122 MICROBES AND THE MICROBE-KILLER. 



or exposure to cold chills the system of the child. The 

 throat happens to be the weakest part of the child's sys- 

 tem, and in the shock which follows the throat yields 

 first. The microbes find a seed bed in the throat and 

 develop most rapidly under the most perfect conditions. 

 Inflammation takes place, and in a few minutes the pro- 

 duct of the fermentation which ensues clogs up the air 

 passage by forming on all sides of the throat and reach- 

 ing toward the centre of the narrow channel, until a 

 false membrane, composed of microbes, germs, and se- 

 rum, seeks to cut off the communication with the lungs. 

 If the membrane is formed entirely across the throat 

 and cannot be immediately broken, strangulation natu- 

 rally follows. In other words, death by croup is caused 

 in a manner that may be compared to the clutching of 

 a child's throat by a powerful hand and the grip remain- 

 ing fast until the little life has ebbed away. 



All attempts to cure croup are directed toward one 

 end— the breaking up or dislodging of the false mem- 

 brane. If this can be accomplished the jcure is com 

 plete, although the disease is likely to return again under 

 favorable circumstances. To dislodge this false mem- 

 brane physicians employ harsh remedies and ofttimes 

 the handle of a small spoon. Occasionally their efforts- 

 are successful. Often they are not. 



The investigations I have made in croup demonstrate 

 that it is seldom treated upon principles true to Na- 

 ture. It may be a step in the right direction to break 

 this false membrane, but how much better is a treat- 

 ment directed against the cause which forms the mem- 

 brane ! Arrest the fermentation and you immediately 

 arrest the formation of the slime which finally becomes 

 the membrane. The microbes which cause this fermen- 

 tation are almost instantly rendered inactive by the mi- 

 crobe-killer. In the thousands of cases treated by pa- 

 rents themselves with the aid of the microbe -killer, I have 

 never heard of a single case of membranous croup that 

 did not yield within five minutes to the microbe killer. 

 Instantly the cause was stopped and the membrane 



