LINXEAX SOCIETY OF LONDON. 35 



observance o£ all the precautions hinted at, will ward off all 

 danger * " (pp. 30-31.) 



" We have an approach to something of the kind 



in Jenner\s valuable vaccine for the prevention of Small-pox. 

 Here, I believe, is shown a striking instance of the destruction 

 of one germ by another : the substance he employs must 

 contain creatures antagonistical to those of the Small pox 

 pustules, else how could its effects endure so long in the 

 systems of those inoculated with it ? And that this, supplied 

 in sufficient quantities, not only overwhelms those of the 

 malady when they enter the blood, but continues to exist, 

 inhabit and breed in that fluid thereby preventing entrance 

 of the other and fatal germ life. If this is so, then what a 

 Sun of Hope — Hope that should ' Spring eternal in the 

 human breast ' bursts in dazzling splendour on afflicted Man : 

 consumption, cancer, cholera, all must mitigate, recede, or 

 vanish before benificent germs meeting the horrible, de- 

 structive causes on their own grim ground and remaining 



triumphant on the never again to be fought-for field " 



(pp. 33-34.) 



xi. Insects as carriers of disease : Malaria and the mosquito : the 

 House-Jly. 



'•' Careful observation has led me to perceive that 



many of our common insects are conveyers of the germs of 

 illness, disease and death. The House-Fly that crawls over 

 our food or drowns itself in our drink, the Gnat that buries 

 its lancet in our veins, the Bed-Bug that attacks the un- 

 cleanly during the slumbers of night, the Wasp and the 

 Bee that thrust us with their stings — are all transporters, 

 injectors or introducers of germ life. 



" My reasons for affirming this are briefly comprised in the 

 statement that I have never known a person to suffer from 

 malarial fever that had not at one time or other been stung 

 by Gnats or been the resident of a region containing these 

 pests ; and that anyone can appreciate the too palpable 

 filthiness of the Fly, feeding, crawling, rioting and breeding 

 in the loathsome repulsiveness of refuse, offal, and decaying 

 abominations of every conceivable kind ; then alighting on 

 our victuals or on our persons to trail his defilement over 

 our absorptive epidermis " (pp. 31-32.) 



* Continues witli " Careful observation has led me to perceive "', &c., 

 below. 



d2 



