22 BACTERIOLOGY 



Building and Engineering, but for other more general depart- 

 ments of these professions as well. The preservation of build- 

 ing and other materials against decay is one of the most im- 

 portant aspects in this direction, and such preventive measures 

 as the creosoting of railway sleepers, the tarring of wooden 

 sheds and fences, the protection of piers and ships against the 

 attacks of micro-organisms, or of the woodwork of houses 

 against various forms of rot, are a few of the important points 

 wnich suggest themselves in this direction. 



Then there are various extremely important Industrial or 

 Commercial Departments of the science. Agricultural and 

 Horticultural Bacteriology is a rapidly growing specialty, and 

 includes a knowledge of such matters as the relation of micro- 

 organisms to the fertility of the soil, to the diseases of plants 

 and of farm animals, to milk and the manufacture of butter, 

 cheese, and other dairy produce, etc., as well as to the preserva- 

 tion of milk and other food from contamination, a direction in 

 which the much-needed legislation of the present day is now 

 fortunately tending, much unnecessary and preventable disease 

 being directly traceable to such sources. 



Otner important industries also largely depend upon the 

 action of micro-organisms, for example those concerned with 

 the production of alcohol and other substances by fermentation, 

 baking, tanning, flax-retting, and even, it is said, tobacco- 

 curing ; whilst in others again, e.g. in meat-canning, jam-making, 

 and the like, an all-important point is the preservation of their 

 products against the presence and attack of putrefactive or 

 other deleterious micro-organisms. 



In the management of everyday household affairs, some 

 elementary conception of bacteriology is of immense value 

 how hurtful organisms can be destroyed by heat, as in the 

 cooking of food and the " pasteurising " of milk ; how food may 

 be preserved and protected from the action of bacteria ; the use 

 of reasonable cleanliness, personal and otherwise, careful atten- 

 tion to the state of the teeth and mouth, and the prevention 

 of the spread of many diseases such as tuberculosis and the 

 acute infective fevers; the prevention of the spread of skin and 

 other diseases in the barber's shop ; the use of antiseptics and 

 disinfectants for suitable purposes; and a knowledge of how 

 disease is spread, not only oy man himself, but also by animals 

 such as domestic pets, rats, mice, and even by insects. In all of 

 these and in many other instances a reasonable and common- 

 sense application of such knowledge will often help to prevent 

 much trouble, expense, disease, and perhaps even the death of 

 members of the household. 



