290 DIPHTHERIA FUNGUS. 
should be doing good service. The spores are so minute that 64 millions 
of them would lie upon a square inch of writing paper. 
By some it is supposed that diphtheria is caught from cows suffering 
from “ garget,” and is communicated with the milk; to such I would say 
—examine under the microscope the milk from a cow thus diseased, and 
if there be any spores in it just like the Oidium,then you have safe ground 
on which to go. My own notion is that “ garget” has little or nothing to 
do with diphtheria; but, if it has, then it would seem likely that the 
spores of Oidiwm were eaten by cows in herbage near the mouths of bad 
drains or such like spots, and so passed through their system and into 
the milk. I believe that the cows may be left out of the investi- 
gation, and that in certain seasons there will be outbreaks of the 
illness because those seasons are, from atmospheric conditions or other 
causes, favourable to the more abundant growth of the Oidium in drains, 
When that takes place the spores escape into the air, and are carried 
about in all directions; but are not (even when they reach the throat 
injurious to anyone unless the throat is ripe for their development. One 
prolific source of the disease is bad drainage. A surveyor examining a ; 
sewer from which diphtheria had broken out was seized with the disease 
and suffered severely. The Oidiwm was in that sewer, and most likely had 
produced its resting-spore, according to the gradation of seasons. In the 
drains you may look forit; destroy it you never will; but you may pessibly 
check its severity. No one ever caught the illness yet without the Oidium 
or a riper stage of the fungus being present. No sore throat can produce 
an attack of diphtheria unless the fungus is there. Some people seem 
to think that these growths come of themselves, but it is utterly 
impossible that they can. Do trees or flowers spring up spontaneously ? 
or is spontaneous generation the source of animal life? All would deny 
this. But it may be asked—How is it that, if these fungus-spores 
abound in the air, they are so eccentric in their choice of throats in which 
to grow? The reply is very simple. Hundreds of acorns fall in the 
autumn from one tree, and how is it that so few ever grow? The 
fact is, they do not meet with a spot just suitable for germinating, and 
cannot grow. So with the diphtheria fungus; many thousands of 
people may inhale the spores, but their throats may not offer the 
conditions necessary for growth. 
Then, again, with regard to the development of the disease. There 
might be several children attacked in one house, some get well easily, 
others with difficulty, others die. How is this? The solution might be, 
and probably is, that their throats were more or less ready for the 
growth of the Oidium. According to the state of the throat, so the ‘ 
disease is intensified or not. It is very singular that the fungus is so 
apt to attack children, as compared with adults; the Medical Officer of i 
my own parish has recorded that 71 deaths out of every 100 are those of 
children between one and ten years. The feeding grounds, the dens of 
infection, are schools (especially National Schools) and workhouses, 
because therein children congregate so much. 
eee oe 
