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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 1912)
THE SUNDAY OREOONTAX. FORTXiAITO, AUGUST 4, 1913. 7 - y " v ft '--' -rt - 1 v-ri -"fir '' i r MS'? V J UK nap d'lon "T?1 Metchnikoff, Paris Scientist, After Years of Patient Research, Finds a Microbe Which Fights the Slow and Insidious Old Age Poisons 140 Years Declared to Be the Normal Age of Man in Biblical Times. S p? . PA.RIS. July 23. (Special Corre spondence.) Metchnllcoff does not tell all. The Illustrious discoverer of the gly cobacter has been so misrepresented and jealoused that ho no longer wears his heart on his sleeve. "Of course, the glycobacter will not give eternal youth," he said wearily to the reporters, "but It will reduce the discomforts of advancing years." Both statements are perfectly true, yet they perfectly conceal Metchni- koffs real thought. Metchnikoffs real thought, today as yesterday, is that man is to live 140 years. When he Is among friends, sure not to have his words garbled in a press report, he tells how he began the great search in which the world is o painfully interested. "Cp to recently science had not oc cupied itself at all with the phenom ena of old age," says Metchnikoff on such occasions. "Old age seemed nat ural. Everyone accepted it. Then one day, it struck me that there might be Interesting matter for investigation in the subject, and you will see that I was not deceived. It came to me from this reflection life being a func tion like any other. If we should die normally we ought to die with Joy, with the desire to die. When we have eaten. we are no longer hungry; after the labor of the day, we wish to sleep. How is it that old men, with rare ex ceptions, cling to life? Because, gen erally, we are forced to go before the Instinct to die is wakened in us. Death either takes us too soon, or else old age weakens us to the point of not permitting this desire for death to bloom in us." "0L.Dt kLD men" go off from "old age" 70. Queer kind of old men. says Metchnikoff. Tou have never seen a real old man, ays Metchnikoff; though, as will ap pear, Tokarski met one, 106 years old, who rejoiced at death and "felt the Heed of it." But imitation old men, dying at 85 or 90, are really sick men; and Metchnikoff has invented a name for their disease pathological old age. Real old men "full of days" lived in old Bible times. Abraham, having lived ITS years, died in a good old age, an old man and full of years or days. At the age of 180 Isaac gave up the ghost, being old and full of days. Job lived 120 years after his trial and died old and full of days. That "full of days" is not a common w formula is proved by the fact that the Old Testament writers do not employ it when death occurred under the age of 140 years. Ishmael lived 137 years, lost his forces and simply died, and the lack of the formula is particularly sig nificant in the cases of Moses and Aaron, cut off at 120 and 123 respec tively because they had trespassed at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh. Though his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated, Moses was told to go up In the mountain and die. What is this mysterious "fullness of days?" Professor Metchnikoff declares It to have been the now lost "Instinct of death" which man ought to but has rarely attained because of certain dis harmonies of his nature inherited fromJ his first rational ancestor, who was the freak child of an anthropoid ape. Up to the ape, nature went slow and sure. After the ape, intelligence grew faster than bodily, adaptability and the Tree of the Knowledge of good and 111 Is but Its allegory. HEN Metchnikoff gets .started on organic disharmonies, it is a long talk. Man has hair on his legs; wis dom teeth which cause phlegmons and Jaw-carles; a vermiform appendix, use less since, the rabbit; a stomach that Is not essential; and, in particular, a great intestine which is . a veritable death-trap. In man's herb-eating an cestors (as the horse and cow), the great Intestine, swarming with its mi crobes capable of digesting cellulose, was essential. In man it is a mortally dangerous waste-basket, a veritable den of putrefaction; and constipation causes an extra re-absorption of the poisons elaborated by its microbes. What has all this to do with old age? Everything. An old hen is tough, as you know. "Pathological old age the wrong kind of old age is distinguished by a general hardening," says the great physiologist, "and we properly com pare the tough meat of old animals to sole leather, because the latter is com posed of conjunctive tissue exactly the framework material which, in the sclerosis, or hardening of old age, comes more and more to take the place of the cellular elements which make the organ. In the brain the nerve- cells intellectual, sensitive, command ing movements, etc. give place to the conjunctive tissue of the nerve cen ters. M X on , w;v if At , ' I": reDlaced by like framework. In the kidneys the same tissue chokes the tubes that are Indispensable for rid ding us of a quantity of substances." It is all the fault of the great in testine, swarming with innumerable microbes according to the latest re searches of Strassburger they amount to 128.000,000,000,000 per day! They produce slow poisons, in partic ular the aromatic series, such as indols and phenols, resulting from putrefac tion caused by these noxious germs, and quite unnatural, as they are not found in babies nursed by their moth ers. These slow poisons in particular the Indols cause the hardening, or sclero sis of so-called or imitation old age, In analogy to that of certain chronic maladies in which the brain, kidneys and liver are poisoned by alcohol, lead, mercury and the virus of certain diseases. THE old Biblical patriarchs like babies nursed by their mothers escaped the indols and phenols. Abraham. 175 years old, and Isaac, In the liver, the hepatic cells are 180, living among their flocks. In tents. ate cheese, milk products, sweet dried figs and dates and quantities of fruits. The earth was less crowded, and bad microbes lived less close to man who kept moving when a spot got dirty. How imitate them and live te be 140 years old? We cannot all keep moving In tents; and Professor Metchnikoff points out that the exceptionally favorable condi tions under which the early patriarchs attained physiological old ag in their tents and among their flocks did not endure after the settling of the Jews in the cities of the land of promise. "We cannot all cut out our great In testine," says Professor Metchnikoff. "Perhaps in a far-off future It will be accomplished, but In spite of the im mense progress of surgery, we cannot at present dream of thus relieving each citizen. No. the rational course is to fight the , great intentlne's mass of microbes." WE who live in Paris and know some of Professor Metchnikoffs friends are Imitating the regime he sets them and hope to live to be very old indeed. No Joking. Those who have been following the regime for the past 10 years appear to keep the spring and flush of middle life beyond theirk fellows. Is it difficult? First, beware . of all uncooked prod ucts of the microbe-infected earth salads, artichokes, strawberries, mel ons, onions, cucumbers, radishes and so forth. Unless thoroughly cooked (to destroy their microbes with intense and continued heat) do not touch them on your life. Raw fruits always technically dan gerous must be immersed a few mo ments in bubbling, boiling water, be fore eating. Fight constipation like the demon. Take frequent Turkish baths, fol lowed by tepid douches turning cold. They are best and cheapest done in a home sweat-box and bathroom. They clear the system of a mass of vague toxines and relieve the stomach, kid neys and liver of extra work. Metchnikoff is not a vegetarian; but his patients must always be great eat ers of well-cooked vegetables, less for their nutrition than to furnish the great Intestine with the large quantity of waste matter which Its healthy working requires. And "sour milk"? We see American head-lines: "Sour Milk Good But Dog Better." Nothing Tias angered Metchni koff more. The particular lactic mi crobes which fight against putrefaction may, certainly, be found in sour milk all right but are regularly accompa nied by so many "wild yeasts" that colic and sour stomach are to be ex pected. No; the Bulgarian bacillus which Professor Metchnikoff imports so con tinually and with such care. Is not a wild but a "domestic" yeast, cultivated through centuries by the grazing, flock tending populations of the Balkan Peninsula, whose way of living and longevity recall the Biblical patriarchs. M ETCHNIKOFF considers the right Bulgarian bacillus so Important that he continues to lend his name to a money-making company that imports, prepares and retails the "lactic bacil lus." Only a Metchnikoff would dare do it. His disinterestedness has been proved a hundred times. He might take enor m"ous fees for treatments, yet refuses all. Rich for Pesteur Institute research in the millions of the Osiris bequest, he is content with a clerk's income for his simple private life. On its side, the ferment company binds Itself to furnish Metchnikoff and the world with fresh lacto-bacilllne in two forms, lait callle, or curdled milk, in sealed glass Jars, and dry compressed tablets of the living yeast in tin boxes. Doubtless the "curdled milk" Is the surest. It is a perfect field of culture: while on several recent occasions in Paris the bacilli of the dry tablets have been found dead or dormant. One chem ist discovered living ferments only in four tablets out of an entire box. Metchnikoff made a great row with the company, whooe experts were as troubled as himself. The boxes had been kept too long by retail druggists. In the future there will be some dating device. For the rest, it is easy to tell by the lack of result If the bacilli be dead. After a two weeks' course of taking, a general feeling of "facility" and freedom in the entire human tube is manifest. Faithful renewals of the flora during several years, obviously relieve the patient of pimples, blotches, obesity and constipation. Shall we continue to take lacto-bacilllne after the glycobacter ferments come on the market? Probably yes; the united action of the two is more effective, even though the glycobacter be the stronger. Bath fight putrefaction and so prevent the formation of those "old age" poisons. OW did Abraham, Isaac and Jacob prevent them? Doubtless by some simple trick of diet and hygiene, which the Jews lost in cities. Part of it may have been the sugar of their dried figs and dates: but we have not their active outdoor life to burn up so much rapid ly absorbed sugar. Little of it reaches the great intestine: nevertheless Metch nikoff found that white rats fed on dates, beets and other sugar foods were free from "old age poisons" this be cause numerous microbes transform sugar into acids whjch prevent putre faction. If we could start a sugar fac tory in our great intestine, all might be well. Here comes in friend glycobacter a microbe found in the intestinal flora of the dog and whose activity makes sugar from potato starch without de composing the albumenolds. Evidently the patient must eat plenty of pota toes. Not every dog Is a glycobacter dog. It happens by accident. Race has noth ing to do with it. You can follow a 1!50 prize collie half a day with a dust pan and brush, yet reap no reward; while the common houn'-dog may pro duce veritable treasures. And note, the glycobacters are no use to the dog who so lightly abandons them in the publio street. The oog cannot profit by them, for one reason In many, because he does not eat potatoes. CERTIFIED glycobacter dogs will, in time, come to be highly saleable to ferment companies; because It Is no torious that to obtain full-sized lively microbes and bacilli, frequent recourse must be had to the natural sources. Multiplying In mere culture bouillon they peter out in size and activity. The glycobacters will be put on the market in a syrup and a compressed tablet the syrup the surest. The glycobacters will transform our potatoes into sugar. Other microbes, always on the spot, will transform that sugar Into acids. And those acids will prevent putrefaction, forming of indols and phenols, those slow, insidious "old age" poisons. And the few trillions of putrefaction microbes which escape will be eaten by the lactic bacilli whose supply we shall continue to renew In us from time to time. So we shall b fresher, springier and freer from pim ples, constipation and obesity while awaiting the great result of years to come, in prolonged vigor , . . Complicated? "Yes. more complicated than the pa triarchs, whose simple trick of diet and hygiene may some day be rediscovered. Metchnikoff thinks that the vast cere monial of Leviticus and Deuteronomy was but a panic drag-net for the lost secret. "By the old Levltical law We marry the Indian to the squaw." Inter-racial marriagos may have something to do with it. But Metchnikoff is still seeking. With the glycobacter, he is "warm." He will not quit until man lives 140 years. F DOM HD0 TO ZLDQ -Thc Tdle fd rWaod h 0uW JULIAN GORDON, six feet two and an athlete from the ground up, had come to Brockport as instructor in athletics at the Y. M. C. A. As he stepped off the train he suddenly felt the pressure of an unseen hand on his ehonlder, and a timid voice greeted him with: 'Excuse me, sir, don't you want to fight V Turning upon his questioner, Gor don's look of puzzled surprise quickly gave way to a smile. Before him stood a well-dressed, mild-mannered little man, whose face seemed gentle ness itself. Believing the man to be intoxicated, Gordon tried to avoid him, but as the stranger drew nearer it be came evident that his condition was normal. "I meant no offense, my dear sir," he continued with a friendly smile. I Just asked it as a gentlemanly ques tion, that's all. Don't you ever fight?" "Why, I have been known to do such a thing," replied Gordon good natur edly. "Good for you," exclaimed the stran ger greatly elated. "My name is Love joy Jeremiah Lovejoy. You look as though you'd do a fellow-man a favor. Will you fight?" "I don't make a practice of fighting." "No, of course- you don't. I under stand that, but you believe in being ac commodating, don't you? Were you going to the hotel?" "Yes. I was." "Well, all right, then we'll walk up together and talk it over." "Why are you so anxious to ft?bt me? We never met before, so you can not have anything against me." "Not the first thing, my dear sir. nothing at all, but that isn't the point. Fighting makes a man of a fellow. It develops the body, strengthens the nerves, and Imparts grace and flexibil ity to the Intellect. Before I met yon I asked a dozen chaps to stand up be-1 fore me. But you know how it is. The world is brimful of weak-kneed' selfish sissies, and not one of them would accommodate me. Now the min ute my eye lit on you I said to myself 'there's a Christian gentleman. I'll bet my life he'll fight me." " "Isn't it unbecoming In a Christian! gentleman to fight?" "Unbecoming your grandmother! Why, my dear sir, the hardest blows in I the world have been struck by Chris tians, and for 10,000 years the fighting man has been crowned as a Hero while the fellow who handed out the milk of human kindness was . downed as a Zero." "So I suppose you are fighting for a front seat in the Hall of Fame? quer ied Gordon. "Exactly, and I expect to win. for God loves a hard hitter." "How do you make that out?" "How do I make that out? Let me ask you a question. Is the Lord ladling out 'Love Taps' when he hands us the Cyclone, the Tidal Wave, and the Bolt of Lightning? Hardly. Don t these solar-plexus swings teach us that the fighting spirit flourishes on hlghr' "Are you a professional?" continued the instructor of athletics. "Oh, no! I never took a boxing les- in r j Til I J li II "Ztx-ezsse fine.. J; son In my life. I fight for the benefit of my health and to set a good exam ple to others. It's the one real joy of my life." "Do you generally win out?" "Well. I don't always get the worst of it, but then I don't care a continental about that. Every man should be un selfish enough to help along a good cause." The two had by this time reached the hotel. "Well, elr, what do you say?" re sumed the little man, familiarly invit ing Gordon to a seat, after the latter had registered his name. "Will you iightr "I would Tather not this morning." "Why?" "Because I don't feel well." "But a rousing good fight will bring you around all right. I am sure of it. For goodness' sake don't disappoint me now that you have raised my hopes. I haven't had a fight for a week." "Can't you stand it another week?" "Good godfreyv no! With me, to live means to fight. I would rather go without food than without fight!" "Why don't you tackle somebody else?" "That's Just it. I can't find any one. I have exhausted all our native talent, so you see I have to take on strangers." A traveling man was Just entering the hotel, and Lovejoy, hastily excus ing himself, rushed up to him with a proposal to fight. "There! you see how it is," he con tinued in a doleful tone as he returned to Gordon. "No use asking them. Thex all refuse. You are the only one who? y Atjfrs ? ,v? got any grit. Now, I'll tell you what I'll do. I never fight for money, but I'll give you $25 if you will stand up be fore me for half an hour. What do you say?" "I don't believe I care to, today." "How about tomorrow?" "I'll think about it. How do you fight? I mean. under what rules?" ".Any old way. Jab, Jolt, punch or clinch. Any style that comes handy, but gives each fellow a square deal. You understand. Now, what do you say? Is it a go?" "I said I would think about It." "Well, as that seems the best I can do I guess we'll have to let it go at that. But for goodness sane don t weaken tomorrow." Near midnight Gordon was suddenly awakened by loud knocking on his door. "Who Is there?.' he demanded, with a yawn. - ; "It's me Jeremiah Lovejoy." ' '"What In thunder do you want?" "Excuse me, sir, I want to fight. It's no use I can't sleep until I've had a few good rounds, so I thought maybe you'd just as soon accommodate me tonight as in the morning.'- "If you don't clear out I'll knock you into the middle of next week," shouted Gordon. "Excuse me, sir, I don't want to be disagreeable, but I've taken a liking to you and I ask It as a favor," "All right, I'll fight you tomorrow. Now, go and make your will." "Good! That's a bargain! I knew you were made of the right stuff," came in grateful notes from the Intruder, as he made, his way downstairs. "I'll be around bright and early." But he wasn't. For right here fate stepped in and Gordon saw nothing of Lovejoy the following day. In the evening, wondering what had become of him, he inquired at the hotel office. "Oh!" answered the clerk In surprise. "We thought you knew. Mr. Lovejoy is at the hospital." "Why, did some one do him up?" ' "No. It was an accident Long be fore breakfast this morning he asked us to send his card to your room. Not wishing to bother you at that hour we told hint you had gone out, whereupon he rushed madly for the door, exclaim ing that he had an important engage ment with you. Just as he was about to pass out he stumbled and fell, strik ing his head on the marble steps. When ws reached him he was unconscious, so we sent him to the hospital." "Have you heard how he Is getting on?" "Yes, he regained consciousness at noon and is doing well. The fall seems to have proved a blessing in disguise for him." "What do you mean?" "Why, It's the most curious coinci dence. Two months ago Mr. Lovejoy, while quietly passing through our front door with a friend, fell In exactly the same spot and became unconscious. The moment he regained consciousness the notion took hold of htm that he wanted -to fight every man he met. Up to that time he was a most peace-loving citl- (Concluded on Pate 6.)