Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-06
The PUBLIC HEALTH.
u-STUDYING DISEASES.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

| The 1ayman is usually slow to accept
| the work of laboratory experts in their
Iefforts to solve the problems of preventing
and curing diseases. Yet no class of
students i'm the world makes more palms.
! taking researches than those who, with
| the test tube. Bunsen burner and the
| Berkfeld filter. seek to learn secrets
| which have been hidden from humanity
| through generations-secrets which have
/ resulted in the deaths of millions of men.
IL the doubling Thomas could take
| trip through great laboratory for the
study of disease-for instance. one of
those maintained ny the United States
government in Washington-and could
see the infinite pains with which these
scientists work out their theories. there
| would be a much more ready acceptance
of the conclusions of the scientists. In
fact. the whole attitude of the men in
the laboratory is that mental state so
we'll expressed by the slang phrase, Il IN
from Missouri They always must be
shown and if an infinite capacity for
taking pains will avail the laboratory
expert is bound to win.
In one of these laboratories the scien-
tist is able to grow bacteria, although II
may take o5,OOO of them to make a string
an inch long. as accurately ana as ob-
vously the truck gardener grows vege-
tables, the orchardiSt fruits. or the poul-
try raiser chickens He knows the APP
pearance. habits and activities of his
culture of bacteria as we'll as the farmer
knows his herd of cattle He knows Just
what sort of food each species of bacteria
needs, just as we'll as the farmer knows
what feed" to give his chickens, his
horses and his pigs. Some kinds of bac-
terra are long like a needle. others are
round like pea, while stu others might
be likened to a spiral spring. Some of
them are large and others are small
red blood corpuscles. in comparison OF
| relative sizes. would be as big as a
capital &C. a typhoid bacillus would
resemble a small r. and the influenza
germ would look something like a comma.
The germ of yellow fever is so small that
it can pass through the finest filter that
has yet been produced in the laboratory,
and to date has resisted all efforts of the
scientist to it, even with the most
high-powered microscope.
Some germs refuse to thrive where
there is any oxygen; others find it as
highly essen
Some Germs Particular tial as the
About Environment. a,r 10 hrea 1 ,ne
Some of them refuse to live except in
the body of the victim; others are able
to maintain themselves for long periods
after they leave the animal body. Some
of them thrive best on milk, others on
bouillon. some flourish like the green bay
tree on plain white potatoes. and still
others insist on having blood serum.
The laboratory scientist knows all the
traits, tastes and needs of his little
nd he afarC n c
fully as hotel keeper caters to his best
patrons. In the first place, he gives them
at all times a diet which is absolutely
germproof The dishes of their dinner
precaution. They are kept in rooms
where the heat is maintained at exactly
the same temperature as the human body.
Sometimes the germ is cultivated in
liquid This allows it freedom to swim
around as it pleases. At other times it is
cultivated in preparation which has
gelatin or agar, which is product of a
species of seaweed. in it. This solidifies
at a certain temperature and at once
serves as a prison and as food for the
germ. Germs multiply very rapidly and
although it takes untold thousands OF
them TO make spot visible to the naked
eve. in a short time one of these germs
will become so many thousands that they
appear as little nodules on the plate.
When a man looks at a forest of pine
trees a great distance away he may not
trees at all, yet the appearance of the
forest is different from that of an oak
forest, and although he is unable to see a
single tree he knows ii is a pine forest.
Likewise the bacteriologist, looking at a
culture of bacteria with his naked eye, is
unable to see individual germs, but he
knows what species they belong to by
looking at the whole group.
ture of bacteria for microscopic study he
either puts al
Cnts His Parafin little film of
the bacteria
Into Thinnest Slices. laden water on
plate and makes what is called "a
smear" or else he mixes it with paraffin
and makes little chunk of solid ma
terials If he takes the LATTER process
he puts this piece of paraffin into
a slicing machine which is capable
of cutting such thin slices that 2OOOO 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 micro
scopic examination of the bacteria. A
number of aniline dyes are used to stain
the germs. Different species of germs
show up in different ways with the use
is perfectly well acquainted with all this
and uses it I'm carrying out his studies.
The most minute measurements, the most
exacting care and the most persistent
effort to prove every step have served tol
make the work of the bacteriologist as
accurate as the deductions of the trained
mathematician.
1t was Louis Pasteur who laid the
foundations of modern bacteriology.
For years he was engaged in Il study
of the ferments of wines and beers.
Later an epidemic disease broke out
among the silkworms of a portion of
France. Gradually it spread and baffied
every effort to discover it's cause or
to check it's ravages. AS last desperate
chance, the French government begged
Pasteur to give up his chosen field of
work and to bring his talents to the
solution of the Silkworm disease.
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 rewarded with