72 
WORLD OF INVISIBLE LIFE 
What is a 
typhoid germ 
li\e? 
but sometimes it gets into the blood-stream. In 
such instances it nearly always causes death. 
The typhoid fever germ is short, plump, 
and rod-shaped. It moves around rapidly 
with the aid of the tiny hairs (flagella) that 
are like a fringe around it. It is found out¬ 
side the human body in streams, rivers, and 
lakes into which sewage is emptied, or in milk 
which has been handled by someone with the 
disease. It is not a very common disease 
nowadays. This is due to the putting of a 
purifying substance called chlorine into the 
water which city people drink, and the pasteur¬ 
izing of milk, both of which kill the germ. 
But thirty years ago, in the United States, the 
records show that it caused 35,000 deaths, and 
that at least 350,000 people had suffered from 
it in a single year. 
The typhoid fever germs enter the body 
through the mouth when a person drinks water 
or milk containing them. They attack chiefly 
the bowels, where they cause ulcers; sometimes 
they even eat holes through the walls of the 
