The daily progressive-miner., 1916-08-28

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by the growth in your lungs. or, less commonly. in other parts of your body. of a minute microscopic fungus plant. or germ csIled the tubercle bseillus. This germ produces and throws of poisons which kill the structures around 1t Multiplying by division. it spreads, slowly or rapidly
 through the whole lung until finally it kills the person in whom it grows In recent years it has been shown that the germ frequently gets into the body in childhood. but. since it does not grow easily in the human body. many of these germs are killed at once by the tissues, Others lie inae- tive for a long time in the glands in the chest and do not develop until by some chance the resisting power of the body is lowered sufficiently for the germ 10 begin to grow. the thor, oughly healthy body not being tay, orable growing place. Oyerwork. dis sipaiion. dark dirty homes or work places. bad or scanty food. late hours. drunkenness. and certain sicknesses. such as grippe, measles. whooping cough. pneumonia and typhoid fever, and also frequent and closely repeat ed pregnaneies. weaken the body give the germ the opportunity il needs. and enable 1t to develop, In bodies thus weakened. the germ can flourish, and. if they are not strengthened in time by proper living. the disease will ad- vance. This advance is usually slow and gradual. so that the patient may live from two to ten years. but in the more rare galloping form it's advance is rapid. so that the patient dies in from six weeks to 8 year.
 What Is Resistanceg
 Fortunately for us the germ of tuberculosis does not grow easily in the human body.
 All animals have a certain degree Of resistenee to the attack of the germ. In some this resisting power is very low; in some very high. The guinea pig. for example. has almost no resis- tance 10 this disease, while the goat has so high a resisting power that il is very hard 10 infect it at allAmong hsman beings the Indian and proba- bly the negro show very low re- sistiRg power. and when infected.are apt to have the rapid and dangerous form of the trouble. The average white man on the contrary has consi- derable resisting power, and it takes repeated. prO.5nged exposure and un- favorable conditions Of working and living. to infect him, except in early , childhood. when. it should never be 5 forgotten, infection is very easy.
 The Germ conquering-caseatiou. ' The first manifestation of the ae
 5ivi1y Of the germ in the body is the ! formation. usually in the lungs Of a
 small gray lump. which we call a tub ercle. This is about the size of the head of a pin. and. examined under a microscope, it is seen to consist Of a : eheesy mass Of dead tissue with germs } lying in dit The formation of this dead tissue by se poisons of the germ is
 called Cessation Surrounding the ! chessy eouter is double layer ot cells thrown out by the body to pro tect itself from me invading germ. Il : the polsons Of the germ are sufficient ! Y strong. or if the cells surrounding the germ are sufficiently weak. they too will be destroyed. and by degrees , successive layers Of tissue will be Kill
 ed, the trouble thus spreading at the
 outer border through larger and arg 7 CT areas Of tissue until finally the
 whole lung is involved When the
 mass Of dead tissue reaches an ail
 tube it is coughed up and leaves . small cavity behind. When this cavi ! ty. becomes bigger, other sorts 0. germs from the outside air may ge.
 into t and help the tubercIe germ tc spread destruction thus finally pro duciRg what we call Consumption. ? Ire Germ Fib-osis.
 h- however the body is put under
 favorable conditions og feeding. oi
 Erssh air and of wise living. its cells
 viii be So strengthened that when the poison of the germ attacks them, it
 will not be able to kill. but only to 1T ritate them, This irritation causes