Evening star., 1932-03-21
GERM D|SCOVERER
PRAISED BY HOOVER
President Calls for CeIebra.
ton of Koch's Isolation of
TubercIe Bacillus.


President Hoover today paid glowing
tribute to Robert Koch, noted German
physician, for his discovery SO years ago
OF the germ that causes tuberculosis,
ana called upon the American people to
opServe In an appropriate manner the
nftieth anniversary of the discovery, to
be celebrated next Thursday.
The President called attention to the
fact that In the United States the re-
suits OF DR.. Koch's discovery have been
great and that the death rate from
tuberculosis Is now only one-fourth of
was it was so years ago.
Hoover Issues Statement
The Presidents statement follows:
Fifty years ago, on March "a, 1882,
Robert Koch, German doctor. startled
the medical circles or Europe by an
nouncing he had discovered the germ
that caused tuberculosis. The steps he
took to prove his opinion, and the
clarity with which he explained those
steps, made his report not only classic
IN medical literature, but established a
technique in medical research that ever
since has been a boon to civilization In
its fight against disease.
Next Thursday the fftieth ami
versary Of Robert Koch's discovery OF
tubercle bacillus will be commemorated
throughout the world. Unstinted honor
will be paid to the memory of the ia
nous man who, almost single-handed,
directed the feet of nations toward the
path Of recovery and victory in the re-
lentless, though silent, war against the
destructive forces of nature.
4@A~ I%raNH HnRt4
from Kochs discovery has proved large
in light of the fact the death rate from
tuberculosis Is now but one-fourth
what 1t was in 1882, and the search
for q specific cure, as yet undiscovered,
goes steadily forward along the lines he
mapped out.
Because Of his priceless contributions
to human welfare, it Is fitting that we,
as a Nation, do him honor, and that
each community acknowledge its debt
to Robert Koch by commemorating in
an appropriate manner the occasion OF
the fiftieth anniversary of his discovery
of the tubercle bacillus.
HERBERT HOOVER"
footing in its battle against this dis
ease. Koch settled for all time that
tuberculosis is communicated by a
micro-organism $4,000 of an inch long,
the tubercle bacillus. He isolated this
germ from all other living matter, caus-
ing it to propagate artif1cially, and by
introducing microbes so cultivated into
the bodies of healthy animals produced
tuberculosis.
Enormous strides in tuberculosis pre-
yention and treatment have been taken
since Koch's announcement. The death
rate has been reduced to one-fourth.
This would have been impossible with
out the knowledge Koch supplied. For
this reason the discovery Is being COM
memorated this week by 2,084 tubercu-
losis associations and committees. Edu-
Gators and physicians everywhere plan
to cooperate with civic and welfare
organizations in suitable exercises on
the anniversary date.
Other Revelations.
Startling as was Koch's announce
ment. still more amazing are the in
seniousness Of the method and complete
finality of the proof he showed the
scientists at the meeting of the Berlin
Physiological Society. Ehrhcn ana the
great Virchow were there. The latter
had come to dispute any evidence Koch
might offer to prove tuberculosis spe-
cifc disease. Virchow believed u
caused by a disturbance Of normal cell
activity and did not subscribe to the
theory that disease ever could be caused
by a microbe.
When Koch concluded his paper
Virchow put on his hat and left the
room In silence. There was no dis
cussion. Nothing remained to be said.
For the first time science had obtained,
In the words of Koch himself, com
plete proof of the parasitic nature OF
human infectious disease"
Various had been the theories pro-
pounded by leading authorities. the
confusion of the era IS exempllned IN
some of the names then given tubecu-
losis: Scrofula, white swelling, aosceSs
of the lung, hectic fever, liberation OF
the lung. abscess of the chest, asthma,
congestion Of the lungs, hemorrhage OF
the lung.
Koch called the germ "tubercle
bacillus deliberately-bacilluS because
it looked like q rod when seen under
the microscope stained blue by the
method he devised-tubercle from
"tuber," or the lump it causes in the
body.
How Discovery Came.
Just how did Koch do what others
had sought in vain to achieve? 1t was
then the general practice in bac-
teriology to cultivate microbes In
liquid medium, and isolation OF spe--
cial type from others, and cultivation OF
that type alone, had never been accom-
plished. This problem Koch had solved
a year or two before his discovery OF
the cause of tuberculosis. The method
he invented has been followed by other
scientists to advance the conquest OF
various diseases, and remains today III
tie changed.
This problem had vexed the greatest
men of the day. The clue came to
Koch when he noticed small specks on on
a slice of potato which had remained
exposed to the air. These spots were
of different colors, and ne wondered II
each might not be colony" OF the
same kind of germ which had grown
from a single one, alighting from the
air, eating the potato as food, and null
tiplying.
He put a piece Of potato under a
microscope and saw that each speck
was composed of many microbes, al!
alike. So Koch then knew that he an
other scientists who had grown germs
in liquid food would never get any
where. and that germs must be cult
waited on solid medium, where they
could not easily intermix. After many
trials he finally produced a gelatin
composition with meat infusion, pro-
ducing a transparent solid, which he
placed in shallow glass dishes. BY
drawing over the surface of this plate
a tiny needle dipped in bacteria, ne was
able to plant" Individual microbes at
different points.
Growth and Visibility.
In a day or two colonies OF them
would grow large enough to be seen.
To Koch's surprise, in the case o. the
particular rod-Iike one he had GIways
found present at the seat Of troercular
disease, and which he suspected. was the
supreme killer of mankind, e, owth dld