518 



T'HE mmimmi^MM bb^e jQjjmMMs^. 



FOUL BROOD. 



Origin of this Dread IVIaiafiy 

 Anions Bees. 



Written for the American BeeJmi/nwl 



BY C. J. ROBINSON. 



While reading Pi-of. Cook's " Bulle- 

 tin'" on page 350, I felt constrained to 

 record exceptions to some of his 

 teaching — hence I review points con- 

 tained therein. He discnsses "fun- 

 goid in general." It is not possible to 

 even open such a discussion under- 

 standiiigly in the limits of a weeklj' 

 periodical, nor can a full review come 

 within such limited space. The Pro- 

 fessor records his conclusions, based 

 on theories alone ; at least, he failed 

 to support his doctrine by evidence or 

 plausible reasoning. 



Concerniug fungoid, Prof. Cook 

 would fain have the laity apprised that 

 •■science has nnveiled the mysteries of 

 the tiny destroyers (bacteria), and re- 

 vealed the sword that la3's them low !" 

 Were such the fact, we should rejoice 

 over our deliverance from the thraldom 

 of fungoid. Notwithstanding he pro- 

 claims that a sword is revealed that 

 lays fungoid low, the records sliow 

 that the bills of mortality from fungoid 

 diseases have not been reduced in 

 numbers — such diseases as Prof. Cook 

 declares is the result of fungoid. He 

 tells his readers this : 



Foul brood, like the Asiatic cholersi. tuber- 

 culosis, swine-plague, etc., is the result of 

 the grrowth and development in the animal 

 tissues ot myriads of very minute microscopic 

 plants (called fungoid), which are called 

 micro-organisms, or microbes. The disease 

 (which ?), like consumption. Asiatic cholera, 

 swine and chicken cholera, etc., which result 

 from the presence in tiie tissues of such 

 organisms, are called "' fungoid," as the or- 

 ganisms that produce them are fungi, which 

 reproduce by di\'ision or fission. 



Perhaps all bee-keepers do not un- 

 derstand fully the term — "tissue." All 

 living bodies are made up of tissues — 

 there is no organ which has not this 

 peculiarity. The bonea, as well as the 

 tiesh and fat, are composed of tissues, 

 and all alike are made up of cells. 



A variety of tissues enter into the 

 composition of an animal structure. 

 All living bodies throughout are per- 

 vaded by animalcules — spores or minute 

 seeds, and, perchance, they are vivi- 

 fied by some abnormal condition that 

 fosters hatching into microbes, symp- 

 toms of disease are present, but it is 

 not known that spores have anything 

 to do with the oiigin of such diseases 

 as Prof. Cook named, leaving out foul 

 brood, whicli is not a disease — no more 

 so than cases of poisoning, or the fer- 

 menting of "cider and sweet liquids." 



A fetus, while growing in the womb, 

 may die — have occasionally died — yet 

 the mother have no symptoms of dis- 

 ease. So with foul broo(l — the organic 

 composition of bee-brood is radically 

 different, in a chemical sense, from 

 imago bees. Hence the poison — putrid 

 fermentation — cannot act on matured 

 organism while life exists. The mo- 

 ment life is extinct, the spores in the 

 tissues begin to ply their role — hatch 

 into microbes and multiply with as- 

 tonishing rapidity, providing a warm 

 temperature is present. All bodies 

 will retain form and never change 

 even after death, except for bacteria. 



Whenever lesion of tissue occurs, 

 food is generated for micro-organisms, 

 and then the spores hatch into the 

 forms that grow, multiply and feed on 

 the diseased tissue. In cases of con- 

 sumption, the tissue substance of some 

 part of the lungs becomes ulcerated 

 from some cause yet unknown, but 

 usually preceded by symptoms of 

 weakened vitality — symptoms which 

 cannot be ascribed to germs. 



Some years ago a microscopist dis- 

 covered bacteria in the lungs of one 

 who died with consumption. Straight- 

 way the finding was hailed to be the 

 " unveiling" of a hitherto unfathom- 

 able mystery, but as yet no noise has 

 been heard, as would be in the event a 

 "sword" had been "revealed" that 

 defends people from such diseases as 

 Prof. Cook named ; and since that dis- 

 covery, the disciples of Prof. Cook's 

 doctrine — I do not name him the 

 father — claim that bacteria, in some 

 form, directly and independently origi- 

 nate diseases. 



With all due respect for Prof. Cook 

 as an eminent scientist pertaining to 

 the special branches that he is quali- 

 fied to teach, I beg leave to question 

 some of the doctrine which he advo- 

 cated. I suppose Prof. Cook lays no 

 claim to the profession of Pathologist, 

 yet his Bulletin smacks of pathology, 

 norology, and etiology — especially the 

 latter. If Prof. C. is really competent 

 to teach these sciences, it is very 

 strange that he groups epidemic willa 

 endemic diseases, and includes non- 

 contagious diseases into one and the 

 same class, even including foul brood. 

 It is not, as Prof. C. well knows, ad- 

 mitted by a majority of medical scien- 

 tists, that consumption is the "result" 

 of spores or microbes, nor is it ad- 

 mitted that the disease is contagious 

 or transferable, except by inoculation. 

 Long ago Pasteur claimed that 

 micro-organisms were the germ of 

 splenic fever, and of late some refer 

 the origin of epidemic diseases to the 

 presence of germs. The recent re- 

 searches of the eminent French biolo- 

 gists — M. M. Apostoli and Laquerriere 

 — will prove to be a great medical dis- 



covery, perhaps (?). They claim that 

 the antiseptic and destructive effects 

 of a constant galvanic current on dis- 

 ease-prod ucing germs and microbes, 

 is adapted to the treatment of maladies 

 in which no drug can kill or remove 

 the parasite. Perhaps electrogalvan- 

 ism is the "sword" that lays them 

 low. 



If Prof. Cook can unveil the " mys- 

 teries " and reveal a sword that lays 

 them low, he would be crowned the 

 peer of William Harvey, who, in 1628, 

 discovered the circulation of the blood; 

 and the former wo(dd have a niche in 

 history on a plane with the latter. 



It is no " m3-stery " of the time nor 

 of late, but it is a well known fact that 

 animate organisms are universally dif- 

 fused over every part of the globe. 

 Organic beings are found in the interior 

 of the earth. Excavations, sunken 

 deep shafts have revealed their forms, 

 likewise, the smallest fossil organisms 

 from subterranean strata many fathoms 

 deep. Not-only do lakes and inland 

 seas abound with life, but, also, from 

 unknown depths, in volcanic districts, 

 arise thermal springs which contain 

 living insects. Indeed, the atmosphere 

 is charged with " tiny " spores. Were 

 we endowed with a microscopic eye, 

 we might see myriads of ethereal voy- 

 agers " on dress parade," wafted bj" 

 on the breeze, as we now behold drift- 

 ing clouds of aqueous vapor. Prof. 

 Cook mentions : 



The forms that live on live animals and 

 tissues, just as truly produce decomposition, 

 disorganize the tissues, and this disease may 

 be death. Such are the microbes that produce 

 cholera, consumption (!) and diphtheria 

 among people, and foul brood among bees. 



Mark, he has il tliat the same forms 

 — same form of bacteria — that live on 

 live animals and tissues (even the skin 

 is tissues) produce each of the named 

 diseases. If his assertions are correct, 

 one form of germs do all the harm, and 

 they are ever present — " live on live 

 animals and tissues." Prof. Cook fails 

 to inform how it is that these " forms 

 live" dormant on animals and tissues. 

 and at a time, which they keep secret, 

 start cholera, consumption, etc. Do 

 these forms get mad, and, if desper- 

 ately mad, size up Asiatic cholera ? 

 Certainly the Asiatic "forms" go in 

 hugely livelier than the consumption 

 "forms." This is one of the "mys- 

 teries" that science hath not "un- 

 veiled." 



Concerning Asiatic cholera, the true 

 pathology of the disease, or group of 

 diseases, is by no means settled by 

 medical scientists. The patholog}' of 

 this affection comprises three divisions, 

 viz ; «, its morbid anatomy ; h, its bac- 

 teriology ; c, its chemistry. A case of 

 summer complaint in America presents 

 symptoms on the part of the bowels, 

 on the part of the circulation, of the 



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