Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1891 — A GRIP ON LA GRIPPE. [ARTICLE]

A GRIP ON LA GRIPPE.

The Varmint that Causes the Grip Caught at Last Dy. Gentry, of Chicago, Discovers the Mlerobe—You May Recognize Him by His Severe Lines-;lmport&nt to Science. Dr. William M. Gentry, of Chicago,' claims to be the possessor of a microbe oj la grippe, tho first ever captured or heard of. The little wriggler is imprisoned on the glass slides of Dr. Gentry’s big micro* scope, and Friday was carefully inspected by manyw scientific eye. Even since the grip made Its appearance a year ago, the doctor said Friday, he ha been on a still hunt for the microbe, if anj existed. He found that thirty-four yearj ago and again sixteen years ago la grippe was epidemic among human beings, and seven years ago it attacked horses, causing the still remembered “epizootic;” Owing to the recurrence of the disease Dr. Gentry was inclined to believe that the earth at such intervals, passed through a stretch of space impregnated with what astronomers call “star dust.” Four days ago It occurred to him that he might trap some of the' dust, or microbe or whatever; it was. Carefully polishing a blank slide, he took it out doors and passed it through the air. Placing the slide under his microscope, which magnifies 1,170 times, he counted eleven heretofore unidentified microbes in the field of the instrument. The creatures were very lively, and seemed to float or swim upward toward the glass. Before the doctor could secure the microbes they had disappeared. The next day, with the Rev. Dr. Briggs of the Rogers Park Methodist church, Dr. Gentry tried again and found more. Again they escaped, but by using micro-glasse he secured the next lot and had them mounted for tho microscope. His nex step was to secure some mucus from a pa. tient.afflicted with la grippe. A neighbor Mr. W. J. Jefferson, furnished it, and to the delight of Dr. Gentry the same sort o microbes were found in the mucus that had been caught in the air—identical in every respect. . The grip microbes, as described by. Dr Gentry', are generally of a round form varying- occasionally in outline, but always distinctly marked by a series of severe lines surrounding them. Radiating from these lines are other lines, which, in the magnified image, resemble fire, irregular hairs. Dr. Gentry's entire time to-day was occupied in exhibiting the microbes 7 to brother physicians and in beginning e technical account of tho discovery for thebenefit of the profession.