The Story of Germ Life

The Story Of Germ Life

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Title: The Story Of Germ Life
Author: H. W. Conn
Release Date: January, 2004 [EBook #4962] [Yes, we are more than
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THE STORY OF GERM LIFE
BY H. W. CONN
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY,
AUTHOR OF EVOLUTION OF TO-DAY, THE LIVING WORLD,
ETC.

PREFACE.
Since the first edition of this book was published the popular idea of
bacteria to which attention was drawn in the original preface has
undergone considerable modification. Experimental medicine has
added constantly to the list of diseases caused by bacterial organisms,
and the general public has been educated to an adequate conception of
the importance of the germ as the chief agency in the transmission of
disease, with corresponding advantage to the efficiency of personal and
public hygiene. At the same time knowledge of the benign bacteria and
the enormous role they play in the industries and the arts has become
much more widely diffused. Bacteriology is being studied in colleges
as one of the cultural sciences; it is being widely adopted as a subject of
instruction in high schools; and schools of agriculture and household
science turn out each year thousands of graduates familiar with the
functions of bacteria in daily life. Through these agencies the popular
misconception of the nature of micro- organisms and their relations to
man is being gradually displaced by a general appreciation of their
manifold services. It is not unreasonable to hope that the many
thousands of copies of this little manual which have been circulated
and read have contributed materially to that end. If its popularity is a
safe criterion, the book has amply fulfilled its purpose of placing before
the general reader in a simple and direct style the main facts of

bacteriology. Beginning with a discussion of the nature of bacteria, it
shows their position in the scale of plant and animal life. The middle
chapters describe the functions of bacteria in the arts, in the dairy, and
in agriculture. The final chapters discuss the relation of bacteria to
disease and the methods by which the new and growing science of
preventive medicine combats and counteracts their dangerous powers.
JULY, 1915.

CONTENTS.
I.--BACTERIA AS PLANTS
Historical.--Form of bacteria.--Multiplication of bacteria.--Spore
formation.--Motion.--Internal structure.--Animals or plants?--
Classification.--Variation.--Where bacteria are found.
II.--MISCELLANEOUS USES OF BACTERIA IN THE ARTS.
Maceration industries.--Linen.--Jute.--Hemp.--Sponges.--Leather.
--Fermentative industries.--Vinegar--Lactic acid.--Butyric acid.--
Bacteria in tobacco curing.--Troublesome fermentations.
III.--BACTERIA IN THE DAIRY.
Sources of bacteria in milk.--Effect of bacteria on milk.-- Bacteria used
in butter making.--Bacteria in cheese making.
IV.--BACTERIA IN NATURAL PROCESSES.
Bacteria as scavengers.--Bacteria as agents in Nature's food
cycle.--Relation of bacteria to agriculture.--Sprouting of seeds. --The
silo.--The fertility of the soil.--Bacteria as sources of trouble to the
farmer.--Coal formation.
V.--PARASITIC BACTERIA AND THEIR RELATION TO
DISEASE
Method of producing disease.--Pathogenic germs not strictly
parasitic.--Pathogenic germs that are true parasites.--What diseases are
due to bacteria.--Variability of pathogenic powers.-- Susceptibility of
the individual.--Recovery from bacteriological diseases.--Diseases
caused by organisms other than bacteria.
VI.--METHODS OF COMBATING PARASITIC BACTERIA
Preventive medicine.--Bacteria in surgery.--Prevention by
inoculation.--Limits of preventive medicine.--Curative medicine.
--Drugs--Vis medicatrix naturae.--Antitoxines and their use.--
Conclusion.

THE STORY OF GERM LIFE.

CHAPTER I.
BACTERIA AS PLANTS.
During the last fifteen years the subject of bacteriology [Footnote: The
term microbe is simply a word which has been coined to include all of
the microscopic plants commonly included under the terms bacteria
and yeasts.] has developed with a marvellous rapidity. At the beginning
of the ninth decade of the century bacteria were scarcely heard of
outside of scientific circles, and very little was known about them even
among