The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-11-24

cream with germs which impart a good
flavor, thus incl easing the market val
re OF the butter
The industrial profits obtained
through the discoveries of bacte!iolo
-, great As they doubtless are, appear
csignl1caIt when compared with the
. immense blessings conferred upon suf-
Eering humanity by this new science
PREVIOUS to the brilliant discoveries OF
oacteriolOgy the mortality from puer-
Peral fever was very large. particular
II in the hospitals. At present. with
our well-appointed hospitals. the NOR
sality from this disease is very slight.
1t IS in surgery. however. that Dacte-
rlology has achieved its greatest tri-
umphs- Fifty years ago. when sur
geons opened the cavities of the body
such as the chest. abdomen. etc. the
Iesults were often fatal At the pres
emf time surgeons do not hesitate to
penetrate any cavity or region of the
body.
Sir Joseph Lister OF Edinburgh. fol-
lowing the great discoveries of Pasteur
has SHOWN that if We exclude or des-
roy u he micro-organisms which pro-
duce Qus. there will be no suppuratiOn
and the wounds will heal by primary
union. The healing by primary union
or flra1 intention, a. X is also called
consists Of the prompt adhesion of the
SIDES OF the wound without swelling
Dus, FEVER CT any other symptom of in
Examinations that the patient does not
experience any i'll after effect of the
operation and is fully recovered in Il
few days instead Of months as was
formerly the case
These good results of severe ope.a-
tons. which were formerly the excep-
ton. are now the rule Surgeons no
longer fear hospital gangrena and
ether infections diseases which previ-
Gus 10 antisepsis proved fatal To a
large proportion OF surgical cases. The
possession of reliable anaRsthetics like
ether and choroform, thus enabling the
surgeon TO perform the most severe
operations without causing the patient
the least pain, has also served to eX-
tend the field OF surgery to many re-
gems OF the body never before in
y3ded during the life of the patient.
BacteriOlogy has already achieved
great tr.umphs in the field of proven
i've medicine; owing to it's discoveries,
We can now combat successfully many
epidemic diseases such as ch0lero.
black plague, yellow fever, exc, which,
during the past centuries, spread all
ever the world unintluenced by the
means then adopted to check theirproe-
ress. During the 18th century the
bubonic plague spread over Europe
killing one fourth of all the inhabi-
Eants. Owing to the knowledge we
now possess Of this dreadful disease
and the manner of its propagation. it
is safe TO predict that a calamity such
% was witnessed in the 14th century
will not occur again.
BY means of the microscope we can
now detect the germs of consumption
IN The sputa of patients at the very
beginning Of that fatal malady. while
the ordinary examination of the lungs
by the old method usually reveals the
existence Of the disease when it is so
far advanced that medicine can not
cure it.
Bacteriology has also given us a
serum against diphtheria which is pre-
pared by inoculating horses with the
poisonous products of the bacili of
diphtheria until the animal has ac-
quired high degree of immunity. and
tOlerates large quantities of the poison.
The horse IS then bled and a small
quantity of his blood serum is injected
under the skin of the sick child. AS a
rule all children recover when treated
witch the serum during the first forty
eight hours OF the development of
diphtheria, and many recover even
when the use of the serum is DELAYED
three or four days This serum has
reduced the mortality OF that fatal
disease from so degrees ITO 6 degrees
and has also been used successfully as
Il preventive in children exposed to !
Much benefit has been derived from
the discovery of the bacillus of teta-
nus which is the cause of tetanus or |
lockjaW. Many people die as the re-
suit Of a small, often insignificant
punctured wound usually on the plan |
tar surface Of the foot. The cause of |
death in these cases is due to a strong, |
violent poison. produced by the teta-
nus baci1li which have entered the |
body through the open wound where |
they multiply and secre.e the fatal
poison. The bacillus of tetanus is |
found in the soil of gardens and is |
very abundant about stables and out |
houses, adhering to old lumber and |
rusty nails. 1t will not grow in the |
presence Of oxygen. This explains the |
fact that deep closed wounds, such as |
those made by stepping on nail, are
very likely to be followed by lOckjaw, |
Because the oxygen of the air does not |
reach the inner end of the wound thus |
preventing the growth of the bacilli |
as 1t does in open shallow wounds. If |
the punctured wounds cannot be dis
infected thoroughly with a strong So
tuition of carbolic acid or other good
they should be converted |
into open wounds.
The latest triumph Of bacteriology
has been demonstrated in OpOrto, POr-
tugal, during the recent epidemic of
bubonic plague which broke out in
that city. The institute of Pasteur of
Paris had prepared curative and
preventive serum against the plague
and DR.. Calmette was sent to Oporto
o try 1.-THE experim with the serum
proved very successful preventing the
disease in all cases inOculated with 1T
and curing many who were already
suffering with the plague when the Sc
rum was used. Dr.. Calmette is so con-
ident of the efficiency of the serum
hat ne allowed Madame Calmette, his