Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-30

than minute Everything has to be
calculated to nicely It's a matter
of mathematics the moment of
weight. the moment of buoyancy and
all that. This launching apparatus is
strong, but compared to the weight 1t
has to carry it is really delicate. Why.
even a stray bolt in the ways would
be serious matter. That's why we
have to have this eternal vigilance"
You'll And me either here or at the
hotel, I imagine" returned Marlowe to
Kennedy's inquiry as we parted from
him. I've instructed all the men to
keep their eyes open. I hope some of
us have something to report soon"
Whether or not the remark was in
tended as hint to Kennedy, 1t was
unnecessary. He was working as fast
and as surely as he could. Late in the
afternoon we got back to the labora-
tory. and Craig began Immediately by
taking from the electric incubator the
two crooked tubes he had left there.
Breaking off the ends with tweezers.
he began examining on slides the two
drops that exuded, using his most pow
erful microscope
Il suppose you're bursting with Gu
riosity." he remarked at last. looking
UP from his examination of one of
the slides. We'll. here is drop that
shows what was in the grooves OF that
bullet. Just take a, look
What is it," l asked not much en-
nghtened by the look.
''Anaerobic bacili and Spores" he
replied excitedly THE things that
produce the we'll known gas gangrene'
of the trenches. the gas. phlegmon ba-
cilli-all sorts: the bacillus aerogenes
capsulatus. bacillus proteus. pyogenic
cocci and others. actively gas-forming
microbes that can't live in air. The
method 1 took to develop and discover
them was that of Col. Sir Almroth
Wright. British Medical Corps
And that is what was on the bull
1et?" I inquired.
The spores, seeds" he replied.
In the tubes, by excluding the air
ter" he went on. seriously. those are
among the microbes most dreaded In
the infection of wounds The spores
live in the earth. 1t has been discov-
they are extraordinarily iong-lived,
lying dormant for years. waiting for
chance to develop. These that you
saw are only five to fifteen thousandths
one-thousandth of millimeter broad.
You can't see them move in here, be-
cause the air has paralyzed them. But
these yfbrios move among the cor
puscles of the blood. just as a snake
moves through the grass. to quote Pas
teur. If l colored them you would see
that each is covered with fine vibrating
hairs. three or four times long as
II.
forms In them. That is the spcre that
lives SO long and IN so hard to kill.
1t was the spores that were on the
bullet. They resist any tempera-
ture. except comparatively high and
prolonged. and even resist antiseptics
for long time. On the surface
of a wound they aren't so bad
but deep in they distil minute gas
bubbles, pun up the surrounding It's
sues and are almost impossible to COM
bat"
AS he explained what he had found
could only stare at him. while the
diabolic3i nature of the attack i'm
pressed itself on my mind. Some one
had tried to murder Marlowe in this
most hideous way.
Craig was AT work again over his
microscope. Again he looked up at
me.
Here on this other film find the
same sort of wisp-Hke anaerobes," he
announced. There was the same thing
on those pieces of glass that | got"
In my horror at the discovery / had
forgotten the broken package that had
come to the hotel desk.
Then ii was Gavira who was receiv-
ing spores and cultures of the anaer-
obes." ] exclaimed. excitedIy.
But that doesn't prove that II was
he who used them" cautioned Craig,
best thing for US to do will be to run
over to the Belleclaire," he decided as
he doffed his laboratory coat and care
fully cleansed his hands in an anti
septic almost boiling hot Il should
like to see Mariowe again and, be-
sides. there we can watch some of those
people around him"
Whom he meant other than Gavira I
had no idea. but I felt sure that. with
the launching now only a matter OF
hours, something was bound to happen
soon. Marlowe was out when we ar
rived; In fact, had not returned from
the yard. Nor had many Of the guests
remained at the hotel during the day.