The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1908-04-16


fury great progress has been made In
the line Of discovery OF the causes Of
disease. AS far back as the seven
teenth century the announcement was
made by a scientist that germs were
the cause of many diseases, but the
people did not believe IT, When they
did place enough faith In the theory
to put It to the test rapid progress
was made. Because OF the fact that
germs as causes OF many common dis
eases have been emphasized. great
many people fail to discriminate be-
tween good and bad germs and re-
gard all germs as enemies to life and
health. BY far the larger proportion
Of germs are friends and not enemies,
and without the aid of these good
germs animal life would soon cease.
The good germs are those which feed
on dead leaves, grass and natures
cast-off material and with the help
of the sun and air, the rain and the
dew, convert this waste substance into
fertilizing material without which the
old earth would soon cease to yield
her fruits for the sustenance OF man
and the lower animals. They also
help to cause the fermentation in the
yeast which leavens our bread and
other foods, and In various other
ways are always working for our ben
eft. Their business is to help to sus-
tain animal and vegetable life, not to
destroy It.
Where Bad Germs Are Found.
The bad germs are parasites, per-
forming none of this valuable work
in nature. They exist always at the
expense Of some living creature. They
work to destroy animal life, to break
down tissues Of flesh and blood and
bone. These disease germs are of
many kinds and many habits. They
are found in the air and on all OBJ
jects which are exposed to the air, in
water, in food supplies, in the super
fetal layers of earth and the sur
faces and outer tissues of the body.
They exist in the human hands in
great numbers and some Of them are
exceedingly tenacious. The most dill
igent and careful scrubblng extend
ing over a period of several days is
not sufficient in many cases to destroy
or dislodge them. Under the finger
nails is a favorite lurking place.
These bad germs dislike fresh air and
sunshine. but can exist for weeks fro
zen in cakes Of ice, and can come out
of their frosty resting place quite
able TO carry on their work II they
get good chance. They are some
thing like some dollhouse plants in
their habits. They must have par
ticular kind of soil They demand
certain conditions before they can
multiply or do much harm. They
must have moisture, warmth and ma
terial on which to feed. The pneu-
monia germ is carried by the air and
must get into the air passages and
find its way into the lungs before 1t
can multiply itself so as to accom-
plish any great harm.
The typhoid fever germ must get
into the bowels in some way. II It
gets into the lungs it speedily dies.
or is cast out, because the conditions
there are not suitable for it to grow.
Further, the typhoid germs prefer
Just one small section Of the bowel.
and within a comparatively small
space It does its work. It cannot be
transmitted from one person to an
other except as the hands become
soiled by discharges containing the
germ and in turn carry the infection
into the mouth by communicating
food or drink
There are a great many germs
which find an entrance into the body
through slight wounds and produce
such diseases as erpsipelas, lockjaw
or blood poisoning, in its various
forms. A wound made by pinprick
is quite large enough for them to
get in. The germ of tuberculosis
may get into the body by means OF