New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-04
BACTERIA IN BLOSSOMS.
MICROBES ACTUALLY FOUND IN FLOW
ERS
CAN THEY PROPAGATE DIsEAsE7-PosSIBIE IN.
FLUENCE OF THESE ORGANISMS
OK HUE AND OuOR
OK HUE AND DOOR.

has led 10 the adoption OF precautions by iad-
,-j1uals and communities that would have been
neglected otherwise. Victims Of certain diseases
arc Isolated from other people for a time Their
clothing and surroundings disinfected. The
surgeon takes better care than formerly to avoid
conveying poison from one patient to another
rs means OF instruments. Our water supply is
Guarded from contamination. not as jealousy
g. II should be but nevertheless with some show
o. watchfulness. Particular pains are taken TO
r-4reut the transportation Of tuberculosis germs
% mix from diseased COWS. Last year there
was q good deal Of talk about the pernicious
s.tIy.ty Of flies in carrying typhoid bacteria on
ther toes from place 10 place. Every few
months indeed. there comes some fresh an
ragDcement q a source Of danger that has hith-
e-to been Unsuspected.
Among the latest suggestions of this kind is
the alleged discovery by Or. Domingos Freire.
% Re Janero that flowers are haunted by mi
probes The statement is not an incredible one.
rh4 air : So full Of all kinds Of bacteria, good
and bad and the construction Of a flower is so
well adapted TO afford refuge for such organ
SINS mat one might easily believe the story.
Moreover flowers are visited by countless bees
ana flies which may themselves be bearers Of
couiaElon and against which the flowers have
established no quarantine.
DIR FREIRES EXPERIMENTS
Tr Freire has beer conducting a set Of inter-
es,.ng experiments IL gathered quantity Of
flowers IN a garden that situated several
miles outside the city OF Rio Janeiro and about
~ feet above sea level-in a locality that
would seem 10 be comparatively free from un
wholesome influences. The blossoms were
olivpe5 and dissecte6 with scissors that had
t.en carefully disinfected 10y holding them in
The flame Of d candle. The fingers were not al
lowed 90 touch the flowers at all. The speci-
mems thus obtained were collected IN sterilized
tubes and the usual means employed for the
cultur, o. microbes were brought into play. to
develop any forms OF life that might adhere to
the 81 gina and stamens Of the blossoms under
examination Here are some Of the results
which Dr Frrire is said to have reached:
The Hibiscus rosasinensis green house how-
e. that rs related to the hollyhock the rose mall
Low and okra was found to contain a hitherto
unknown micrococcus Whether 4; is a danger
Gus creature or a harmless one Or Freire has
Do; ascertained. But he has named it the Mi
c-ococcus crucformis" In the Rothschild rose
o., couC find the organism known as the Lep-
to:hr.x ochracea easily recognized by the yell
lovish rusty hue that it imparts to the cult
u-es This particular leptothrx nhabits stag
u4nt water and is a suspect, though never for
ulaly convicted of murder.
TIL Gallo rose furnished colonies q two diff
tersnt species of microbes. One showed the
chara eteristics Of the Streptococcus ryogenes'
tn organism that accompanies pus. The other
on has not been identified yet Two kinds were
a.. found in the blossom Of climbing plant
that Or Frere calls cardinal flower some
thing different. however. from the flower which
bears the same name in North America one
o. these was the Micrococcus saivarius pyo-
gene And in the peach blossom he discovered
tn Bacillus pyocyaneus.
70 the brazilian investigator has not deceived
himself then. by some carelessness in his meth
o6s there are disease-producing microbes ID
flowers But whether they could get out again
and infect the person who shifted the fragrant
blossoms is another question. The surfaces on
which these organisms were discovered were
more or less sticky Most flowers secrete VS.
cous fluid; and any microbe that was caught OF
arther stigma or petal that was coated there
With would be imprisoned for life He could no
more release himself than a fly could from
e-ckv fv paper. The topic Is an exceedingly
Interesting one II will not do 10 ignore Ut
F--.ire's revelations But until the subject Is
linked INTO more fully. and efforts are made 70
cultivate bacteria removed from flowers by
light draught Of air passing over them. one need
r.- worry over the matter. Even then way
vii be found 10 disinfect flowers and render
trarn harmless. if they are not so already 1t
" never be necessary to boycott them
MICROBES OF HARMONIOUS HUEs.
vo, the least curious Of the announcements
made by Dr. Freire are his conclusions on other
how ic a ri D.