Bacteria a 



BACTERIOLOGY IN A NUTSHELL. 



harmoniously, then comes a disturbance of the 

 harmony of the other groups, and because of 

 this disturbance there comes disease. For ex- 

 ample : If there is trouble in the nervous system, 

 then, too, we find the digestive system is 

 affected, and vice versa. So we may go on 

 through the other systems and find them all 

 more or less dependent one upon another. 



The causes of disease are many and varied. 

 One of the most serious causes, as revealed by 

 scientific research, is the invasion of the differ- 

 ent organs and systems of the human structure 

 Cause of by a species of bacteria ; these it has been 



proven produce many of the so-called infectious 

 diseases. Bacteriological research tend? to the 

 belief that certain forms of moulds and pro- 

 tozoa — the latter being the simplest form of 

 animal life, and one which is distinguished from 

 all other animal groups because each protozoon 

 consists of but a single cell — are also causes of 

 some of the "infectious diseases." So much has 

 been said and written on "the relation of bac- 

 teria to disease" that many people fail to dis- 

 criminate between the bacteria, which are our 

 friends and those which are our enemies. 



As pupils in the study of bacteriology we 

 learn that the term bacteria is applied by 

 scientists to the large group of minute vegetable 

 micro-organisms, commonly called "germs" or 

 "microbes." This name was first given to 

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