Marvels of the Universe 



529 



in modern birds, grew out in pairs from the sides of 



the twenty vertebrae. It is probable that the body 



of the Archseopteryx was coA"ered with down, and 



that well-developed feathers only grew on the 



wings and tail 



modern birds, except the 



either feathered or downw 



The legs were scaly, like those of 



thigh 



part, which was 



BACTERIA 



BY EDWARD C. ASH, M.R.A.C. 



It is a most surprising fact that man's most power- 



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BACILLUS 



OF 



[.l/rasr.v. f,Kiu. 

 THE PLAGUE. 



this photo are hlood cor- 



The large objects in 

 puscles. The small dark bodies are the Plague germs. 

 They are magnified about twelve hundred tiines. 



enemy. 



But this idea is a great mistake 



ful and most merciless enemies are minute plants 



— organisms of so small a character that they are 



only \-isible under the highest-power lenses of the 



modem microscope. And yet they are responsible 



for most, if not all, the " ills and pains " to 



which humanity is subject. Ever\- daj- wars 



between the most highly-developed, the most 



perfected of all animals — man, and the lowest and 



the most rudimentar\- plants — Bacteria, continue. 



The word " Bacteria," to the average mind means 



for if it were so, human life could not exist. Man would have to retire and leave the world to the 



inhabitants of the microscopic kingdom ; and before long the results of all his improvements would 



collapse and things would return to a condition of wilderness nature. 



Bacteria are everj'where : the air we breathe, the ground we tread, and even our bodies, are 

 inhabited by countless numbers of these minute plants. Bacteria, like human beings, have each 

 their allotted tasks, and each species plays an all-important role in the microscopic kingdom, and 

 indirectly in the kingdom of the higher animals. With the aid of the microscope the scientist 

 peers into a world inhabited by millions of organisms. The average man lives practically unaware 

 of the existence of a world which is only to be seen under lenses ; and it is fortunate that he is able 

 to do so, for even the strongest nerves could not long withstand the effect of seeing swarms of 

 organisms covering everv^thing. Who, for example, could enjoy his or her meals, or even a mouthful 

 of food teeming with all kinds and conditions of microscopic life ? 



What are Bacteria ? Bacteria are low forms of plants. They are roughly divided into main 

 groups respective to their shape. Thus we have rod-shaped Bacteria or Bacilli, spherical Bacteria 

 (Cocci), and many others. The majority have no means of locomotion. Some, however, are fur- 

 nished with swimming organs, known as flagella. These hair-like appendages appear either on 

 one or both sides of the organism, or are sometimes present on all sides, and can be clearly seen in 

 the photograph of the Typhoid Bacilli. 



It is reported that the first man to see Bacteria in motion became wildly excited, under the 

 impression that he had witnessed plants changing into animals. Mobile Bacteria do not seem to 

 have any idea of direction, but travel onwards until they meet an obstacle, and then their sub- 

 sequent direction depends solely on the angle of impact. 



Whilst some species of Bacteria spend their lives in the work of destruction, others are equally 

 concerned in building up compounds. Some, again, are colour-producers, in fact, artists of great 

 merit, and occasionally cause much surprise to those interested in milk — blue milk, red milk, yellow 

 milk, and even black milk, being the results of their labour. Then, again, others have learned 

 that by " uniting we stand and by dividing we fall." 



