The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-12-04

forces such as hercdity or miasma.
We know the cause to be u germ;
we know the habits Of the germ;
We know what it grows on; we
know how it passes from one
human to another and from in
fected cows to human beings in
milk, and all of its customs and
habits.
Furthermore, since then, we are
able 10 tell by examination of the
sputum of ar individual whether
or not his cough and fever are
due to tuberculosis Of the lungs
or to some other disease. Robert
Koch laid guesswork about tuber-
culosls forever in its grave.
His discovery was the result Of
n great deal Of industry combined
with flashes Of genius-inspira-
ton in Interpreting the new
things he saw under the micro
scope and in inventing new meth
DDS of research.
The most important of these
methods was the discovery that
bacteria would grow outside the
body on culture MEDIA COM
monplace of the archaeological
laboratory now. He accidentally
discovered colonies of bacteria
growing on the cut surface of a
potato and for a long time he used
foods-Sugars etc,-to cultivate
his germs.
Cultivation of Germs
When he started out to cultivate
the germs he found in tuberculous
tissue, however, he struck a snag.
They would not grow on any of
the ordinary media. Finally he
had the inspiration of trying them
on human tissue. using blood
serum. He inoculated a tube of
sterile blood serum with tissue
which he had obtained from a case
Of tuberculosis and crushed it so
as to expose the germs.
Patiently, from day to day, he
examined the serum under the
microscope but for week or 10
days he found no germs, Most of
his germs grew on media in from
% hours to three or four days. He
was about to throw his blood
serum away, but fortunately he
was patient enough to keep look
ing and finally at the end of two
weeks he saw a colony of tubercle
baciui. The tuberculosis germ is
one of the slowest growing Of any
that attack man.
Four Famous POstulates
Koch's paper of 1882 did far
more, however, than simply an
nounce the cause of tuberculosis.
He laid down the four famous
postulates to determine whether
a given germ is the cause Of a
given disease:
First: You must find the germ
in association with the disease and
II must be found in association
with no other disease.
Second; You must be able TO
cultivate the germ outside the
body on artificial media.
Third: You must be able TO
take the isolated germs and pro-
duce the disease in animals.
Fourth: Pure cultures of the
organisms must again be made
from inoculated animals.
Since that day go years ago we
have been able to initiate intel
ligently all the hygienic measures
which have cut the rate of tuber-
culosis to a point that Koch him
self would have regarded as un-
believably small. In order to fur
Their this work, buy Christmas
Seals.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
A. B.:-You say that glands
cause the bearded lady's beard.
have an enlarged thyroid gland
and an alarming number of hairs
on my face for which | have con-
sidered the electric needle. Which
do you advise, the electric needle
or thyroid extract, if given under
a doctors care?
Answer: The thyroid gland is
very little concerned with hair
growth in women. The adrenal
gland is responsible for that.
Under the circumstances in or.ler
TO be sure, | would advise the use
Of the electric needle.