Evening star., 1916-07-29


bacilIi in the ma
FYed m RaeiI1; jor intestine are
the real cause of
age. The question was how to be rid OF
them. One method that occurred to him
was by placing in the intestine other ba-
cilli that would crowd out tho dangerous
ones. The bacilli of the Tactic acid in
fermented milk is very healthy one.
and the idea that persistent drinking Of
buttermilk. koumis and other forms Of
result was perfectly logical conclusion.
though not susceptible Of scientific proof.
Mechnikov was further strengthened in
his belief by the fact that the people of
Bulgaria, who drink a great deal OF fer
mented milk, live to very great ago
and have a surprising percentage of CEN
tenarians among them.
Mechnikov himself drank fermented
milk and recommended It. He had moth
ing to do with the numerous fermented
milk drinks that were put on the mar
ket and made no profit out Of his idea;
He certainly deserved neither the devoted
following Of confirmed buttermilk drink
ers which he won among the public, nor
the stream Of ridicule and criticism which
he got from scientists and press. To hear
himself called "the modern Ponce de
Leon searching for the fountain of inn
mortal youth and finding it in the milky
whey must have caused him some little
perplexity.
Mechnikov was a philosopher, whose
ideas will repay the study Of any one He
believed that science must not only be the
great ameliorator Of the conditions Of
human life. but that it must also be to
men a new faith. He believed that re-
ligion is losing its hold upon men and
that they are turning to all sorts Of mys-
ticai creeds on the one hand and to pes.
simism on the other. There Is little doubt
but that the nineteenth century will be re-
garded as an age of pessimism, and that
the increase Of suicide may be traced
Mechnikov wished to substitute for this
faith in science and in the great things
it can do for human life. He desired to
relieve man Of his great enemies which
will conquer pain. and he would have men
escape the fear of gods and learn to well
come death at the proper time.
Mechnikov also preached philosophy
Of self-sufficiency and showed the
wastefulness
Preached Philosophy Of self-saeri-
Of Self -Suficiency. c1sar,r - =,
less epigrammatically than Bernard
Shaw has shown 1t in his dramas and
prefaces. Modern civilization. he said.
has no place for self-sacrifice. which
means the injury Of one individuality
for the temporary and meretricious
benefit Of another.
Mechnikov also had well developed
ideas about feminism. and once ad-
dressed a convention of sunfragists
considerably to their annoyance. He
believed that women had a right to
intellectual development-his own wife
was distinguished scientist-but he
did not accept the current theory of
the suffragist that her development
has been repressed by an age long
political bondage to man, from which
the vote will free her. He told the
ladies that man had never kept her
from eminence in any of the arts. but
that she had nevertheless very seldom
attained it. He further pointed out
that in child hygiene. obstetrics. home
sanitation. and other fields which had
been the special occupation Of women
for generations. all the important dis
coveries and improvements had been
made by man. Finally. Mr.. Mechnikov
concluded. although woman had been
cooking since the dawn of history,
whenever he wanted a good dinner he
found It necessary to patronize a chef.