El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-06


cept the work Of laboratory ex-
perts in their efforts to solve the
problems Of preventing and curing dis
eases. Yet no class of students in the
world makes more painstaking re-
searches than those who. with the test
tube. Bunsen burner and the Berk-
field filter, seek to learn secrets which
have been hidden from humanity
through generations, secrets which
have resulted in the deaths Of millions
Of men.
Work Of Scientists.
If the doubling Thomas could take a
trip through a great laboratory for the
study Of disease, for instance, one Of
| those maintained by the United States
government in Washington, and could
see the infinite pains with which these
scientists work out their theories, there
would be much more ready accept
l ance Of the conclusions Of the scien-
lists In fact, the whole attitude OF
the men in the laboratory is that men
tai state so well expressed by the slang
phrase, I'm from Missouri They all
ways must be shown" and if an infin-
lie capacity for taking pains Will avail,
the laboratory expert is bound to win.
In one Of these laboratories the scien-
tlst is able TO grow bacteria, although
1t may take $4,000 Of them to make a
string an inch long as accurately and
as obviously as the truck gardener
grows vegetables. the orchardist fruits,
or the poultry raiser chickens. He
knows the appearance. habits, and ac-
INVITES of his culture OF bacteria as
well as the farmer knows his herd Of
cattle. He knows just what sort Of
food each species Of bacteria needs Just
as well as the farmer knows what
iced to give his chickens, his horses,
and his pigs. Some kinds Of bacteria
are long like a needle, others are
round like pea, while still others are
small A red blood cOrpuscle, in com
parlson of relative sizes would De as
big as a capital &C" a typhoid bacillus
would resemble small 81" and the In
1luenZa germ would look something IKE
comma. Fhe germ of yellow fever Is
so small that il can pass through tne
finest filter that has vet been produced
in the laboratory, and to date has re-
sisted all efforts Of the scientist TO see
1t, even with the most high-powered
oxygen Kills Germs.
Some germs refuse to thrive Wnere
there Is any oxygen; others find II as
highly essential as the reader finds the
air he breathes- Some OF them reIuse
TO live except in the body Of the VIC
tim; others are able to maintain them
selves for long periods after they ledFe
the animal body. Some OF them thrive
best on milk, others on Doulllou' some
flourish like the green bay tree on plain
white potatoes and still others insist on
having blood serum
The laboratory scientist knows an
the traits. tastes and needs OF MS niue
germs, and he caters to them as care
fully as a hotel keeper caters TO MS pest
patrons. In the first place, ne gives
them at all times q diet which is aoso-
lutelV germ proof The dishes OF LuelE
dinner tables are steriHZed with the ut
most precautiOn. They are kept IN
rooms where the heat IS maintained at
exactly the same temperature as JnaI
Of the human body
the is cultivated IN
a liquid. This allows 1T freedom TO
swim around as It pleases- All OInef
times it is cultivated in a preparation
which has gelatin OF agar, which is q
product of sDecies Of sea weed. in III.
This sOlidifies at a certain temperature
and at once serves as prison and as
food for the germ Germs multiply
very rapidly and although II takes IN
told thousands Of them to make spot
visible to the naked eye, in q short time
one of these germs viii become so
many thousands that they appear as
little nodules on the plate w nen
man looks at a forest of pine trees a
great distance away, he may not be
able to distinguish the individual trees
at all vet the appearance OF the forest
is different from that Of an oak forest
and although he is unable to see a sin
gle tree he knows IL is a pine forest
Likewise the bacteriOlOglst, looking at
q culture OF bacteria with his naked
eve, is unable to see individual germs
to by looking ar the whole group
Preparing Cultures.
When the bacteriOlOgist prepares a
culture Of bacteria for microscopic
study, he either puts a little film OF
the bacteria-laden water on plate and
makes what is called "a smear" or else
he mixes 1t with parafflne and makes
q little chunk OF solid material If he
takes the latter process he puts this
piece of paraffin into q slicing machine
which Is capable Of cutting such thin
slices that 10000 or more may be made
TO each inch. He then places one OF
these tiny slices on a piece Of glass and
is ready for his microscopic eNamina-
ton of the bacteria. a number of ami
line dyes are used to stain the germs.
Different species of germs show up in
different ways with the use Of differ
ent dyes, and the psychologists is per-
fectly well acquainted with all this,
and uses 1t in carrying out his studies.
The most minute surements, the
most eXacting care and the most per
sistent effort to prove every step has
served TO make the work Of the bacter-
iologist as accurate as the deductions
of the trained mathematician.
1t was Louis Pasteur who laid the
foundati of modern bacteriOIOgy-
For years he was engaged in a study
of the fermenrs Of wines and beers
Later an epidemic disease broke out
among the silk worms Of a portion OF
France. Gradually il spread and baf-
fled every effort TO discover its cause
or to check its ravages. As q last des-
perate chance the French government
begged Pasteur to give up his chosen
field of work and to bring his talents
to the solution of the silk worm dis
ease. Pasteur did so, and although he
worked so arduOusly that a stroke Of
paralysis followed which left him a
cripple for life, his efforts were re-
warded with success. Tt was these la
bOrs of Pasteur which led TO the dis
met the party OF Gus Kline while down
south. and also reports that a band Of
= nanno. -.---. md $4,000. --nI-a !