180 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



multiplication," and so on. Try as he may if he has 

 anything to say of those diseases which is characteristic 

 of them he cannot evade the use of these terms, or the 

 exact equivalents to them, While perfectly applicable 

 to living things, these terms express qualities which are 

 not only inapplicable to common chemical agents, but, 

 as far as I can see, actually inconceivable of them.' 



Cotton-wool Respirator. 



Once, then, established within the body, this evil 

 form of life, if you will allow me to call it so, must run 

 its course. Medicine as yet is powerless to arrest its 

 progress, and the great point to be aimed at is to 

 prevent its access to the body. It was with this 

 thought in my mind that I ventured to recommend, 

 more than a year ago, the use of cotton-wool respirators 

 in infectious places. I would here repeat my belief in 

 their efficacy if properly constructed. But I do not 

 wish to prejudice the use of these respirators, by con- 

 necting them indissolubly with the germ theory. 

 There are too many trades in England where life is 

 shortened and rendered miserable by the introduction 

 of matters into the lungs which might be kept out of 

 them. Dr. Grreenhow has shown the stony grit de- 

 posited in the lungs of stonecutters. The black lungs 

 of colliers is another case in point. In fact, a hundred 

 obvious cases might be cited, and others that are not 

 obvious might be added to them. We should not, for 

 example, think that printing implied labour where 

 the use of cotton-wool respirators might come into 

 play ; but the fact is that the dust arising from the 

 sorting of the type is very destructive of health. I 

 went some time ago into a manufactory in one of our 



