64 VEGETABLE GERMS 



SUPPOSED INFLUENCE OF VEGETABLE GERMS IN 

 CAUSING DISEASE. 



The manner in which they might enter the Body. 

 No wonder that many of the diseases of man should be 

 attributed to microscopic fungus germs so very small 

 that they could readily enter his organism by any of 

 the numerous pores all over his body. Particles so 

 minute could easily pass into his blood through the 

 soft mucous covering of his mouth or stomach, enter- 

 ing these recesses with food and water. They would 

 not insinuate themselves into the chinks between the 

 epithelial cells of his cuticle and move towards the 

 blood, as is possible in the case of bodies which 

 possess the power of active movement, like an amceba, 

 or a white blood corpuscle, or a pus corpuscle, but 

 they would extend inwards, by growth and free multi- 

 plication in the very substance of the protecting 

 epithelium. Each new particle produced would thus 

 get nearer and nearer to the blood, which would at 

 last be reached by the growth of particle after particle 

 in advance. Becoming immersed in a medium 

 adapted for their nutrition, the germs which had 

 gained access to the blood would grow and multiply 

 very rapidly. Countless myriads of such germs 

 might circulate to all parts of the body. Multitudes 

 of these becoming stationary in the capillary vessels 

 of the cutaneous and mucous surfaces would increase 



