Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1901-09-04
D1sEASE2PRoDUeING PLANTS.
Vegetable Growths That Contain
Germs of Various Illnesses
of Mankind

vegetable GrOwths That Contain
Germs OF variou. Illnesses.
of Mankind.
Science has now decided that manv
OF the most dreaded disease germs
are really plants.
AS plants they agree fairly we'll
with various members of the fungi,
with which they are commonly asso-
ciated in classification, says the Jour
nal Of the New York Botanical Car
den. They obtain their food for the
most part in the same general man
ner, by tearing down organic COM
pounds, and by making use of the
simpler chemical substances thus
produced, which they take in by a
simple process of absorption over the
entire body-surface.
They are, like other plants of cellu-
lar structure, though of but single
cell. They are noted for their small
size, the united length of many thou
SANDS being required to measure an
1nch. A great many of them, like
other lowly-organized plants, pos
sess the power of locomotion. anil
travel about by means of ella. They
show the same variation in health
fulness and luxuriance. according t.,
the special suitability of their grow
ing medium of environment, that
other plants do in regard to their
soil, climate and exposure.
Though certain forms are grown
for utility, those which cause con-
sumption, diphtheria, typhoid and
kindred diseases are studied chiefly
to discover what conditions will de-
stroy them or at least tend to inhil,ia
their development or physiological!
activity, or counterfeit the injurious
effects of the latter.
1t is known that in the same BODY
the germs will be able to thrive at
one time, but not at another. It is
also notable that in the case of some
disease-producing bacteria the luxu-
uriance with which they develop and
even more particularly the violence
OF the diseases which they produce.
depend in high degree upon their
the species which produces tetanuS,
or lockjaw, cannot live where there
is a free access of fresh air or oxv-
gen; but if it can associate with it.
self another species, which consumes
oxygen, the two can thrive together.
Upon the other hand, there are
cases in which such association is
adverse to the welfare of the germs.
This fact has been utilized by intro
ducing the plants of erysipelas to the
systems of those suffering from sar-
coma, disease producing many SIM
ilarities to cancer. The latter has
been entirely cured in some cases,
greatly benefited in many others.
Two quite distinct methods exist
for the production of the poisons.
One is the same as that followed by
ordinary poisonous plants, like the
toad-stool or the aconite, belladonna
or strychnine plants. In each of
these the poison results as a waste
product from the nutritive processes
going on within the plant-bcdy, so
that the substance of the poison has
previously belonged to the substance
of the plant-body. While this poison
can be of service to the plant as a
protection, yet it cannot be allowed
to accumulate indefinitely. The AGO.
mite plant gets rid of it by storage in
it's tuber, which then decays in the
soil after producing the plant of the
following year. The belladona plan,
stores most of it in the leaves, which
fall and decay, while the strychnine
plant does the same with it's seeds.
In the case of bacterial plants grow
ing within our bodies, these poiscns
can be discarded from the plant
bodies only by excretion directly into
our blood, and this we have already
seen is proved by observed effects.
The other method of poison produc-
ton is that by which the bacteria
tear apart the organic substances OF
the tissues of fluids which surround
them, extracting the very small por-
ton which they can use. and leaving
the residue, or part of it, in the form
of a poisonous body. So far as the
result is concerned, this method
does not differ from the other,
though it explains the extremely
destructive nature of these organ
isms in disease.