The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-06-23
THE RIDDLE OF THE BEGINNING

| bright Massac chusetts schoolboy had read
 for whole year my tircsome reteratIons <. Q. | the essential facts about the cri. At last the l boy, with admirable spirit, wrote to point out 1 the flaw in my teaching:
 l You set forth the opinion In no un- | certain terms that common respiratory | infections are spread only in the cxcretions l from nose or throat which are carried for | varying distances in the spray given or | when the person having the disease coughs sneezes, talks or laughs Tn l other words, one person has to get IL from an other who already has 1t 1T 1 want to ask who the first person to start 1t away back in the beginning, and | where did he she get the germs?" | That is retort that has been less effect ] lively made by great many latter-day cnarA- i tans and their wiseacre dupes If disease germs are the cause of disease where dld the l f1'St germs come from?
 am well aware that the inability of phy- | sician or anybody else to answer th1s question is impressive to the dull wit of the child | minded, and 1t is from the large child minded | (moronc) population that latter-day charla- tans draw the bulk of their patronage. | It would be as logical to ask where the first coo4ies came from, the nrst itch mites, the first | bedbugs, the first mice, the first gophers, the | first skunks, the first tapeworms, the first mos- quitoes and the first freak headers. It does not seem to me that we are justified In doubt | ing that these creatures are sometimes inJur- | ious to man just because incapable of l understanding their origin That sort of reas- oning may suffice for the 30 40 million child minded individuals Tn our DOpulatlOn. put l 1t will not long satisfy the minds of the other | 90 millions.
 once when I advised hot mustard foot bath administered to the patient in bed, as h | good emergency household remedy for acute | ear ache, (which still believe is sound ad- vIce), heckler begged to inquire whether a hot mustard ear bath would not be good | treatment for his toe ache. ! told him that l judging from appearances l thought 1t would | Dc exceedingly effective provided he could find | a receptacle large enough to immerse his ears | in. But that sort of argument IS not profitable to either side. This chap happened to be a man of wide influence and he used influence in such a way to hamper the spread of my teachings.
 Holding forth on itching, charlatan who constantly rldicules the germ theory" said the purpose of itching is to bring more blood to the surface to heal or remedy whatever trou- ble may excite the itching. Gle didn't men tion ivy poisoning as an example. or even even crythema conditions where you and l might imagine there is already plenty of blood at the surfocc). But he did caution against scratch ing to relieve the itching. for he said that may excoriate the skin and 50 invite infection. If we were to pin this chap down and ask what he means by infection, he would probably lose us In 4 maze of vague gencralizations about re- tained wastes, impurities, toxins and so on. which attract the germs just as carrion attracts Hles
 It is not the beginning of germ life that should concern us but rather the end of It.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Beg Pardon, My Mistake
 You said jn an answer that if anything Is tO he used for bathing the eyes or as an eye wash 1t had better bc normal salt solution. Where can wc get that? (D. r. Jo
 Answer-I should have explained that "nor- mai salt solution" means boiled water to which common salt is added in about the salt strength of the tears, say 6 level tablespoonful of table salt in each pint of freshly boiled water.
 Exercise for Cure of Rupture
 Kindly advise what exercise you prescribe for the cure of rupture. (W. F.)
 Answer--In some of threatened or small hernia in the early stage simple leg rais- Ing exercise. and the squatting exercise. taken with the hernia area supported with the hn- gers of your hand. will so develop weak mus cIes as 10 prevent further protruson.