Fkbetjaey 5, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



203 



the blood; an Obermeyer discovers a differ- 

 ent microorganism in the blood of relapsing 

 fever patients, and numerous patient work- 

 ers in laboratories rapidly add to our 

 knowledge of pathogenic bacteria. Then 

 comes the man with the microbe killer. 

 He tells you that all diseases are due to 

 germs in the blood and that his fluid kills 

 them without fail. Science has demon- 

 strated that comparatively few of the in- 

 fectious diseases of man are due to the 

 presence of pathogenic bacteria in the blood, 

 and that the microbe killer has compara- 

 tively little germicidal value ; but a cred- 

 ulous public accepts the interested state- 

 ments which appear to have a scientific 

 basis, and swallows the mici-obe killer with 

 impunity, if not with benefit. And so it 

 goes. Science establishes the value of thy- 

 roid extract for the cure of myxedema, and 

 immediately the public are called upon to 

 swallow extracts of brain for cerebral 

 trouble, of heart for cardiac disease, etc. 

 Even the Chinese pulse- doctors obtain a 

 large clientele on the Pacific coast. Their 

 solemn looks and pretentious claims impose 

 upon the ignorant, and it is said that edu- 

 cated people not infrequently consult them. 



One of the most successful pseudo-scien- 

 tific quacks of the present day has written 

 a book in which he gives a history of the 

 alleged discovery of his cure-all and from 

 which I desire to make two or three quota- 

 tions. One of these shows the author to 

 have been a close observer of the genus 

 homo. He says: 



"People should not be led a-way by every charlatan 

 who jumps up before them and talks; but as long as 

 the -world lasts there will probably be fools In it, and 

 fools are a godsend to rogues. There is a fascina- 

 tion in being humbugged. Make it known to the 

 world that you are going to do some impossible thing, 

 and the world will pay money to come in and see you 

 do it, although well understanding all the while that 

 the thing cannot be done. ' ' 



The financial success of ' the microbe 

 killer ' indicates that the discoverer of this 



alleged cure-all has substantial proof of the 

 truth of the frank statements above quoted. 

 The author's personal experience with mi- 

 crobes is given on another page as follows : 

 ' ' When I drove to my seed store I knew that I 

 could sit only ou the edge of my buggy, because the 

 microbes would not let me sit in any other way, and 

 when I stepped to the ground I knew that it took me 

 several minutes before I could move, the microbes 

 that produced sciatica and rheumatism objecting to 

 being disturbed, and so preventing me. Every at- 

 tempt to move had to be slow and deliberate, until 

 they should get accustomed to the change. I was a 

 living barometer. Whenever the weather altered, 

 and especially if it became cooler, my collection of mi- 

 crobes could anticipate it two or three days, and when 

 the storm came they would freeze and force me to 

 take refuge by a red-hot stove to get them quieted." 



On another page the author states his 

 theory with reference to disease and its 

 treatment as follows : " But I knew that 

 his symptoms were of secondary impor- 

 tance. They were interesting to have, but 

 not essential, because all disease is due to 

 the same cause and requires but one cure." 

 Of course that one cure is the microbe 

 killer and you must beware of imitations. 

 The author describes his unsuccessful at- 

 tempt to obtain relief from the advertising 

 quacks, as follows : 



" Good friends were generous with their advice. I 

 was told to try first one thing then another, but I 

 had become wearied with what I had come to believe 

 was so much humbug, and I determined to swallow 

 no more medicine. I again studied advertisements. 

 There 1 saw commended electric belts, porous plasters, 

 liniments, lotions and salves, and all sorts of external 

 applications that would cure everything, purify the 

 blood, strengthen the nerves, stimulate the functions 

 of the organs, kill the microbes, and rejuvenate the 

 individual in mind and body. Well, this was some- 

 thing. Whatever such things would or would not 

 do, there was no medicine in them — nothing to 

 swallow, no poison, so, if they did no good, I could 

 not see that they would do harm. The end of my 

 thinking was that I sent oS ten dollars to Chicago 

 for an electric belt. Some of the advertising firms 

 fail to respond, as they promise, to money remit- 

 tances, but my belt came, and I lost no time in fix- 

 ing it on. It reminded me of former days when I 

 was a soldier, with belt and sabre, in the German 



