MUSEUM LECTURE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11645, 24 August 1905, Page 6

MUSEUM LECTURE.

"Bacteria in Relation to Disease."

There was only a fair attendance at the Museum Hall last night to hear Mr J. A. Gilruth, Chief Veterinarian, give an interesting lecture on ''Bacteria m Relation to Disease."

Mr Gilruth treated the subject in a most able manner, and was heartily applauded from time to time by the audience. He stated that there is no doubt that there is no section of science that affords such a great field for study as bacteriology. He said, the word microbe was perhaps ' the better name to use- as it meant a little thing, and they are the lowest order of living things. Seen through a microscope they are like little dots. Mr Gilruth then named a number of microbes, at the same time pointing them out, in a highly magnified form, on diagrams on the wall. They have no cells, and the lowest of them are divided into different groups, some growing in groups of two, four, or in bunches, etc. We have also a lower form of bacteria and a higher form, which .branches out and divides. There has been a great amount of controversy in 'regard to their place in Nature; some consider them plants, and others consider them to be animals. Mr" Gilruth said that bacteriology was a comparatively recent science, the first discovery of dots in blood cells being made about 1849, and microbes were definitely discovered about 30 years ago (1875). Microbes are living things, inasmuch as they grow and multiply, by dividing into twos, and in the case of the tetanus microbe they form into a spore., Sunlight is one of the most potent means for the destruction of microbes. Most microbes cannot move from place to place, but some can. This is proved by examining them in water with a microscope, when it will be seen that some will not move, and others will. Some microbes grow rapidly, and others very slowly indeed. In onp hour one microbe will divide into two, and at the end of twenty-four hours tlio number will have reached a million microbes. The scientific measure lor determining the length of microbes is a micron, and one micron is equal to about one 25,000 th part of an inch, and the average microbe is only, about two microns long and one wide. It is very hard to differentiate between microbes, but sore*' are determined' by" their "colour, which in some appears gi'cen, in others pink, elc, but the majority simply have a sort of whitish appearance. Mr Gilruth then explained at some length the best means of obtaining and feeding the microbes, the latest and 1 best substance being a species of sea-weed obtained from the 'coast of China, which is mixed with a sterilised broth made from the finest beef, mashed up and allowed to remain in water for some time, and then subjected to treatment. Some of the microbes will not mature in the broth, but will do so in milk. Microbes rlo not always produce the same diseases in different animals, as one species of microbe if injected into a cow will produce a different disease to that produced if injected into a rabbit, although growing in the same way, and .several species of animals have to he injected to determine the species of microbe. All microbes are not harmful, "the majority of them being benign, as evidenced in the curing of cheese, alcohol, etc.

The lecturer then described the part the various microbes took in the different diseases. The cocci bacteria are the chief cause of suppuration, and produce pus in abscesses in man and also in animals. In the case of an abscess there is first of .ill a swelling, with a certain amount of heat and pain, and gradually the swelling softens in the centre and" if pricked, pus will, flow, and this when, examined will reveal microbes, and in every case abscesses are caused by one or other of tlyj' microbes, '■■• which are generally absorbed through the body. These microbes, after entering the body, are attacked by our friends , ; the white corpuscles, which proceed to fight the cocci, but sometimes are conquered by them, in which case an abscess ensues. The cocci also produce erysipelas and other troubles, one kind producing the disease in horses known as strangles. The bacillus of anthrax is probably the first completely and thoroughly described and stated, it being less than fif^y years since it was definitely described and secured in the blood, arid thirty years ' since it was described as a means of disease in animal and man. Anthrax bacilli grow very fast. If inoculated into a guinea-pig, the animal will go about for twenty-four hours and will show no sign, of the disease, but 'within another twenty-four hours, and just before death, a dizziness and weakness will^show, and the, animal drops down dead. Every dot of blood, when examined, is simply teeming with millions of the microbes. The white corpuscles will not attack an.thrax bacilli. ' The diphtheria microbe cam. T>e- exirtivntecL arfcifi-oially very easily. Diphtheria bacilli, unlike anthrax, do not get into the body at all, but keep in the throat, wlfere they grow. The diphtheria microbes cause other complaints, such as kidney disease, by throwing out poisons. Experiments were made 'with this poison about ten or twelve years ago, arid fan anti-toxin was produced by injecting a very small quantity of the oac•teria into a horse, and raising the dose at 'intervals till the horse could take a pint without any ill-effect, his blood tissues becoming immune and highly resistant. Some of the blood was then extracted and 'carefully treated, and was found ,to be an anti-toxine, and the result of this experim.ent.is that thousands and thousands of- r children are saved . every year, from •death.

There i 3 considerable doubt as . to the microbe of tuberculosis, or consumption. Blood from consumptive people has • been injected .into small animals,, which took ,the disease, showing 1 that it is • easily spread from animal to animal. There is great difficulty in' obtaining and isolating the consumption micrqbe, as it grows very

little in the prepared broth. The disease exists in man and in nearly."SH animals, and has also been found in fowls and fish, and there are different varieties of the microbes, as has beeu proved by experiments, some of which Mr Gilruth explained. The bacilli found in a cow, if injected into a fowl will not produce the disease, and vice versa. If the bacilli are injected into a guiuaa-pig's leg there is at first no pain, but the glands swell and gradually become completely destroyed, and to all intents and purposes become a mass of matter. This process goes ou till it reaches the lungs, and finally death ensues, and the animal when examined is, so to speak, converted into a mass of dend matter. No anti-toxine has yet been discovered for this disease, and the only thing that can be done at present is to take all precautions and stop expectoration, for if the expectoration remains about a house it mixes with the dust and is inhaled, and any one suffering from a cold, more or less chronic, is most subject to consumption. In 99 cases out 100 the disease is caught in this way. One disease very much -like consumption is leprosy, the microbe Joeing very much like the tuberculous microbe. The bacilli of leprosy has never been cultivated. The next disease the lecturer . described was bubonic plague, which he said had been known from time immemorial, and the disease was no doubt the same as the Black Plague in England in 1340. It was thought to be extinct, but in 1894 it was found in Hong Kong, and since then in other places, but not seriously. He said the cause and spread of plague is nothing but filth, as is evidenced by the fact that in India the white men, who are cleanly, are hardly ever known to take the disease, while the natives, who live in filth and do not take the trouble to live cleanly, are subject to attacks. Up to this point Mr Gilruth had dealt with microbes that live in the air, but there arc. he explained, several that cannot live in the atmosphere, one of which is that of tetanus, more commonly known as the- lockjaw microbe. There- has been great controversy on the question of' the lockjaw bacilli, and it has been found that the microbe gets into a wound, and as long as the wound is open the microbe does no harm, but when the wound has closed in the microbe is shut out from the air, and then begins its deadly work. It does not move from the place where it germinated, but, like the diphtheria bacilli, sends out a poison, which is the cause of death. An anti-toxine has been discovered by treating a horse in the same way as with diphtheria, but the anti-toxine must bo given before the lockjaw symptoms get a hold, or there will be no good results. Mr Gilruth stated that the reason that there was such a small death rate in the Japanese armies from wounds, durino 1 the present war, was because the soldiers were given a dose of anti-toxine, as soon as their wounds were inflicted, thus preventing the disease. All diseases are not caused by microbes, as* for instance malaria and yellow fever, which are spread by mosquitos, which poison the blood by their bite. These diseases are generally found in low-lying countries, where mosquitoes infest the land, and not in high positions. Then there was the tick fever, which affects cattle and sheep, and is carried by the ticks which infest the animals' skins. Nearly all these diseases are confined to tropical countries. No idea has yet been found of the cause of small-pox, and scientists are no 'nearer asserting the actual cause of the disease than ever, but it is known that it is something that can be propogatod and spread. Hydrophobia can he prevented, yet to-day wo do not know what causes it,jand how it is cultivated in animals. Mij, ( Gilrutli brought his interesting lecture ( t<^ a ' close by stating that there was a- vast field yet 'for ascertaining the causes of many diseases.

A hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Gilruth for his Idiscoursc and unanimously carried, on the motion of Dr Hutherly. The Rev. A. .0. Williams, who presided, also heartily thanked Mr Gilrnth, on behalf of the Museum trustees, for the trouble lie hud taken to give the lecture, having come up from Wellington for the purpose. ' . Chamberlain's Cough . Remedy. — No one who is acquainted with its good qualities can be surprised at tlio great popularity of. Chamberlain's Cough It not ouly cures colds and grip effectually and permanently, but prevents those diseases from resulting in pneumonia It is also a certain cure for croup Whooping cough is not dangerous when this remedy is given. It contains no opium or other harmful substanco and may lift given as confidently to a baby as to an . adult. For sale by Grove's Cash Store and F. L. Spurdle.