172 MICROBES AND THE MICROBE-KILLER. 



rest fermentation, it would signify that the microbes 

 had all been killed. Upon these lines Mr. Eadam pur- 

 sued his investigations. To arrest fermentation he 

 found antiseptics were necessary. He tried all the 

 known antiseptics and they failed, for if they killed the 

 microbes and thus arrested fermentation they also 

 killed the plants. Tobacco smoke, he found, was of use 

 only temporarily. He burned other substances in the 

 greenhouse and watched the results. Some results 

 benefited the plants, and others did not. One day Mr. 

 Radam noticed that during certain of these experiments 

 he felt in better health. In fact he found himself a sort 

 of barometer to tell the condition of his affected plants. 

 If he felt in good spirits after an experiment with cer- 

 tain gases, he noticed that his plants looked better. He 

 attributed this at first to his mental pre- occupation. One 

 day, after settling with his physicians and being told 

 that he had better put his business affairs in shape, so 

 others could carry on his business in case of his death, 

 Mr. Radam walked through his greenhouses and gazed 

 sorrowfully at the plants he must soon leave forever. 

 He came to some diseased plants and paused. Suddenly 

 the thought struck him that what was true with plants 

 might be true with man — that diseases in man were 

 caused by microbes, as diseases were caused in plants. 

 From that moment he was a changed man. He said to 

 himself that if he could find some antiseptic that would 

 destroy the microbes in his system he might get well. 

 This was the way he reasoned : If there were microbes 

 in his system which caused his diseases, then there must 

 be fermentation. It took but a moment to convince him 

 that what his lungs threw off was nothing but fermen- 

 tation. Then, if he could but arrest this fermentation, 

 it would signify that he had killed the microbes which 

 caused the fermentation. 



But the question to consider was how he could do this 

 without killing himself as well. Alcohol, he knew, was 

 a powerful antiseptic, but if he took enough to kill the 

 microbes and arrest fermentation he would have to lite- 

 rally soak himself in alcohol. Then, again, if he used 



