Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
February,  1900.  J 
Editorial. 
91 
EDITORIAL. 
MICRO-ORGANISMS  AND  DISEASE. 
While  our  present  knowledge  of  electricity  may  be  considered  to  be  a  child 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  it  must  be  admitted  that  our  knowledge  of  bacteri- 
ology is  essentially  that  of  the  youngest  child  of  this  century.  It  is  only  a  com- 
paratively few  years  ago  that  the  eminent  physicist,  Balfour  Stewart,  referred  to 
the  micro-organisms  that  were  suspected  of  causing  disease  as  representing 
a  world  of  creatures,  of  which  we  know  as  little  as  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mars. 
How  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  study  of  the  different  micro-organ- 
isms, bacteria  in  particular,  is  shown  by  the  voluminous  literature  on  the  subject, 
including  not  only  the  various  periodicals  devoted  entirely  to  this  subject,  but 
other  publications  as  well  during  the  past  ten  years.  Beginning  with  the  remark- 
able results  of  the  labors  of  Pasteur,  we  find  that  in  the  hands  of  various  investi- 
gators the  studies  of  the  various  micro-organisms  have  unquestionably  aided 
the  manufacturer  and  physician  in  their  respective  vocations,  and  we  can  safely 
say  that  we  are  dealing  with  a  form  of  life  that  we  do  and  shall  know  more 
about  in  the  immediate  future  than  of  the  life  on  any  of  the  other  planets  in 
years  or  even  centuries  to  come. 
In  regard  to  the  subject  of  disease  being  due  to  various  forms  of  micro-organ- 
isms, which  had  its  advocates  more  than  2, coo  years  ago,  it  must  be  said  that 
"there  still  exists  a  controversy  between  the  bacteriologists  and  the  older 
pathological  school  over  the  role  which  is  played  by  the  bacterium  as  a  cause 
of  disease.  While  Koch  and  his  pupils  still  hold  largely  to  the  orthodox  teach- 
ing that  the  bacteria  alone  represent  the  '  cause  '  of  those  diseases  which 
are  designated  as  bacterial,  the  opponents  of  this  view  will  only  recognize  the 
bacteria  as  partial  causes,  and  find  in  certain  changes  of  the  tissues,  which  they 
designate  as  predisposition,  auxiliary  causes  of  disease.  Some  go  as  far  as  to 
deny  the  etiological  influence  altogether  of  the  bacilli."1  A  large  number  of 
experiments  have  been  made  which  would  tend  to  show  that  in 'both  animal 
and  plant  life,  the  latter  in  particular,  there  must  be  a  certain  lack  of  tone, 
or  a  predisposition  on  the  part  of  the  plant  or  animal,  before  the  bacteria 
become  active,  i.  e.,  the  tissues  must  undergo  certain  changes  before  they  can 
become  diseased  bactenally. 
While  there  are  evidences  of  the  more  or  less  accidental  discovery  of  ways 
and  means  for  combating  disease  by  the  ancient  Hindus  and  Persians,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  in  at  least  certain  cases  it  is 
the  presence  of  certain  micro-organisms,  or  at  least  the  production  of  metabolic 
products  from  them,  that  causes  disease  and  that  the  serum-therapy  of  the  past 
few  years.as  scientifically  applied  in  the  administration  of  certain  antitoxins,  in 
at  least  some  cases,  justifies  the  labors  that  are  being  put  forth  by  a  large 
class  of  investigators,  viz.,  the  bacteriologists.  But  while  the  germ  theory 
appears  entirely  admissible  in  specific  infections  in  which  rare  forms  of 
bacteria  are  constantly  associated,  as  in  glanders  or  anthrax,  "it  is  well  to 
remember  that  such  virulent  affections  as  variola,  scarlatina,  yellow  fever  and 
syphilis  appear  to  have  no  bacterial  causation.    When  a  germ  is  really  the 
:See  the  following:  Pediatrics,  1S98.  p.  507  ;  Eclectic  Med.  Jour.,  1899,  p.  553;  Anier.  Pract. 
and  News,  1899,  p.  283  ;  Medical  Age,  1899,  p.  857  ;  Editorial  in  this  Journal,  1899,  p.  94. 
