94 
Editorial. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
\   February,  1899. 
EDITORIAL. 
GERMS  AND  DISINFECTION. 
It  is  difficult  to  conceive  in  these  days  that  some  of  the  various  classes  of  the 
animal  and  vegetable  creation  as  some  of  the  microbes,  fleas  and  bed  bugs,  etc> 
were  not  intended  to  share  the  habitation  of  man,  or  at  least  with  man.  and 
some  of  the  lower  animals.  The  researches  of  Nuttall  and  Thierfelder,  of  the 
Hygienic  Institute,  of  Berlin  University,  indicate  however,  that  bacteria  are  not 
necessary  to  vital  processes.  They  removed  young  guinea  pigs  from  the  mother 
by  means  of  the  Caesarean  operation,  and  every  conceivable  precaution  was  taken 
to  prevent  all  access  of  bacterial  life.  "The  young  guinea  pig  was  placed  in 
a  sterilized  chamber  supplied  with  sterilized  air,  and  it  was  fed  exclusively  upon 
sterilized  milk."  At  the  end  of  eight  days  the  animal  was  killed  and  cultures 
made  in  various  media  of  the  intestinal  contents  and  excreta.  No  colony  made 
its  appearance  and  the  Jauthors  "claim  by  these  experiments  to  have  proved 
conclusively  that  the  presence  of  bacteria  in  the  alimentary  canal  is  not  essen- 
tial to  vital  processes,  at  any  rate  in  the  case  of  guinea  pigs;"  and  they  con- 
sider that  other  animals,  as  also  human  beings,  could  exist  in  the  absence  of 
bacterial  life  so  long  as  the  food  supplied  is  purely  animal  in  character.  They 
further  experimented  in  adding  vegetable  food  to  the  diet  and  found  that  here 
also  bacterial  life  is  apparently  not  essential  for  carrying  on  digestive  pro- 
cesses. 
Our  observations  in  nature  would  likewise  indicate  that  fleas  and  bed  bugs 
lived  originally  like  "sand  flies  "  and  "jiggers"  among  the  wild  plants.  They 
have  found,  however,  that,  like  the  ubiquitous  tramp  in  some  sections,  that  man 
or  his  dwelling  places  may  be  utilized  as  a  "  stopping  place  "  to  rest  and  be  re- 
freshed until  told  to  move  on.  Civilization,  it  would  then  seem,  is  responsible 
for  providing  places  of  abode  for  these  different  objects  of  nature  which  would 
have  been  content  possibly — like  the  negro — to  remain  in  their  original  home. 
We  find  about  us  everywhere  germs  and  insects  and  other  organisms  feeding 
upon  our  garden  crops,  house  plants,  furniture,  food  and  even  ourselves.  They 
invite  themselves  and  feel  that  they  are,  or  ought  to  be,  welcome  and  make  us 
uncomfortable  or  drive  us  away  from  our  abode  just  as  our  forefathers  drove 
the  American  Indian  from  his  lands  (his  by  reason  of  the  law  of  priority)  in 
order  to  live  and  prosper. 
All  nature  is  one  great  family.  All,  like  the  tramp,  will  sleep  in  the  king's 
bedchamber,  and  partake  of  his  wines  if  opportunity  presents,  but  woe  unto 
him  if  he  is  caught  napping.  Those  in  possession  may  keep  the  invaders  out. 
The  weak  inevitably  succumb  to  the  strong.    There  is  a  survival  of  the  fittest, 
e.,  the  most  intelligent,  cunning  and  powerful.  Those  that  are  of  the 
greatest  benefit  to  the  greatest  number  of  those  that  survive  are  permitted 
themselves  to  survive.  The  hornets'  nests  are  burned  ;  the  bee  hives  are  pre- 
served. The  wolves  and  wildcats  are  destroyed  and  the  cats  and  dogs  are 
domesticated  and  serve  us.  We  say  the  former  are  injurious  to  us,  and  that 
the  latter  are  serviceable  to  us.  And  so  it  is  with  the  germs.  Some  that  seek 
possession  are  injurious,  others  may  be  of  service  and  may  be  likened  to  our 
"pet  animals,"  and  called  "pet  germs."  They,  like  the  cats  and  dogs  who 
keep  out  the  destructive  rats  and  mice  from  our  dwellings,  may  serve  an  equally 
important  function,  though  originally  they  frequented  other  fields,  and  by  long 
