14 
Books  as  a  Source  of  Disease. 
<  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(    January,  1914. 
for  any  length  of  time  under  such  adverse  conditions.  A  statement 
of  this  character  is  generally  made  by  one  who  only  has  a  superficial 
knowledge  of  the  subject,  especially  in  its  biological  aspect.  The 
apparatus  needed  to  properly  conduct  experiments  upon  bacteria 
is  quite  expensive,  and  generally,  the  young  physician  who  has  just 
graduated  has  the  time  and  possesses  the  enthusiasm  to  undertake 
these  researches,  but  not  the  capital,  and  then  when  he  has  the 
means,  he  has  so  many  patients  that  he  cannot  spare  the  time. 
Another  trouble  is  the  extreme  difficulty  which  arises  when  one 
is  prepared  to  study  this  subject.  On  account  of  the  great  surface 
covered  by  the  pages  of  the  books,  it  means  a  long  and  tedious  series 
of  experiments,  and  even  then,  on  account  of  their  being  invisible  to 
the  eye,  one  is  not  sure  that  he  has  obtained  every  speck  of  life  that 
may  be  on  the  paper. 
The  knowledge  that  we  are  now  acquiring  as  to  the  great  resist- 
ance of  these  small  forms  of  life  to  adverse  conditions  of  climate 
and  atmosphere,  their  resistance  to  degrees  of  heat,  their  wonderful 
adaptability  to  rapid  changes  of  environment,  food,  and  their  power 
to  remain  dormant  for  a  period  more  or  less  unknown  at  the  present 
day,  their  ability  to  form  a  protective  coat,  which  prevents  pene- 
tration when  placed  in  material  that  would  otherwise  destroy  them, 
all  these  points  indicate  that  we  may  be  on  the  wrong  track  in  using 
the  present  means  of  eradication.  And  furthermore,  in  making  our 
laboratory  tests  we  are  forced  to  isolate  the  colonies,  giving  conditions 
foreign  to  their  natural  state  of  existence,  and  also  the  difficulty  in 
separating  them  into  distinct  species. 
Newman  states  as  follows :  "  A  word  may  be  said  here  respecting 
the  much-discussed  question  of  species  of  Bacteria.  A  species 
may  be  defined  as  '  a  group  of  individuals,'  which,  however  many 
characters  they  share  with  other  individuals,  agree  in  presenting  one 
or  more  characters  of  a  peculiar  and  hereditary  kind  with  some  cer- 
tain degree  of  distinctness.  Now,  as  regards  bacteria,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  separate  species  occur  and  tend  to  remain  as  separate 
species.  It  is  true,  there  are  many  variations,  due  in  large  measure 
to  the  medium  in  which  the  organisms  are  growing — variations  of 
age,  adaptation,  nutrition,  etc. —  yet  the  different  species  tend  to 
remain  distinct.  Involution  forms  occur  frequently,  and  degenera- 
tion invariably  modifies  the  normal  appearance.  But  because  of  the 
occurrence  of  these,  morphological  and  even  pathological  differences 
of  environment  and  physical  conditions  must  have  marked  effect 
