MICROBE OF GREAT WHITE PLAGUE 213 



than the millimeter; or, the one-twenty-five thou- 

 sandth part of an inch. 



Now, the diameter of the microbe is three and 

 one-third times the one twenty-five thousandth 

 part of an inch; which is the one seven thousand 

 five hundredth part of an inch. 



Here, then, are two spheres; the drop of water, 

 the one twenty-fifth part of an inch in diameter; 

 the microbe, the one seven thousand five hundredth 

 part of an inch in diameter. The problem is, to see 

 how many times the latter is contained in the for- 

 mer. 



Spheres are to one another as the cubes of their 

 diameters. The cube of ^ is T^W The cube of 

 y*W is iTTTTTsVinnnnr. The former cube divided 

 by the latter is exactly 27,000,000. Therefore the 

 microbe, which is the T^Vv part of an inch in diam- 

 eter, is contained in the drop which is the -fa part 

 of an inch in diameter, 27,000,000 times. That is 

 to say, the microbe of consumption is so small that 

 27,000,000 of this being may be placed in the space 

 occupied by a small drop of water. 



But, small as this germ is, it is yet, as before 

 said, the most terrible enemy of mankind. Great 

 Alexander conquers a world, and weeps for more 

 worlds to conquer. This tiny being attacks the 

 great general; he is slain. It attacks a thousand, 

 a million Alexanders; they are slain. So on in- 

 definitely. 



How are such victories won? In one of many 

 ways this tiny being gets into the lungs. Here it 



