THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, AUGUST 25, 1907.
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Recent Discoveries by
American Scientists Concerning
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Disease-Breeding Bacteria
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FT DEXTER MARSHALL.
A well-known humorist once wrote a
newspaper column of funny copy on the
possibility of contacting disease from
streetcar straps. His editor printed It
and hie readers laughed at the odd notion.
Then all hands promptly forgot all about
It. No one had the least Idea that the
Journalist-Jester had come within a mile
of hitting the mark.
Since then the question of germ com
munication from the diseased to the
healthy, with the streetcar strap as the
road, has been raised on various pretexts
at various times, both In the newspapers
and out of them. On one occasion at
least there was a sort of concerted effort
to show tl.at the "common or garden"
variety of streetcar strap is Just naturally
swarming with deadly germs.
In that case possibly the ultimate aim
was to show that some one had invented
a form of strap that would not harbor
germs and so promote a new Industry
the manufacture of self-sterilizing street
car straps.
But nothing came of this disinterested
effort to safeguard millions of strap
hangers from disease, and to this day
there never has been any wide publication
of the easily ascertained facts of the
case. Over and over again the most
dreadful possibilities have been hinted at
in print, and every time the traction offi
cials have snorted at the bare sugges
tion that a hartnful germ could stick to
a strap. But neither the traction officials
nor the promulgators of the strap germ
theory ever have gone far enough to
settle the discussion.
Recent analyses made under the direc
tion of the New York health department
of straps taken from surface cars In the
metropolis. however, show that the
humorist's skit about "Death In the
Btrap" was not entirely wide of the mark,
and that disease germs of a deadly char
acter sometimes do stick to the straps,
although they were not found In great
numbers.
One of the reports of strap analysis,
returned by Dr. A. V Williams to Dr.
William H. Park, director of the labora
tory maintained by the New York
health department for research work with
reference to contagious disease, says that
certain "cultures" made from a part of
the strap scrapings developed "only a few
r,lonies of the usual micro-organisms
found In the air; moulds, yeast and cocci,"
A second culture yielded organisms rather
more likely to produce disease In human
beings, while In the third culture "a large
spore bearing bacillus similar to B.
Subtilus" to use the technical language
of the report"and a small, short chained
streptococcus were developed." No
diphtheria or tetanus germs were found,
although It seems to have been expected
Kit' both might be.
However, the streptococcus, a com
mon cause of blood poisoning, which,
as well as the pneumococcus. Is held
responsible for pneumonia, is by no
means a desirable thing to handle on
a streetcar strap or to come In con
tact with in any way. That the strep
tococci found were as harmful as their
name looks in print was discovered by
the Health Department attaches, who
Inoculated two guinea pigs with cul
tures from the straps. One of the lit
tle animals was dead in a few hours,
"both the largo spoor-bearing bacillus
and the small streptococcus" being
fnnnH tn tlitt hlnnH ff tha K r. o i f ThA
fher guinea pig was made unconf
utable by the Inoculation, but did not
J&tcr analysis of strap scraping by
line New York Health Department
I showed fewer germs than the first
'-4J-aps. In fact, no germs from human
Xit-KS were found at all.
i Great Victory Over Tetanus.
Discussing.tlie result of the analyses
Dr. l'ark said that the germs found,
together with many others, some of
which are-much more deadly than they,
ire floating constantly in the atmos
phere of all cities, and that the coun-
ry air is rarely altogether free from
hem, although of course, much purer.
"It is hardly possible to inhale the
ireatli in tnwn," Dr. Park oontinued,
without taking1 in germs of one sort
r anoth. since the dust of the streets
1 full iif them. Man Is immune to
nost of thcBe germs, since most of
hem come from horses. Fortunately
ew germs originating with one
pecies of animal are dangerous to ln
ilvtduals of other species. There are
ome exceptions to this, however. Thus
fM"iferms of tctanux flourish In horses.
ows and other animals, and also in
nan. but not so well. Man Is susccpt
blo also to the germs of hydrophobia
which always originate In some
ower animal, and the germ of which
lever floats in the air: of anthrax, a
liscaso of cattle; of glanders, a dis
use of horses, and of tuberculosis,
thother communicated from a human
c'.ng or a lower animal.
"Undoubtedly most persons living in
ities breathe In tetanus germs occa
ionally. 1'ndoubtedly also the germs
imelimes pass the filtering apparatus
the nose and penetrate to the lungs.
here, so far as known, they can do
harm. The deadly work- of the
:tanus bacillus the rigor which Is
nown as lockjaw, follows the intro-
uction cf the germ into freshly ln-
ired tissuo only. Kvery one is fa-
iliar ,witU. Uie tetanus outbreaks
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McCormick. of which Dr. L,udvig Hek
toen is the director; the Phlpps Labora'
tory in Plttsfield. and the tuberculostf
departmeot of the Carnegie Instltut
are all bound to be Important faitorf
In the fight against the germs. Mr. Mc
C'ormii k is the son-in-law of the found,
er of the Rockefeller Institute, the Me
morial Institute was established In
memory of a little daughter who died
of scarlet fever, and consequently much
of the Institution's work has been di
rected specifically to the study of that
disease and others, such as measles
and whooping-cough, to which children
are peculiarly susceptible.
liektocn's work, both as director of
the Memorial Institute and in the Kusb
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286
260
which have followed the Fourth of
July for mo many years, and also the
deadly tetanus development which
sometimes follows a wound in the foot
caused by a rusty nail or something;
likt it.
"You have noticed, no doubt, that the
science of preventive medicine scored so
big a victory over tetanus this year. In
New York 1200 bottles of tetanus anti
toxin were given out by the Health De
partment before the Fourth, and sufferers
from blank cartridge wounds were treat
ed with the anti-toxin. So far as I have
heard only one case of tetanus was devel
oped in the entire city. The tetanus anti
toxin was perfected by Behring, the Ger
man, and Kltasato. the Japanese scien
tist. Behring discovered this anti-toxin
years before he found the diphtheria anti
toxin, which has been of such great
benefit to mankind, but for some reason
the tetanus anti-toxin was not pushed
so promptly nor so determinedly as the
other.
"Tetanus poison, by the way, is one of
the deadliest known to science. It is 50
times as strong as strychnine and 20
times as strong as cobra venom. This
year's splendid demonstration of the
value of tetanus anti-toxin means that
tetanus may now be controlled as effect
ively as diphtheria long has been con
trolled. Few persons outside the medical
profession understand what has been ac
complished with the latter disease, but a
chart has been prepared which showB the
facts graphically.
"Twenty years ago the mortality from
diphtheria In 20 of the world's largest
cities New York. Philadelphia. Boston,
Buffalo, Iondon. Paris. Berlin, Vienna.
Chicago. Brooklyn, then a city by itself;
Dresden, Munich, Liverpool. Glasgow,
Edinburgh. St. Petersburg, Koeniesberg.
Frankfort. Amsterdam ' and Hamburg
was nearly five times as great as now,
the average being 150 deaths to every 100,
000 of population and the range being from
the great proportion of 285 per 100,000 down
to about 60. ,
"The observations on which the chart is
based were begun in 1872. Sanitary sci
ence and general knowledge of the nature
of diphtheria increased rapidly in the
years immediately following and the
death rate from that disease decreased
with corresponding . rapidity. Three or
four years later the diphtheria death rate
went up to 150 again till about 1890. There
.was then a second rise, but since 18M.
when the anti-toxin came into general
use, the rate has decreased yearly: at the
present time the deaths from .diphtheria
in those cities do not average more than
31 in every 100.000 Inhabitants.
"In 'the diagram the heavy middle line
represents the average death rate for 100.
0C0 from diphtheria in the cities named
and the heavy vertical line the introduc
tion of anti-toxin. Lines showing extremes
of fluctuation are also given.
"The report of the analysis says that
no tetanus "germs were found, but it is
not impossible that they and many others
might be were a sufficient number, of
analjses taken. Tetanus germs would
not be specially dangerous on a streetcar
strap, anyway: they would be less dan
erous there than in many other places
in fact, and could do little harm unless
there was a laceration of the hand grasp
ing the infected strap. In such cases
tetanus germs might lodge In the wound
and multiply, as they do unless the anti
toxin is used when boys get hurt 'on the
Fourth' with fireworks Germs that are
'blown in' by explosion are especially
troublesome, however.
"Tubercle germs are more common than
most other disease germs In city air. You
are likely to take them into your syBtem
almost daily, and at certain times of the
year this is true also of the germs that
produce pneumonia, colds and the like.
Everybody knows nowadays that the best
way to resist any disease Is to maintain
a state of general good health.
"It should be understood that disease
germs are to be found wherever dust set
tles." Dr. Park continued, "and that 1s
almost everywhere. The mere fact that
streetcar straps are worn smooth by con
tact with many hands prevents the ad
hesion of much dust to them, and- the
same is true of hand railings of all sorts.
Germs freed by the exhaling breath of In
fected persons soon die in ordinarily pure
air and. alBo. if deposited on straps or
elsewhere, die off rapidly, except In
damp weather, merely from drying up.
"Many persons who are quite well, ap
parently, carry disease germs about with
them. One in every 500 persons In New
York is supposed to carry diphtheria
germs In the throat, although the disease
does not develop in more than one in 50
cases, except when the weather is
stormy or otherwise especially trying.
Many persons, also, who do not become
ill. carry the germs of tonsllitis. bron
chitis and other throat diseases with
them. ,
"By putting his hand in his mouth and
later grasping- a streetcar strap such a
person may deposit germs on the strap,
and so pass on a disorder from which he
has not suffered himself, and of which
he is the unwitting transmitter. It is
probable that the streptococci found on
the streetcar straps which were analyzed
recently were deposited In that way. To
'catch' a disease of the class, mentioned
from a strap, however, you would bave ,
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to put your own hand in your mouth
after clinging to an infected strap.
"And, while there is some slight danger
from infection by this method, there is-
quite as nuch danger of infection from
shaking hands with a consumptive person
and In a dozen other ways. Dr. Baldwin,
of Saranac Lake, has had consumptives
wash their hands in sterilized water, after
which the water has been analyzed. In
practically every case of this sort It has
been found that the water contained
bacilli of tuberculosis to kill a guinea pig.
"Although not found on any of the
straps analyzed by the New York health
department, the germs of various eye
diseases, such as ophthalmia, virulent con
junctivitis and trachoma brought to this
country from Southern Europe, where it
was introduced from Egypt might be de
posited readily on straps, railings and
elsewhere by one suffering from such a
disorder, after rubbing the diseased eye.
These diseases may be and often are
transmitted by contact, either with per
sons suffering from them, or with sur
faces of other kinds as well as straps
which they have touched.
"One per cent of those who' have
suffered from typhoid fever carry the
germs with them. The New YorK health
department is now dealing wftn a re
markable case of this sort a. woman cook
who had, typhoid years ago, but Is now In
robust health. As reported in the news
papers last Spring, typhoid has appeared
in several households in which she has
been the cook. That she was the cause
of the fever in a family on Iong Island
by whom she was employed was not dis
covered until after the regular family
doctor, a well-known bacteriologist, and a
sanitary engineer of reputation,, had all
sought vainly for the fever's cause.
"When, at lRst, the mystery was un
raveled, she was taken in charge by the
health authorities as altogether too dan
gerous a person to be allowed at large.
She is still confined to the North Brother
Island Riverside Hospital, and there Is no
telling when she will be set at liberty."
Summing up the case for and again.st
the streetcar strap. Dr. Park concludes
that It is as dangerous as any other sub
stance with which persons suffering from
communicable disease habitually come in
confact and no more so. It Is conceivable
that various diseases have been contracted
from Infected strap3, but In the nature
of things there is no way of tracing
any such case.
The Fight Against Germs.
The danger from disease germs of every
kind is much less today than even a few
years ago. As the science of bacterioiogy
is brought to a higher state; as the nature
of disease germs and the means of de
stroying them are better understood, the
control of germ diseases will Improve
from year to year. At the present time
more men and vastly more money are
engaged In fighting disease through sclen-,
tlfic research than ever before, and the
fight Is being carried on -in every civilized
land.
The names of Koch, the German, and
Pasteur, the Frenchman, always will be
associated with this fight, no matter how
far beyond their furthest advances the
antlgerm contest may progress. The
Pasteur Institute In Paris Is the most
efficient and most famous center of the
anti-germ war .today, with the Im
perial Institute of Infectious Diseases
at . Berlin a good second. The
Jenner Institute of Preventive Medi
cine In London is in the same class
and is doing great work.
In this country, 'the Rockefeller In
stitute, opened in New York a year or
more ago. and of which Dr. Simon Flex
ner is the director: the Memorial Insti
tute In Chicago, founded by Harold S.
Medical School, connected with th
University of Chicago, entitles I'tim to
be counted among the germ fighter
who are worth while In this country.
It might be supposed from his nam
that he Is of foreign birth, but he Is
a native of Wisconsin, the son of one
of the Swedish immigrants, who have
made so deep an impress upon the
Northwest, and have added one of its
most interesting elements to the mod
ern composite American race. Dr. Hek
toen is still young, being only 4 4. and.
has plenty of time before him In which
to prosecute the fight. He is a gradu
ate of Decorah College, Iowa, but he
studied also at Prague, Berlin, Vienna
and tite University of Wisconsin. He
has had to make his own way In the
world, and one of the rounds of his
ladder whs the post of Coroner's phy
sician in Chicago, which he held from
1S90 to 1894.
He is much Interested In the curious
discovery by the Englishman, A. E.
Wright, of substances in the blood
which he terms "opsonins," and which,
by their effect upon the germs, he says
act as uppetlzers." to the white cor
puscles of the blood and so enable
them to destroy many more germs thnij
they could without such stimulus. Dr.
Hektoen is not lacking in breadth, but
he is a great detail man, and does much
of his original work with hi.-s own
hands.
Flexncr And Welch.
Dr. Flexner, a KenEv?kian by birih,
is the same age of Hektoen. Flexner
Is of Jewisn descent, and he took post
graduate courses at Johns Hopkins, tha
University of Strasbourg and the Uni
versity of Berlin, after getting his M.
D. degree at the University of Louis
ville. He is little and slight, with
spectacled blue-gray eyes and clcse
cropped hair that is too gray for 44,
yet he doesn't look old beyond Ilia
years. To tell the ti tith, he might be
taken for a man either five years less
or five years older than he really Is.
He works like a dynamo. He has ab
sorbed a rather German air from his
long residence at German universities,
and. because -of a protracted stay in
Japan, where he went to sen what the
little brown scientists of the Illsinfr
Sun Empire were doing In bactet lology
(Concluded on Page 11.)