New Britain herald., 1925-10-02
Your Health
How to Keep It
" Causes of Illness
lBY DIR. HUGH 8. CUMMIkGJ
(Surgeon General, United States
Public Health Service)

Tho word germ means a SEED
Psychologists tell US that there are
germs so small that million OF
them could play tag on the head OF
pin and stilI have plenty of room
TO grow and raise families.
A germ Is Il rather large germ
when 1t eyould require a mere four
or five thousand punched together
to be barely visible to the naked eye.
The germ of bubonic plague Is OF
fairly large organism. 1t takes
only about forty thousand OF them
laid side by side to make an inch.
1t requires about sixty-flVe million
typhoid bacilli TO make drop of
unti-typhoid vaccine.
A porcelain filter will strain out
such germs as these. but there are
| disease germs so infinitely small that
under little pressure they pass
through the closely grained porce-
lain filters with the same ease that .
gnat flies through an open window.
Germs are known by a wide va
riety Of names such as bacteria.
bacilli, cocci, yibrios and SO on.
Each group of germs has its
I special traits and habits, friends and
enemies. but all of them are con-
nected in some way with the great
mystery called life. SO far as we
know, germs are the lowest form OF
| life.
They arc SO far down in creation
that it is often impossible to tell
whether particular kind Of an AMI
NAL or vegetable nature and they ara
so much alike that it Is hard to tell
them apart.
! by the use of powerful micro
scopes and by other means, scientists
have identified many hundreds Of
different kinds of germs and have
become so we'll acquainted with them
that they know just where they like
best to live, what they feed upon.
how fast they multiply and the con-
dltions under which they thrive or
! die.
Scientist First Studies Germs
| When an unknown disease crops
out somewhere, whether a disease OF
human beings, of animals, or Of
plants, the first act of the scientist
| Is to become acquainted with the
germ that may cause the disease.
He must learn all about 1t, where
it lives, how 1t grows, what it eats,
| and what food or chemicals disagree
with 1t. Once he becomes familiar
with its habits, he Is ready to wage
war against 1t.
In order to become familiar with
any particular kind Of germ 1t must
be captured and held In captivity
under favorable conditions for
growth and development.
The florist takes out his plants
and transplants them to his green
houses where he may study and de-
velop them.
In the same way the bacteriologist
takes disease germs EMBEDDED In
specimens from sick patients and
transfers them to his laboratory
where they are kept In the proper
kind of containers, nurtured and
| studied.
When the bactetriologist sets out
to study a germ he finds that he has
quite bit of work ahead OF him.
Before he can hope to accomplish
anything he most separate the par
ticular germ he Is after from the
multitude of other germs 1t Is as
ISOLATED with.
AS bacteria are very sociable, he
finds anywhere from two or three to
a dozen different kinds Of organisms
In the specimen he wishes to ex-
anime, and how to get rid OF the
foreign bactria and still leave a nice
colony-cf the particular kind OF germ
Is often an exceedingly difficult
thing to do.
Germs are SO small that the ind,-
viduals are as clear as crystal and
you might examine drop Of water
teeming with thousands of germs
and not be able to see them with a
powerful kaleidoscope unless they
were given special treatment. In
order to make them visible the BAG
teriologist puts his germs through a
process Of staining.
For example, let US say he Is ex-
amining specimen Of sputum and
drops OIL several kinds of chemical
stains. When these stains are dry
the tuberculosis germs stand out
under the microscope as beautiful
red rods in blue background.
Different kinds of germs take Diff
ferent kinds of stains. blue, red,
green, violet or brown. BY this
fortunate discovery, the bacteriolo-
glst Is often able to look through
his microscope and tell at a glance
what kind of germs he Is dealing
with, but staining alone Is not sui.
ficient to identify many germs.
There are certain germs for which
identification methods have not yet
been worked out, such as for In
| stance, the germs of smallpox, scar
let fever and measles. No one has
as yet seen these germs, not even
with the most powerful microscopes.
Some Germs Like Heat; Others Cold
! One of the aims of those at work
in the germ laboratory is to find out
what kind of drugs or anti-toxins
harmless to human beings will kill
the germs so that when a person
comes down sick with a germ dis
ease he may be given q medicine
that will not harm him, but ona
which will kill the disease germs In
his body. 1t Is even possible to ad-
minister remedies that will prevent
the disease for, years or during life /
in some cases. #
Some germs like to live In the
old. but most of them prefer a warm
temperature. The bacteriolosigt
accommodates his dangerous pets by
hottling them up and giving them
the right kind of food and tempers-D
ture.
TheA bottled germs are known a.
cultures.