58 MICROBES AND THE MICROBE- KILLER. 



I know the world well enough to be quite aware that 

 as soon as my discovery was well before the public, and 

 its value known, there would be numberless imitations, 

 numberless thieves ready to steal my ideas, to counter- 

 feit my remedy, and to try to damage my reputation. 

 This last they cannot do, for my character as that of an 

 honorable, hard-working citizen is too well established 

 in the State of Texas, but they will try to make money 

 out of the endeavor. I have led a quiet life, minding my 

 own business and not looking after other people's, and 

 contests with the law or in the courts have never dis- 

 turbed me. The people in Austin had confidence in me, 

 and my publications on horticultural topics made me 

 well known, so that when the nature of my discovery 

 leaked out I found it useless to try and keep it secret, 

 and I published some account, first in the Austin States- 

 man of August 30th, 1887. 



That was the first announcement made to the world 

 that I had discovered a remedy that would cure disease, 

 and of my theory that there is but one disease and one 

 cause of disease, no matter how varied the symptoms in 

 different cases may be. It was the first time, also, that 

 I laid claim to being the only man that could prove these 

 things, and who had experimental evidence of it gleaned 

 from a study of Nature. I showed at that time that all 

 disease is caused by microbes, and I described their or- 

 ganisms, producing at the same time testimonials from 

 persons who had been cured, but who had been given up 

 as incurable by the doctors. This created an excitement 

 throughout the country, and it particularly stirred up 

 the physicians who heard of it, and all interested in the 

 medical profession. It was at this time that we first 

 began to sell medicine in a business way. I kept up my 

 publications, and almost every week I had printed testi- 

 monials and evidences of cure, occasionally, too, of very 

 complicated diseases. I was not interfered with, for I 

 killed nobody, and of course any man may cure another 

 with water if he likes. 



There are no laws against curing or even treating an- 



