Evening journal., 1899-08-19
MICROBES ARE DELICATE.
Unless the Conditions Are } JuAt Rig ht,
They WIN Not Thrive
at All.


In very interesting lecture delivered
Ct the Royal College of Physicians, DR..
Poofa describes the actibn of the earth
In rehtion to the preservation and de-
struction of oontagia, pointing out that
the chemical composition of earth is
constantly changing, and that its ft-
ness for supporting the life of the va
rious micro-organisms that are found
in it varies accordingly.
Each Of these microbes presumably
grows best in what one may call its OPP
timum conditions, and the smallest al
teration in these conditions may turn
the scale and decide which among the
competing organisms shall obtain the
mastery. In Illustration of the GU
rious exaetitude Of the conditions
without which certain fungi will not
grow, and of their extraordinary de-
velopment, whenever these conditions
are fulfilled, DR.. Poore refers TO the
growth Of mushrooms.
"Some Of ths hrger saproPhytes," he
says, such, for instance, as The COM
men mushroom, reqitrp ne little saasiii
fsr then artificial production, Involving
farmere attention 70 esast details than
is necessary with the ordinary green
leaved garden plants. We know that
for a few weeks in the autumn they
may appear in great numbers in dry
pastures where horses have been fed,
provided that the conditions of the air,
as temperature, light and moisture, be
/ 90 81 alu hot III
rectly the necessary conditions fail
the mushroom harvest is at an end"
And it is clear that "the optimum
conditions for the growth and develop
ment of these short-lived AID delicate
organisms must be marvelously subtle,
probably quite beyond the ken Of the
chemist"
Referring then to certain diseases,
such, for example, as anthrax and te-
tanus, the germs of which are known to
grow freely in certain soils, attention is
drawn to the rarity with which men are
attacked by them, even when working
on land which has almost certainly been
infected. We are thus brought face
to face with the Importance of the ex-
tra-corporeal phases of microhc life
in the maintenance Of community ef in
lection. Unfortunately, we seem TO
know but little in regard to the exac.
conditions under which the several
pathogenic organisms are best able 70
maintain their existence in saprophytic
form. Something we know about the
bacillus Of the tuberculosis, and some-
thing we are beginning to know about
that of epteric fever, but much more
knowledge in this direction is badly
wanted.
1t is true enough, no doubt, as has
been we'll said. that "the proper study
! Of mankind is man." but this is just
what the patholOgist must unlearn If he
would get TO the bottom of the stiology
and especially of the epidemiology, Of
infectiouS ailments. No longer must
he DO coAten4 to study~the action %
the microbe within mans frame os1the
I methods by which it brews toxins anC
sets up disease, but he must trace ia
life history outside, and find out whai
these infectious particles are doing
and how they are living through the
long interval that sometimes lapses be.
tween the termination of one case
and the development of another. One
: fine morning we look out upon our pad
dock and find it full Of mushrooms
and another, although we know that
= the spore is present just the same
{ there is not a mushroom to be seen
} 1t was the conditions, not the seee
} alone, that made them grow. And this
? Is q pacable.-Hospital