The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-01-16
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 1906
THE POlSO us KISS.
srARrLIna rHI,roaY.ApvAnCHD
By GERMAN sc1ENTIsT.
'Ts the kiss Of = pretty woman poison

IFS the kiss Of q pretty woman poison
ous?" Il II * 55e
It is = brutal question, and the answer
thereto, as vouchsafed by Prof. W.. ,.
Miller Of the University of Berlin, b
equally brutal. For, declares that
learned savant, the kiss Of beautiful
woman may and does. under certain cir
cumstances, bring quicker and more
horrible death than the bite OF =. SER
pent.
Such was the startling, not to say
sensational, announcement made by
Prof. Miller in lecture delivered be
fore the students Of Wesleyan college.
in Mtddletown. Conn. the other day.
Prof. Miller Is now sojourning in this
country, and Is lecturing before vari-s
GUS colleges and universities upon tho
subject Of which he is acknowledged
abroad to be the greatest exponent
the bacteria Of tho mouth. Prof. Mil
Ter has made q special study Of tnis
particular form Of bacteria, and ne
knows whereof he speaks. In his lee
ture Prof. Miller recounted q remark,
able experiment which he made upon =
beautiful girl in Berlin An arrow
dipped In saliva from her mouth, he
discovered, would send its victim into
death throes more terrible than one
dipped in the venom Of an asp or any
other OF the deadly reptiles, He told
OF more than q dozen experiments hs.
had thus made upon pigeons, guinea
pigs end dogs, all Of which had proved
fatal. -
The result Of these experiments with
the poisonous saliva Of his patients
mouth made him curious to examine
the toxin properties Of other mouths.
with the result, as already stated, that
he found large percentage of mouths
to be similarly death-dealing.
II the word of Prof. Miller is to be.
relied upon, there may be q terrible
death lurking In the most innocent
kiss. since OSCILLATION would seem to
be the most likely way that these
deatn-dealing bacteria could be trans
mttted from one subject to another.
AS a precaution he urges that dentists
should use the utmost care in putting
their fingers into the mouths of their
patients. He also urges fathers and
mothers to see that their children do
not chew their fingers, and suggests
the rdvisability of wearing white cot
ton mittens the better to protect the
small and tender hands from the dan
gerous bacteria.
Science has for theslast decade said
much against the primitive instinct OF
kissing, but nothing that has thus far
been said carries quite 80 much weight
as the utterances OF Prof. Miller, who,
by reason of his fame as bacteriolo-
gist, is entitled to and receiver tho
homage of physicians and scientists
in two hemispheres. 1t would be DIM
cult, however, to find any New York
physician who would risk his profess
sional popularity sufficiently to con-
denim the good, old-fashioned habit Of,
kissing, nor could any one of them bs
fohni who would be willing to go on
record as seriously opposed to kissing.
The kiss Of anybody might be poi-
sonops." declared DIR. Thomas Oar
lington, president of the board Of
health, s'but why the kiss Of pretty
girl should be especially singled out
and PUT under the ban do not know
If Prof. Miller has been quoted right,
he referred particularly to the kiss OF
pretty girl, and that is all nonsense,
to be sure.
Science has for many years recog-
nized the presence of bacteria in the
mouth, which, il they found their way
deep into the tissues, would, and do,
cause poisoning. BM to be introduced
that deep into the tissues or into the
circulation 1t would be necessary for
the infected person to bite his victim.
or. her victim. as Prof. Miller chooses
the pronoun. Long before bacteria
were recognized in the human system:
in fact long before the word had ever
been coined, or the idea conveyed by It
had entered the scientific brain, man
kind had discovered the deadliness that
turks in the bite of the human being,
Hence We have had, as all civilized
races do have, very stringent lava
against the man or woman guilty OF
mayhem. because the crime Of may
hem originally referred to the specific
injury to the person caused by his ad-
yersary biting him, an injury which
was SO frequently followed by poison
ing and subsequent horrible death.
The trainers of laws Of all nations
have wisely made the crime of may
hem punishable by extraordinarily
long sentences Of imprisonment, or.
as in olden times, Of severe punish
ment, II not the death penalty. z
Was Hs Busyf
My neighbof, q thrifty old German.
conducts q nursery. Meeting him ON
the street one morning asked him:
Well, Mr.. Heinricks how 10 bust
ness? Have you much to do now?9