Sanitary Reform. 475 



may be pardoned in wishing the day not distant, when old 

 theories shall be made to stand aside for those consistent 

 with known facts. , 



By way of illustration, I will say that, when we fully 

 understand that no case of disease ever occurs without the 

 taking into the system of the " germ," then, and only then, 

 can we hope for anything like sanitary reform. 



Of course, in a paper like this, any attempt to do more than 

 mention a few of the innumerable things connected with 

 this subject will be impossible, and much will be left 

 unsaid that should be said. But one thing occurs to me 

 now that may need explanation, and that is, how these 

 small organisms (animal or vegetable, as the case may be,) 

 can become so numerous as to cause such effects in so short 

 a time ? 



This, I think, will be easily understood when we con- 

 sider their manner of multiph'ing. This is by what is 

 called scission — that is, one divides and becomes two ; two, 

 four, four, eight, and so on. And, when the nutriment 

 upon which they feed is abundant, these changes are 

 almost instantaneous, and it will not tax our imagination 

 to understand how it is that vegetables and animals are in 

 many cases literally starved to death. 



In writing the above, I have not lost sight of the fact 

 that certain conditions are necessary to the existence of 

 these fungoid growths. It will not be necessary to enter 

 into a labored argument to show that bad surroundings are 

 dangerous to life, that we cannot expect good health while 

 breathing foul air or drinking impure water. Yet that 

 many do this for a long time, is a strong point in sup- 



