138 THE STORY OF THE BACTERIA. 



which are ceaselessly working for man's weal 

 we have discovered a few which are his deadly 

 foes. We have seen that if one looks at the 

 matter intelligently, the means of largely avoid- 

 ing the evil effects of these dangerous earth- 

 neighbors of ours are comparatively simple and 

 effective, if we do not hide our heads, or shirk, 

 or waste our time in protestations and regrets. 

 There are many of the uncanny and dis- 

 agreeable things of life from which it were 

 better that most of us turned away our eyes. 

 But the avoidance of some of those forms of 

 illness, whose causes have been considered in 

 this little book, is so closely dependent upon a 

 general knowledge of their nature that the 

 offence of unpleasant revelations may, it is 

 hoped, be forgiven by the reader in view of the 

 ultimate and universal good which these lines 

 have been penned to foster. 



