomach"
But supposing the mucous surfaces do
not perform their work and the microbes
manage to penetrate the tissues. there they
meet with new obstacles; there they find,
in the first place. what are called phago-
cytes: that is, cells which are eaters, or ele-
ments of the lymph, which show surprising
activity. swallowing the microbes and d.
costing them. 1t should be remarked that
these phagocytes are most abundant at
threatened points. If, in spite of phagocytes,
the microbes get into the blood, they
have not won the battle. The serum of
the blood has microbe-killing properties;
, the oxygen that is carried into the blood
disagrees with many of the microbes, as
carbolic acid does with others, and thus II
is that the blood is rarely invaded by mi
crobes in the course of the maladies they
| engender. Driven then from vessels which
do not offer them a satisfactory field OF
culture, they can only take up their res.
idence in the heart of the organs, and
even there they meet with elements of re.
s~istance which are often eficacious. such
as defensive proteins and other antitoxic
substances produced by these organs"
OF course. DR.. Beauregard has not writ.
ten his article solely for the qualification
of the curious. He wishes to teach the
lesson hat while nature has organized the
human body to resist the attacks of the
microbes, the success of this resistance de.
ponds largely upon the condition in which
which may be found In the tissues pene
trated. He wishes to teach cleanliness
moderation, temperance, and other attrf
butes of right living, as the most essen
tial of all things in preserving the health
He argues that anything tending to lowe
the vitality of any of the organs is d bio
for the assault from the microbes, and tn,
good quality of his argument must be ad
mitted by everybody whether they TAX,
stock in the microbe theory or not.
II those imported reindeer are not needle
for klondike, the government might fee,