Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-09-17
~ Frederic J. aaskir,

II the American people could be
taken, one by cne, through the great
laboratories of the country. where pa
tient scientists are investigating the
causes Of diseases, they would see
realms undreamed Of in all their phil
osopi,y. They no longer could assume
that satisfied air Of scepticism when
the medical world says that diseases
arc produced by microbes and that
certain microbes produce certain all
ments. For seeing Il believing, and a
modern medical laboratory IN q place
where one may see with his own eyes
Thousand wonders that I've never
knew existed before, and who goes
there inevitably comes out knowing
not which to marvel ut the most--the
inflnitisemal worlds revealed to him
or tho genius of the men WHO reveal
them.
Millions upon millions OF people do
not Lelicve such thing as a germ ex-
igts. And when even those who are
credited with being people OF high in
telligence are told that there are
germs So small that the population of
a drop of water might be as great rs
the human population of tho earth,
they think 1t is only a fairy tale OF
the medical world. And yet the buc-
teriolosist can tell you more about
the life habits Of germs of that size
than the average reader can tell OF
the He habits of so familiar sight
as the English sparrow.
The germ may be an animal like the
ono that causes malaria, or a vege-
table like the one that produces tu-
berculosis. The germ may be fond of
oxygen or may dctost it. Some OF
them die in the open air and some die
when they cannot get II. Some germs
are round like periods, others arc
long like dashes. and others are
shaped like a series of commas tied
together. Some can stand all kinds Of
heat, and some can resist all kinds OF
cold. Some germs cause sickness and
others promote health. The cross
examiner of the laboratory makes the
germ on trial tell to which class he
belongs Some absorb colors and 9th
crs do not, and the oross-examiner
forces Mr. Germ to tell to which fac
ton he belongs. Some are able tc
swim around like fish in the water
while others are as helpless as a piece
OF driftwood. Some, when they gel
I'm a tight place where death seems to
be their only portion, form spores
which can stand all sorts OF hardships
and afterward turn into natural germs
again.
Drink Carbolie Acid.
Some of them are repealed by Ger.
tain substances which attract others
some can drink carbolic acid solu.
ton as we drink Lemonade: while Il
others It is as fatal as arsenic TO man
kind. Some die on exposure to mois
ture, while others are killed by dry
ing. Some are so fastidious that the,
must have the most delicate brotl
Imaginable to live in, while others cal
flourish like clans at high tide on I
piece of old shoe leather, and som,
transform starch into sugar. Will
others manufacture sugar into glucose
These and hundred other Jiffcren
traits arc characteristic OF germs, an,
ny the time Mr. Germ is made to an
,.'swer every such question. the bac
teriologist knows exactly where he be
longs just as well as the farmer know
q sheep, from COW.
And by the time the layman ha
: Followed the bacicriologist .hrougl
this coutsc OF crsos examine ton, n
cannot fail to appreciate his wonder
ful work. He is the biggest vegctabl
and stock grower in the world. Fl
grows tcnt If billions of plants an
animals. And he studies their taste
and traits Is carefully as ever hott
keeper studied the tastes Of his guest,
He gives them stcrilized food to ca