GEEMS OF DISEASE AND DEATH. 



may in this way engender splenic fever. Following 

 close upon the heels of the discovery of the germ- 

 origin of this fatal malady, comes the gratifying 

 announcement that, as small-pox is modified by 

 vaccination, so splenic fever may be modified by an 

 analogous process. Pasteur has proved that we can 

 inoculate sheep and cattle with a mild form of fever 

 which protects the animal from a recurrence of the 

 disease ; and this protective influence, as we write, is 

 being practically utilised by the breeders of France. 



Such is a brief recital of a new step towards a 

 perfect knowledge of the nature of the diseases which 

 decimate, not merely animal life, but human existence 

 as well. It may not be inappropriate if, by way of 

 close, we remind our readers of two very noteworthy 

 points in connexion with this all-important topic, 

 bearing, as it does, in the most intimate manner upon 

 the physical welfare of man. 



The first of the points to which we refer concerns 

 the apparently trivial origin of an all-important 

 subject. It was in the city of Florence, some two 

 hundred or more years ago, that a certain physician, 

 Francesco Eedi by name, demonstrated to the Floren- 

 tine wiseacres that the maggots in meat do not arise 

 from the dead meat by "spontaneous generation/' 

 but were produced from the eggs of flesh-flies. This 

 result he achieved by covering over the meat with 

 gauze, so that whilst the meat-decay proceeded, there 

 was likewise a convincing absence of maggots. 

 Childishly simple as was Kedi's experiment, it laid 



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