APPLIED BACTERIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



GENERAL BACTERIOLOGY 



CHAPTER I 



HISTORIC 



THE fact that many diseases are caused by tiny liv- 

 ing organism called bacteria is so universally accepted 

 nowadays that it is hard to realize our real knowledge 

 of bacteria is less than fifty years old. The discov- 

 ery of the relation between bacteria and disease has 

 revolutionized medical practice, and has resulted in 

 the saving of countless lives which formerly were lost. 



It is true that, as far back as the seventeenth century, 

 Leeuwenhoek, of Delft, Holland, had succeeded in 

 constructing a strong magnifying glass by which he 

 observed tiny, living organisms in tartar scraped from 

 the teeth, in cheese, rain-water, decayed meat, feces, 

 etc. And, although it was suggested that these minute 

 organisms were the cause of a large number of diseases, 

 no one succeeded in proving this relationship. Finally, 

 in 1863, Davaine, a famous French physician, demon- 

 strated that anthrax, a disease common in sheep and 

 cattle, was caused by a bacterium. If we seek for the 



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