Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-06

success. 1t was these labors of Pasteur
which led to the discovery of the germ
of human disease. Stirred by them,
Lord Lister took up the work. and laid
the foundations of aseptic surgery.
If Pasteur laid the foundations of
bacteriology, it was Robert Koch who
elevated it
Koch Proved Theory to the es-
Of Germ Transmission. e~se, Oh ss an
ence. Many people insisted that the
germ which Pasteur had discovered was
a result of disease. and not the cause
OF it. Koch undertook to prove that
Pasteur was right. He took some animal
germs and placed them In a solution
of liquid from a bulls eye. The germs
thrived there, and he took a few of
these and placed them in another sterile
solution This he repeated a great
number of times. SO that the last germs
were many generations removed from
the first ones. Then he announced that
II the germ was the cause of disease
It's introduction into the blood of
healthy cattle would produce the same
disease. He did this, and proved his
case absolutely Later he brought out
substances, and this was the final step
toward elevating bacteriology to the
plane of an exact science
Many different agencies are now en-
gagged in the study of human disease
in the United States. The hygienic
laboratory in Washington is carrying
forward experiments to determine the
cause of measles and to find system
of preventive treatment The Rookie
Teller Institute of Medical Research
n inc oil tive
for meningitis. The question Of the
causation of cancer is being investi-
gated by many laboratory workers.
The mysteries of infantile paralysis
are being penetrated, and methods of
combating it
Penetrating Mysteries dis covered.
Of Infantile Paralysis. asserted by
some that the dust of rooms in which
victims of infantile paralysis live con-
tain the contagion of the disease. At
the hygienic laboratory there is a
monkey in cage by himself. The dust
from such rooms is fed to this monkey.
rubbed in it's nose, and injected under
it's skin, but with all of this. the monkey
has not contracted the disease. Thou
sands of patient experiments like these
are going on under the most careful
laboratory methods, and facts are being
brought out every day which are used
by other investigators to climb still
higher and higher in their efforts to
surmount the mysteries of all sorts of
contagion.
The fact that millions of lives are
being saved annually through the work
of preventive medicine is due primarily
to the patient methods Of investigation
pursued by the laboratory experts of the
world. When a great soldier inventS
a more useful military weapon he
patents 1t. When a process for making
a more terrible explosive is discovered
the secret of that process is preserved
most carefully. But when the medical
laboratory expert makes some new dis
covery he Immediately publishes 1T to
the entire world that all humanity
may receive the benefits accruing there
from. Even before he has perfected
his work, and as soon as he has laid
down the very first foundations in con-
nection with it, he uses the scientific
press of the world to give the results
of his experiments, in the hope that
others might join him in raising upon
those foundations superstructure
which shall serve as haven for
humanity when a hitherto mysterious
disease makes it's appearance.