GERMS AND THE GERM THEORY.

\ fl?np theory of disease, or that in *Si ?{$ I^t^gions diseases are due to o^nims ii) the tissues or'fluids of the %."md"which, in carrying" on the W*m of their o\?n living functions, PJajsce changes -that become apparent as Jea|b[ nv&ous "kinds, and'which: may y&*Tath' I? nov, says the Farm; Field %iiMy accepted. In fact, in peases, it is no longer theory. Speci «jftgttantf have been"- seen under the and described. The experiment* bwSh?' T l' ' 6th** investigators haye1 C'viif wsewhen introduced into the „;/77! !"tfiout M> develop the disease i* eh they W been previously 3L* ass6c;ated. Hence, by 2'w^ ay Wer that many other 2? «»U b e found to be due to the Su %fT' th°Ugh as *et the £§; lpd may P ofc hPe been die ivSS' -ter in tke North British ZT?J\ m- re¥ion -to the geim ornaL, the majority of these £5 " stable but reckoned the !Cal e' ,and incl^e<l in the <» ffi W°ar uiniiros' and likely tob ß «S 1*othordi(*"eß will be found are ™"ous species of **«. Bacteria, B«dlli,ete, and adds-: lre n wtlobular • little berries;" the &etheWi iarenf . Si?*^'^ric shape; S"1 lf ">«5 noti« J thin' sirai'S>»t, rod-ilk. "cine of th. m^l --r<.ff)r> fts R niatter £^otn«ure ,?p , U^!> al anA necessary tertS'»nd.further t>,»" 10''0 whlch ca\ise IfNf'nneS"; t & c p 80 °r«ani ß mscan carry SdStay Varf&- oi ltfldo or inside tho SSfW fnllk ami t *"(\ .tllc ,P»trefactive, Z Jfnnfttian df n!w?» J^ ri^ nin S of cheese, WteT^oniff S ' '.° stomach-are all PlSlH^iaproper to fl tate f* ■»*» 12 ?f" 18 SW that any r^i4(l i n tl pro^ce disease or ? ft"nmi r^^^ithy subject, £% toiii SJ~V™™* disability li c f!«S.f ff? fonndfloating, ani^ c^inib^^itht P %?^a jL r. man flirectly in " *BtJ fek}P| .infection

directly into the system, through direct exposure to the virus. Yet physicians are seldom attacked. Why ? They take proper precautions against it, and use means for self-protection. In fact, the writer in the contemporary previously quoted admits that, "Animals in perfect good health can resist their attacks with impunity, and this is perhaps tho reason why man and beast have not been long ago swept off the face.of the earth, while sani tation arid a proper regime tend to' keep the evils in check ; and with some forms an actual introduction of the virus into tHe body is necessary to Start them. The writer in continuation, says':

Nearly every one has heard, of the discovery by Pasteur of the germs which cause rabies in dogs, chjeken cholera, pleuro-pncumonia, the BacilluS'arithracis of arithrax'dis'ases." etc.. etc., and of the ident'flcation of the bacillus of tuberculosis with that of consumption in human beings by Kooh. The life-history of all of them is very similar; they consist-for the mo.Jt part of single cells (or an aggregation of cells), each being an individual capable of carrying on all functions of life. They multiply by "gemma •ion" or "fission ;" that is new individuals grow out of the side of old ones and drop oif, oi the in terior of i: cell divides into two parts, the whole bronks up and each parr, becomes a separate and independent germ. They all resemble one another in the nature of the food they absorb, in that they cannot live without nitrogenous substances—solution of pure sugar, for instance, rev aining unaliered. but immediately some al buminoid is introduced, alcoholic or some, other fermentation is set up. The nature of the pro ducts resulting from this living action is the principle point wherein they differ; lactic acid in milk is the excretion or secretion of the B. lactis, njtric acid in the soil from the nitrifying germ, morbid blood in the tissues and vessels of the animal body from the B. anthracis of splenic f evr.r, arid so on. '■ It has been conclusively proved by the experi ments o' Tyndall nnd others that these Kerms and their products do not spring spontaneously into being, but are derived from pre-existing in dividuals, nnd, further, that the air is swarm ing with them—tl.e malignant as well as the useful forms—ready to settle down and develop whenever a suitable "nidus" presents itself. Tyndall has further shown that they are-very difficult to kill, as h6 found that continuous boiling for several hours \*as needed to put an end'to tho putrefactive forms, while excessive cry ness ov cold only makes them dormant for the time being. . .

The subject is of vast importance not only in domestic animals* butm the human family. In certain virulent ' diseases, as hydrophobia, and especially in the con tagious form of pleuro pneumonia in bovine animals, the incubatory stages of which are imperfectly known, and especially in contagious pleuro-pneumonia the length of time which cattle may carry and com municate the contagion after apparent recovery is not perfectly known. It would scent to be dangerous to inoculate with this cla&i of diseases. In fact, in the case' of pleuro-pneumonia, Holland did not exter minate this disease until inoculation had been suspended, and all infected animals and tbofre having been exposed had been killed. In fact, we want far more light than we now have before accepting ioncula tion as a safeguard against either hydro phobia or pleuro-pneumonia, or as it is now termed lung plague With this we return to a resume of experiments as contained in the article as before noticed.

Pasteur obtained matter from the carcasses of cattle which had diea'of oharbonus disease and had been buried for twelve years, and the B. anthracis sti 1 retained sufficient vitality to in duce the disease in animals which were inocu lated with it, and the sartie germs have been found in the worm-casts over t*-o ground where Mion carcasses lie buried; Disinfectants such aschlorido oMli*>e, burning sulphur, carbolic acid, etc., aro simply used for tne purpose of killing or reducing tho vitality of those germs floating in'the air. Prof. Lister, wio Inaugu rated tho antiseptic 8y8t«"o of surgery found

that the raw surface of wounds, were liable to form putrefaotive perms but allowing of a healthy recovery.1 The latest development of this branch of knowledge is the discovery by Pasteur that many of these srorms can i-e "cultivated" outside of their hosts in suitable fluids, and than succeeding generations grad ually become weaker and less virulent until a stage is reached when they can bo reintroduced into the animal body, when they only produced feeble symptoms of their o» n particular variety of disease, and animals so treated arc found to be more or less proof against all future ■' ttucks of the same disease. This is the principal of " inoculation;"'which he and others have 'suc cessfully practiced.in connection with pleuro pncumoniatind other diseases. The writer of this fears that because certain diseases have been traced" tot he presence of " germs," even cholera, that it should not give foundation for the belief that'all contagious affections will follow suit, and render it possible—as Pasteur upholds—for such to be exterminated from our planet.

IN BED WITH A COBRA.

An Exciting Experience.

One of the most dangerous snakes in the world belongs to India and the adjacent countries. He is the cobra-dicapello (snake with a hood), and was so named by the Portuguese, on account of the resemblance to a hood which is formed by puf?> of the skin at each side of the neck, which are swollen when the creature is enraged. The general colour of thi? serpent is black. Sometimes he' is called the " spectacle snake," because the spots on the back of the hood resemble a pair of spectacles; Jugglers tame these snakes, and exhibit them. The reptiles have s* curious fond ness for music, and the snake charmers call them out of their holes by playing a peculiar air on a flute. They carry their cobras in wicker-baskets. When an exhibition is to be given, the basket is placed on the ground, and the cover removed. The snakes lie "coiled beneath blankets in 'the basket, and give no sign of their existence until the performer squats near them and begins plsyjng'on a sort of flute. In a few moments the cloth move'", ood the head of a cobra appears and rises slowly. The music continues, and, after listening for two or three minutes, the snake crawls from the basket and assumes an erect posi tion in front of the player The rapidity of the music'increase^ and then the serpent sways his head from side to fide and makes a kind of dancing motion with his body! When the music stops he lowers his head, and, if the playing is »oc resumed, goes slowly back to his basket, and disappears among the blankets. •" - ' -■' ; The juggler*i wind the snakes round their limbs and bodies, and not unfrequently the serpents seem, to have an affection for their masters. The latter go through a variety of tricks with their strange pets, and when all are concluded the cobras are returned to their baskets, and the spectators are solicited for a pecuniary reward for the showman's benefit. The bite of the cobra is generally fatal. The snake-charmers have antidotes of their own, which they care fully keep secret. The English physicians give arsenic in liberal dose's, ether in pills or in Fowler's solution, and they also fill the patient with large quantities of alcoholic stimulants, in the fame way that the bite of the rattle snake is treated in America. Cobras have an unpleasant fondness for dwelling-homeß, and pefspns living in India encounter the constant possibility of

putting their feet on one of these reptiles, on stepping out of bed in the night, or of finding one in a ooat-sleove or trousers-leg in the morning. One day when I was the guest of a gentleman on Malabar Hill, the fashionable suburb of Bombay, we were talking about snakes and their habits, when a snake-charmer stopped before the verandah. The charmer pquatted on the ground a dozen feet away, and began playing on the fiute. In live minutes a cobra came from under the verandah, directly beneath where we sat, and slowly crawled towards the musician Then the reptile stood erect, and began waving his head from side to side. The performer dropped his flute, and with "a sweep of his hand, like a stroke of lightning seized the snake by the nock. " Perhaps it's a trick." said one of our party, "nnd the snake is a harmless one that has been let loose for the purpose."

The remark was heard by the performer, who thereupon brought the snake close to us, forced his mouth open with a small stick and showed the creature's fangs with the poison-bags ar, their base. Then he ex tracted the fangs with a pair of pincers which he drew from the folds of hi* dress, threw the snake into one of his baskets, and, then bsgan to play again. "Cobras hunt in couples," said our host, " and where you find ono another is generally not far awuy.' Sure enough, in less than a quarter of an hour, another cobra wa« caught in the same way, and the poison-fangs were exhibited and removed. The serpent was consigned to thG basket with his mate, and then the man re ceived his fee and departed. Naturally, the subject was followed up in our conversation after the snake-charmer had gone. At a suggestion from the host, one of the company gave the following AC count of two uncomfortable experiences he ; had had with these dreaded serpent* :— " When I first came to India, I laughed at the idea of being afraid of snakes, and it was only because of the urgent advice of friends that I kept a lamp burning at night in the sleeping-room of my bungalow. If it went out 1 was not particular to call the servant to have it lighted. The result was, that one morning when I opened my eyes in broad daylight, I saw a large cobra lying coiled on the mat near the" door.' T was frightened, and shouted with all the force of my lungs. I didn't know the Hindostani name of the creature, or rather I had forgot ten it for the moment, and so I yelled 1 cobra ! cobra !' Very i?oon the servants came with sticks and killea him, He measured nearly tout feet in length, and his fangs made me shudder as I looked at them.' 11 For months afterwards I was careful to have lights burning In my sleeping-room, but eventually I grew careless again. One niffht I awoke, and found the light had gone out. I was too sleepy to call for the Tascar, and probably did not remain awake a minute. But this waking was followed by disagreeable dreams which eeemed to last for hours, but quite likely they were of only a few minutes duration. I waked again, a.»d was about to tui n over, when I felt something pressing against my leg. The mo"rt was shiuing into the ro->m, and, as I moved Sightly, I saw n movement near the foot of the bed, at the spot where I had felt the pressure against me. Besides my pajamas or > sleeping-BuiV my only covering was a single sheet of linen, and a ~>vv- '*Mn 6"6 it was. "A Bense'of'danger fc . !rme. and without moving my body

I slowly raised my head, and distinctly saw in the moonlight ihe head of a cobra slowly turning and settling down after the dis turbance caused by my moving when I waked. To say that I was seriously frightened does not describe my feelings, as you can well believe. My flesh was chilled as though by a b.last from an ice berg, My blood seemed to cease flowing, I could feel my hair rising upon my head. My first" impulse was to spring from the bed but fearjprevented me. By degrees I be came sufficiently self-posse^eed to realise that if I jumped I was not only in danger of being bitten by the snake that lay agaihpt me, put also by its mate Which might be on the floor exactly in the spot wherel should plant myfeet. To call the servant with the light, was my only safety unless I chose to lie ?till until the morning, wnich Ifeitfl could not do. To remain for hours in that situation would n'Rve'made me a lunatic. At Ihe ;t6p of my voice I" shouted, 'Lascar!' The cobra, disturbed by the noit-e raised its head, but soon settled down-again. The servant did not come, and as soon as ( the! snake was quiet I repeated the call, and, with the same result. A third time I shouted even louder than before. appeal wassuccepsful. My servant answered the call, and came with a burning lamp. The cobra had moved, and with its head erect was looking in the direction' of the approaching footsteps. On seeing the light, he glided down the fide of the bed ', and sought safety beneath it. I ordered other lamps brought, and several servants called to remove the bed; by suddenly dragging it from its corner. Then with my fowling piece I riddled the reptile with shot, and had him flung outside the bungalow, where in the morning we found and despatched his mate. If there is any experience of my life which I shall never forget, it is that of being in bed with a cobra."

HE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 1887.

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