Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1899-09-08
How Nature
Gave Science
A Pointer.

Se 49, So -
'I've been reading in the papers
about disease germs-bacilli, bacteria,
microbes or whatever you call them, .
said a passenger on one Of the Pontiac
cara the other day. ~ don't know
much about the science Of such things,
but I've had let's Of experience, and
very peculiar experience too. Talk
about your antitoxin for diphtheria and
such things 1t isn't a circumstance to
what I've had In my time"
The speaker was a tall. rather spare
middle aged man, with dark brown
hair, mixed with gray, and a full beard,
cropped short. On the whole, he was a
rather pleasant appearing fellow and
disposed to be sociable.
''You know how a fellow feels when
be shakes. do you-when your bones
ell ache and cold streaks run down your
back every time you nov and your
teeth chatter till you think they will
all come looseH Then you burn mp with
fever after the chill is over, and your
head aches, and you hope you will die
before another chill comes on. You
know all about that. do youf Well. so
do l. Bat l was cured Of 1t many years
g and I've never had it since"
Glow were you curedf" l asked.
with some interest. and some of the
other passengers began to lean over and
try to catch the conversation.
81 was inoculated."
"You see, / was living on q farm
down along the Wabash, In a locality
where everybody had ague nine months
out Of the year. 1t was a regular breed
ing place Of malaria, where everything
that lived and breathed had the shakes
The papers used to have great stories
about the shaking in that country, and
1 guess most Of them were true, though
I suppose there wal a little exaggera-
tion sometimes. Irecollect reading once
about how it affected the wild pigeons.
When they settled on the ground in
search OF beechnuts and other stuff to
eat, they covered acres and acres as
thick as they could stand. Well, there
was a story that the pigeons got the
ague when they lit in that locality and
shook all their feathers off. Then spec
ulators anne and shipped thousands of
'em to market. They couldn't fly be-
cause their wings had no feathers to fly
with, and the spectators gathered up
tons Of the feathers and sent them east.
II was q good story. but / always
thought IL was stretched a little.
But whether the story Is true or not
/ had the ague for months at a time,
and no quantity Of quinine or other
stuff would do any good. l just shook
and shook and burnt up with fever till
/ was a shadow and could hardly walk.
1 had given up all hope Of ever getting
any better unless / went to some other
place. but l had spent 80 much money
for medicine that / hadn't enough left
to get away with, and ! had to just
shake and stand II.
Zone day l found a squirrel in a
trap / had set in the woods. He was q
fine looking fellow, a big fox squirrel,
and ! hated to kill him, 30 ! took him
home In the trap and made a cage for
him He soon became quite tame, and
could handle him as ! pleased. One
day ! noticed there was something the
matter with the squirrel He seemed
mopish and had no appetite. which wal
something unusual for a squirrel He
kept getting worse and soon grew as
thin as l was
Zone day the doctor was passing by,
and called him in to see my pet. He
looked him over and said IL was a clear
case Of sgue. That seemed queer 10 me,
and l laughed at the idea-said / had
never heard Of such a thing. He ex-
planned il was because the squirrel was
confined in a cage where he could not
get his natural remedies. The wild ami
mails, he said. ate certain things while
in the woods that kept the malaria from
affecting them. But this n was pre-
vented from getting them and was suf-
fering the consequences
81 watched the squirrel the next day.
and, sure enough, he had a regular
shake. just as l did. He curled himself
mp in a ball. as small as he could. and
shook like sixty. Then he would stretch
himself ont at full length and lie for an
hour or two as still as a mouse. felt
his poor little body and found he was
burning with fever.
81 was going to turn him loose In the
woods and save the poor little fellows
life. but the doctor said he would like
TO study the case for the sake Of science.
So / kept him and lot him shake. We
tried to give him quinine. but he
wouldn't have IL after the first dose.
But after a few weeks he quit shaking
and began to fatten again. Then he