Ilt04 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



101 



siilierical furms. The rod forms ace 

 all given the geueric name of Bacillus 

 and to this is usually added a specific 

 name based upon soniw physiological 

 character as bacillus typhus — those 

 causing typhoid fever. And in much 

 tlKe same way the spiral forms Iiare 

 come to be designated as spirallum— 

 spirallum dentinum being a form 

 which occur in the so-called fuc- of the 

 eth. 



Many species of bacteria have an- 

 other method of reproduction besides 

 iiple division or fission. It is by 

 means of spores, which are usually 

 round or oval particles of substance 

 called bacteria protoplasm. These 

 spores or protoplastic particles are ca- 

 palde of resisting conditions of heat, 

 cold or starvation that would destroy 

 the ordinary bacteria. 



There are among bacteria two dif- 

 ferent methods of spore formation — 

 endogenous and arthrogenpus. The 

 endogenous spores are developed in- 

 side of the rod and spiral forms of 

 bacteria itself. They usually break 

 3Ut of the rods and may remain inert 

 for a long period of time or until they 

 ?ome in contact with i»roper food ma- 

 terials and conditions for develop- 

 oient when they start, to grow and 

 nultiply in the ordinary way. It is 

 :o this class of bacteria that the Bac- 

 llus milli of ''Black Brood" belong. 

 Irthrogenous spores are formed by 

 )reaking up of a long rod into short 

 segments or sections. This form will 

 lot resist adverse conditions as well 

 s the endogenous and some author- 

 ties claim they are not true spores 

 ut are simply resting cells. What- 

 ver the method of forming the spores 

 ts purpose in the life of the bacter- 

 .im is that of insuring a perpetuation 

 f the species, through its increased 

 lowers of resistance. Some species 

 bacteria possess the power of mo- 

 [on to and fro in the media in which 

 ley are growing. This motion is 

 reduced by hair like api^endages, one 

 more in number, which protrude 

 hom the ends or sides of the bacter- 

 \ta and are called flagella. It is be- 

 ived that the flagella are develpoed 

 I'om a protoplastic film surrounding 

 |e bacterium, their distribution be- 

 |g different in the different forms of 

 icteria. 



llegartling the internal structurw of 

 bacteria little is known other than 

 that they are of very simple make-up. 



Of the many hinidred of different 

 species of bacteria there are but a 

 comparatively few that are harmful 

 to mankind. Of this class which are 

 the cause of disease the largest num- 

 ber are bacillus and are called path- 

 ogenic, while the harmless ones are 

 callei^l non-pathogenic. The pathogen- 

 ic species are of two classes, those 

 which are true parasites and those 

 which are not. By true parasites we 

 mean those which live upon and con- 

 sume the tissues of the body in their 

 growth during which time they pro- 

 duce poisonous substances that may 

 prove fatal when of sufficient quan- 

 tify. Under this class may be cited 

 the Bacillus tuberculosis as a repre- 

 sentative. The class of pathogenic 

 bacteria which are not true parasites 

 include those capable of living free 

 in nature and though they develop 

 the poisonous products during their 

 growth in organic substances, it does 

 no harm unless taken into the hu- 

 man system with the food. The poi- 

 sons produced thus free in nature, ul- 

 timately become oxidized into harm- 

 less substances by their further de- 

 composition. It will be seen there- 

 fore that only during the period be- 

 tween the forming of the iwisons and 

 their oxidation are they harmful. In 

 contracting disease by inoculation 

 with these pathogenic bacteria or 

 germs much depends upon the phys- 

 iological condition of the body at the 

 time. If in a thoroughly vigorous 

 state of health the tissues will be 

 built up and the poisons eliminated 

 before the bacteria can multiply in 

 sufficient numbers to break down or 

 weaken these natural forces. As be- 

 fore noted there are but few harmful 

 varieties compared to the whole and 

 it is safe to say, that of every hun- 

 dred different species of bacteria as 

 they exist, at least ninety-ifive are in 

 some way beneficial to us. In pre- 

 venting the growth of bacteria there 

 is usually employed one of two forms 

 of substances existing under three 

 names — antiseptics, disinfectants and 

 germicides. Antiseptics are those 

 substances which only retard the 

 growth of bacteria, while disinfect- 



