VII 



MASTERING THE MICROBE 

 MICROBES AND VACCINES 



SIR Almroth Wright, the famous originator of 

 the anti-typhoid vaccine, pointed out in a recent 

 address that nine-tenths of human diseases are minor 

 ills due to microbic infection. Most of us, he declares, 

 have one or another particular microbe as an enemy 

 to which we are peculiarly susceptible. 



"Thus," says Sir Almroth, "one man puts up with 

 recurrent influenza attacks, another man with a suc- 

 cession of boils, another man with chronic bronchitis, 

 another with perpetual trouble in the roots of his 

 teeth, another with a continuous discharge from the 

 ear, another with sycosis or acne, another with con- 

 tinual pruritis, another with tuberculous glands, an- 

 other with phthisis, another with recurrent intestinal 

 attacks, and so on through the whole gamut." 



And then the great therapeutist makes this cheer- 

 ing summary: "Vaccine therapy will, I believe, help 

 every man to keep under the particular microbe 

 which besets him." 



In other words, each of us may expect in the near 

 future to be able to give himself immunity against 

 the germ that is, so to say, his pet aversion. Indeed, 

 to a very considerabe extent this may be done even 



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