^ \ 



CXXIV 



7YIE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE. 



^ '- ^y - 



* persistenc. 



Aft 



4 



J little surpn^ 



::«B 



that gen" 



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■3 



into ^v 



:ell4 



condition, but whose presence as invisible, non-developino- 

 germs is constantly postulated, solely on the ground of the 

 occurrence of certain effects supposed to be otherwise 

 incapable of occurring. That, if existent, they are no mere 

 ordinary germs of known organisms is obvious, because 

 their presence has again and again been shown to be 

 fncapable of producing the diseases in question. Mr. 

 Forster says/ ' There is not perhaps on the face of the 

 earth a human creature Avho lives on coarser fare, or to a 

 civilised people more disgusting, than a Kalmuck Tartar. 

 Raw putrid fish or the flesh of carrion — horses, oxen and 

 camels— is the ordinary food of the Kalmucks, and they are 

 more active and less susceptible of the inclemency of the 

 weather than any race of men I have ever seen ^/ It has, 

 moreover, been frequently demonstrated, that the organisms 

 of ordinary putrefactions may be introduced even into the 

 blood of man and animals without the production of any of Ipctice is ba^. 



iitheproclu 



Itfects suppose' 

 %oltiplication,; 



^■hilst Baden 



iwndisease-g' 



much-vaunt 





%k acid conti 



":;lof its £:erm- 



these specific diseases^ Yet is the 'Antiseptic System' of 



V 



^ See ' Med.-Chirurg. Rev.,' 1854, vol xiii, where the supposed con- 

 nection of diseases with processes of putrefaction is ably considered by 

 the late Dr. W. Alison. 



*-* The Bacteria which are sure to be abundant in such food cannot," 



therefore, be the much talked- of ' disease-germs.' Such a diet is, of course, 



by no means recommended, and could probably only be borne in certain 



climates by persons who lead a very active life. Epidemic diseases are 



frequently most fatal when they once break out amongst a people whose 



diet is of this kind. (See Dr. Carpenter, in ' Med.-Chirurg. Rev.,' 185^, 

 vol. xi, p. 173.) 



2 See, amongst others, Davaine in ' Comptus Rendus,' Aug. 1864, and 

 E. Semmer in Virchow's ' Archives,' 1 870. Pr. Lionel Beale is well aware 

 of this fact, and he, accordingly, whilst adhering to the 'germ-theory,' 

 promulgates it under a new form. He says (' Monthly Microsc, Journ./ 

 Oct. 1870, p. 205): — 'Concerning the conditions under which these 

 germs are produced, and of the manner in which the rapidly mnltiplying 

 matter acquires its new and marvellous specific powers, we have much to 

 learn, but with vegetable organisms the germs have nothing to do. They 

 have originated in man's organism. Man him'self has imposed the con- 

 ditions favourable to their development. Man alone is responsible for 

 their origin. Human intelligence, energy, and self-sacrifice may succeed 

 in extirpating them, and may discover the means of preventing the origin 



obtained b}- 

 be weaker 

 'ent; and if 



.|- acceptance 

 l^^mental pri: 



'15"^^ not now 

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