GERMS. 85 



every practical mind will recognize at once the impor- 

 tance of such time. Yet in spite of such necessary 

 evidence some of our State Boards of Health, in their 

 haste to rush into print and thus keep their names 

 prominently before the public, stated in a recently 

 published bulletin, "That nearly all the contagious dis- 

 eases prevalent in their state show a marked decrease 

 during the quarter just ended in comparison with the 

 first three months of the present year," etc., etc. Com- 

 ment is unnecessary, except to remind the reader that 

 the bulletin issued by the board was paid for out of 

 the public money. 



If it were true that germs cause disease, could any 

 one prepare an antitoxin intelligently or successfully 

 until after the germ had been discovered and the nature 

 of its poison understood? No; no more than a doctor 

 could treat any other case of poisoning without first 

 knowing the kind of poison taken. 



Have we had an antitoxin for yellow fever ? Yes. 



Has a germ ever been discovered that will cause this 

 disease? No. A few years ago Sanarelli, an Italian, 

 claimed to have discovered such a germ, and at the 

 time enthusiastic believers accepted the statements as 

 true. To-day bacteriologists themselves admit they 

 have no germ that will cause yellow fever. To prove 

 this it is only necessary to state that a few years ago the 

 bacteriologists instituted the most strict quarantine reg- 

 ulations in every case of yellow fever, to-day all quaran- 

 tine regulations are abandoned. 



Then we have an antitoxin for the destruction of a 

 certain germ before such germ is discovered? Yes. 



