Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-27

Cyrus Edison, NJ. d.
blood. In such a base the bacteria would
be deposited in the more congenial soil,
and multiply rapidly soon to provide
the investigator with ample material for
his experiments.
1t was to Prof. Koch'S book on the Etiol-
ogy of Anthrax, published in 1878, that the
world was indebted for the placing of bac-
teriology upon a solid scientific basis. This
frightful disease caused the death of sheep
worth $1500,0OO annually in France alone.
1t was so malignant that animals feeding
above the graves of former victims We're
infected and died. People who handled the
hides and wool of diseased sheep acquired
the infection, and even bone dust, used as
manure. communicated the poison to hui
man beings and to the animals which par
took of the ensuing vegetation. The resist
ance of anthrax bacilli to destructive agents
seemed beyond the power of science to
overcome. After eleven years of life they
were found still active and five months i'm
mersion in alcohol seemed rather to slim
ulate their activity than to lessen it. When
| introduced into the body they multiplied
with extraordinary rapidity, consuming the
oxygen in the blood faster than the lungs
could supply it. After death the capillarieS
were found absolutely stuffed with compact
masses of hacilli in numbers beyond the
possibility of computation.
The study of this disease, and of others
which were traced to bacterial sources led
to the discovery that germ diseases in gen.
eral were Self-lfmiting-tha they ran spe-
cific course which in the majority of cases
ended in recovery. This led to the infer
ence that germs form and excrete some
poison which Is fatal to themselves, and
this was proved to be the case by the fact
that when the germs of certain diseases
were placed in suitable culture media they
developed for Only a limited period and
then died; at the same time 1t was noticed
that the action of the germs upon the Gull
ture media transformed the latter into new
substances. The yeast germ, for instance,
acting upon corn starch, produced alcohol
and carbonic acid, while certain disease
germs produced the substances now widely
known as toxins.
Serum and InocculatiOn.
The germs themselves in some cases were
used to inoculate healthy animals, and the
germs taken from them were used upon
other animals. After passing through a
certain number Of beasts the germs were
found to have become SO weakened that
when inoculated in healthy individuals they
would cause an attack of the disease
| harmless in itself, but sufficient to prevent
a recurrence of the trouble 1t was in 1880
that Pasteur announced his ability to pre-
vent chicken cholera by this means, and
the announcement of a virus for the cure
of anthrax soon followed. Two years later
Koch announced the discovery of the bacil-
luS OF tuberculosis, now known as the hy-
| phen bacillus, and later the identified ton
or the comma bacillus, the cause of
Asiatic cholera. 1t may be well to explain
at this juncture how the presence of these
germs can be detected.
In suspected cases of cholera, for in
stance, a needle is dipped in the excreta of
the patient and then thrust into test tube
containing sterilized culture medicine.
Almost Immediately the bacteria attack
and destroy this medium along the sides
and at the bottom of the needle thrust
until at last the excavation which they
make resembles a turnip in outline. The
comma com AS shape ,, Of these germs, together
their Identification sure. With the germ of
tuberculosis the method is different In this
case a drop of sputum is dried upon a glass
slide and then treated with a solution of
methylene blue. Then. when the blue has
been roughly washed off, the tubercle ba-
GILL are found to have been stained with it.
Whlle all other bacilli are left stainless LII
is true that the plasmodia or germ of ma :
lar1a and other germs also take a blue
stain, but as they are never present in
sputum' ana moreover are differently
shaped, there Is no danger of confusion
These two instances will suffice to Indicate
In general way, the methods of identifi,
cation in use.
In 1890 Koch announced the discover, of
a lymph for the cure of consumption. hut
did not succeed in demonstrating its useful-
ness This was followed two years later
by the production by Roux and Behring of
an antt-toxin for the cure of diphtheria
These gentlemen ascertained thai when
certain animals, preferably horses, were
culated with gradually increased doses
OF toxins, made from the Klebs-L oeff1er ba
GILL; they became immune to diphtheria
and the serum of their blood was converted
into specific which proved to be an almost
certain cure for that formidable disease
AT hrst the cost of this serum was very
great, but of late years the municipaIitv of
New York has placed 1t within the reach
OF the poorest person, and the results of its
use have been in the highest degree salts
factory.
refrain from going into the comnlete
statistics at hand which would prove this
statement but merely call attention to the
fact that for ten years preceding the use
OF anti-toXins the deaths from croup and
diphtheria averaged in Paris 1,463, and in
Berlin, 1,419 annually. whereas during the
anti-toXin period, 1895 to 1899, they aver
aged 1888 and CSC, respectively, or less than
one.half. In New York the deaths for
| merly averaged 1854 a year, while since
the introduction of anti-toxin thew have
averaged only 1,5G3, and in 1898 thew num-
bered only 1913. I may add that during the
year lSsS-99 the percentage of deaths in
persons who received the anti-toxin treat
ment was no more than IT. This record
in the cure Of a disease formerly regarded
as dangerous in the extreme and the NOR
tally which was from % per cent to 40 per
cent IS certainly remarkable.
CYRUS EDISON, NJ D.