The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-09-30

! ones the new ones are as absurd The
fear Of microbes, l believe, is the lat
est TO emerge from The cavern Of vain
| phwtoms Detostad by mothers, who
! lie awake nights because of it, the in
intestinal germ is equally a terror to
the caildrou-Jhe more SO because
they cannot picture 30 their minds
ttbe bogy that prevents their playing
in the sand or splashing in the water
or drinking out of fountains
| This new fear Expresses the major
| ity Of mothers, poisoning their lives.
There are people who won't open a
door without first putting on gloves.
/ There are others who culver with
dread when shaking hands with a
friend. Some sterilize their table
cloths, some carry their own towels
and sheets when they travel. Pitch
ers and basins must be burned out
with alcohol and washed with acid.
In fact, the microbe obsession makes
people afraid to be alive.
You viii hear that the doctors ere
ated this nightmare, but that is I'M
just. In the first place, the doctors
realize how many multitudes of germs
lead a quiet, bourgeois life inside us
without doing the least mischief.
There are twenty-five varieties in the
mouth, for instance. Aside from be-
ing scrupulous regarding good food,
pure water, peace of mind, and the
usual care of the person, one may
safely leave the body to defend itself,
1t will do it admirably.
While the skin protects the body's
exterior against contamination, our
tissues are armed against microbes in
a most ingenious way The mucous
membranes are covered with a solid
mosaic of epithelial cells. These con-
stitute a first palisade. If it is pune
tured, it mends itself In certain deli
cate regions of the respiratory and the
alimentary passages, nature does still
better-gives a vibrating lash to each
cell of the membrane. The lashes are
continually sweeping the surface.
But what if a assure occurs, and a
virulent microbe finds it? VIII the
invader penetrate our system on that
account? No. The glands secrete
mucus, and mucus is antiseptic. Let
us consider the part it plays.
Professor Gautier was the first to
show that solutions of mucine fur
nished by mucus we're almost wholly
incapable CT purifying. Bunge in
Germany and Wurtz and Lermoyez in
France completed the demonstration.
The mucus secreted by the glands Of
the mucus membranes destroys the
microbes or mitigates them. This dis
covery throws light on many formerly
mysterious phenomena.
For instance, to cite a single exam
pie, almost anything IS enough to in
lure the ear-drum Wind, dust, and
certain microbes irritate it. What has
the architect of the human body done
to protect it? In the first place, it is
set at the end of a long, winding tun-
mel. Then, the lining of that tunnel is
crowded with microscopic oil cans.
These glands contract at the least dis
turbance and battle the tunnels sur
face with a bitter, sticky oil, which
defeats the intruder. These little oil
cans might be compared to Vigilantes
defending the access to the ear-drum,
Moreover, when a man grows old,
and the glands wear out, nature re.
places them with tufts of hair inside
the ear
These very unpretentious reflections
have, hope, treasured some of the
timorous souls who are haunted by the
microbe nightmare. Why should one
spoil ones life and insult nature by
being all the time afraid? Let us per
nit her to carry on her work of pro
lection in peace. The epithelial ram
part and the antiseptic mucus car
witshtand many an onslaught. AnC
this defense costs the organism moth
ing. Just as policemen answer for thu
safety Of a city, so these constable
of the body justify our tranquility
Battalions Of phagocytes will be moi
olized and anti-toXins brewed onl
when the police have been beatel
and war is inevitable.
] All this may be summed up b
saying, Life is antiseptic." 1t
5. antiseptic not only in an active way
as we have just seen, but also in tn
very composition of our bodies an
their fluid milieu-blood, lymph, chyl