300 



SCIENCE, 



[Vol. VL, No. 139. 



proven to an absolute certainty that small, 

 microscopic organisms, called micrococci, bac- 

 teria, schizom^'cetes, etc., are the sole cause 

 and essence of a large number of diseases, 

 and that without these organisms present in 

 the body such diseases are impossible. It 

 seems queer, that among all the mj^stical, 

 visionary theories of disease imagined by 

 the poetical fancies of the ancients, one 

 theory, most visionar}^ and fair^^-like of all, 

 should to-day become the established creed of 

 sceptical science. The idea that minute organ- 

 isms, visible only by certain devices of the mi- 

 croscopist, should invade our bodies, and, there 

 selecting their appropriate abodes, should, 

 by rapid multiplication, become the cause of 

 typhoid-fever, small-pox, diphtheria, consump- 

 tion, and numerous other diseases, seems like 

 a fable ; and yet such is the truth. The casting 

 out of evil spirits is not wholl}^ a figure of 

 speech, and heathen incantations and the beat- 

 ings of drums were but the earliest attempts to 

 solve the problem of dislodgement which is 

 pressing us hard at the present day. 



In the introductory pages of his work. Pro- 

 fessor Liebermeister defines and classifies the 

 different varieties of infectious diseases in a 

 very clear manner. He first divides those dis- 

 eases into the miasmatic and the contagious. 

 By miasmatic, he designates those diseases 

 whose germs are primaril}' generated outside 

 of, and independently of, any diseased bod}^ 

 Contagious diseases are those whose specific 

 germs arise onl}^ in organisms suffering the 

 special diseases. Contagious germs can be 

 transferred from a sick man directly to a well 

 man by simple contact, and the}' ma}^ then 

 produce the same disease in this second per- 

 son. Miasmatic germs, however, are bred in 

 special localities, — in the soil and water, — and 

 they attack those who come to these localities, 

 but are not transferable from person to per- 

 son. The contagious diseases, therefore, are 

 epidemic; the miasmatic, endemic. A third 

 group of these diseases includes a number 

 whose germs appear to require two stages of 

 development — first in the body, and then out- 

 side of it — before they become qualified to in- 

 fect a new bod}'. Thus cholera is not directly 

 transferable from person to person, and men 

 are also attacked who never saw another sick 

 with cholera. On the other hand, it is equally 

 certain that cholera never arises in any place 

 outside of the East Indies, except it is brought 

 to that place by human agency. Professor 

 Liebermeister' s explanation of these apparently 

 contradictory facts is very logical and satis- 

 factory. He assumes that cholera germs, 



when first expelled from a diseased body, are 

 innocuous ; but, falling upon suitable conditions 

 of temperature and moisture, they develop 

 the fatal properties which render them deadly 

 to those who then come in contact with them. 

 Typhoid-fever exhibits similar contradictions 

 as regards its methods of transmission, but 

 such contradictions become clear and harmoni- 

 ous in the light of this theory. The excrement 

 of one typhoid-patient in Pennsylvania, thrown 

 out upon the hillside to ripen its deadly poi- 

 son, killed hundreds of people in the town of 

 Plymouth a few weeks later. The necessity 

 for the instantaneous disinfection of all the 

 excreta of these diseases should be one of the 

 fundamental principles of sanitation taught to 

 every child in every school in the land. Grown- 

 up people do not go to school, and they learn 

 slowly. Children at the right age should be 

 taught such matters in the proper way. 



In his handling of special diseases. Professor 

 Liebermeister is short and terse, but remark- 

 ably clear ; and we most cordially recommend 

 his work to all. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



— The * Journal of the Franklin institute ' for Octo- 

 ber adds another series of composite photographs to 

 the fast-increasing contributions in this field. Tliey 

 group together the historic portraits of Washington, 

 as represented by seventeen artists. There are three 

 composites in all, due to the variations of position 

 in the originals; and the resemblance of the three to 

 one another is stronger than the resemblance amongst 

 the originals. TJie photographs were prepared by 

 Mr. W. Curtis Taylor of Philadelphia, who claims 

 for them the highest attainable accuracy. A large 

 crayon drawing of one of the composites is exhibited 

 at the 'Novelties exhibition' in Philadelphia. 



— Dr. Heinrich Winkler, in his recently published 

 ' Uralaltaische volker und sprachen,' has made a 

 careful comparison of the E>kimo with the lan- 

 guages of northern and north-eastern Asia. He 

 reaches the result that it is in unmistakably close 

 relation to the Kadyak, Tschiglit, and Namollo of the 

 Asiatic coast, but is in no way connected with the 

 Ural-Altaic tongues. It may have orignally pro- 

 ceeded from the same elementary conception of 

 speech; but it has developed a type of its own dif- 

 fering widely from Asiatic standards, and much more 

 closely approaching the structure typical of the great 

 mass of American tongues, though in many respects 

 presenting features peculiar to itself. 



— An aerostatic school is to be established at 

 Grenoble in connection with the artillery, and will 

 be especially devoted to teaching the use of captive 

 balloons in reconnoitring. 



