Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1903 — PAPERS BY THE PEOPLE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PAPERS BY THE PEOPLE.

HOW DISEASE IS BEING CONQUERED.

By Dr. Andrew Wilson.

An announcement of much scientific jnterest appeared In the newspapers recently In the shape of details concerning a remedy for that common apd often dangerous ailment, scarlet fever. Its promulgator, a Dr. Moser, of Vienna, is sanguine concerning its value in cuttlng'short the ailment, fte has selected a certain microbe which occurs in scarlet fever, and which he regards as likely to represent the germ of the disease. This organ-

lam ia artificially cultivated so as to insure the purity of Its stock, and to avoid the possibility of the intrusion of other species of germs. When a pure culture has been obtained it is used to inoculate an animal. As a result, there appears to be developed in the animal’s blood a peculiar principle which Is known as an “antitoxin.". The word “serum” is a term applied to the fluid part of the blood in all animals—it is, indeed, the blood minus its corpuscles. Hence it is in the serum that the antitoxin is found, and this last is developed as the direct result of the growth and multiplication in it of the germs used for inoculation. Wlieij, the antitoxin taken from the anltflal’s blood is used as an injection into the tissues of a human r being attacked by the disease, it has the effect of modifying the ailment. The development of the microbes in the body of one animal produces a principle which is fatal to their growth in the body of another and different animal. Vaccination itself exemplifies such a process, for smallpox matter, modified by its transition through the calf, appears as vaccine lymph, which is used for protection against smallpox attack. So that, in reality, we are thus causing microbes that are capable of producing disease to fight their own kith and kin. It is work of this kind which we may liojfo, has been accomplished for the cure of scarlet fever. * We have serums now ip use for the cure of diphtheria, typhoid fever, cholera, lockjaw and plague. That for diphtheria has had a long and extensive trial both in hospitals and In private practice. The results have been most gratifying. The disease, a terrible malady, as we all know, can be mastered by the use of the serum in a fashion possible under no previous mode of treatment. Many a poiir little aufferer has had ampje cause to bless the progress of bacteriological science which has placed the antitoxin in the physicians' hands. The anti typhoid serum is still on Its trial, but here again the outlook is hopeful. There is likewise a cholera antitoxin, the use of which -has been tested with success in India.

THE NEED OF RULES OF ETIQUETTE.

By Mrs. Humphry .

To those who desire to make their way in society, its laws must be known and observed. It is a fairly laudable ambition, that of attaining and holding a respectable rank in life; and if the minutiae of the process appear to be childish and silly to minds occupied with matters of more moment, they are really no more .so than the first steps in any other pursuit—the faltering notes of the student of piano or violin, the tottering steps

of the child learning to walk, the unwieldy stitches set in by the novice at tlio needle. “Good manners are the fruit of noble mind." somebody says; but wliat measure of mental nobility will suffice to Instruct tlie unlearned in the mysteries of the dinner table? Good manners are much more the fruit of being accustomed to move in wealthy circles titan any direct consequence of possessing a noble mind. Etiquette naturally divides itself into two sections: one that deals with good manners of the superficial, every day kind; and the other that concerns tactful behavior/ A man or woman may be perfectly equipped with the outward forms of courtesy and yet convey studied insults by look or tone, or manner. In fact, it has often been said that no one can be so execrably rude as a woman of the highest Bociety who can adminisleiui snub in a manner in which no fault can be found on the score of politeness. So far as superficial manners are concerned, those that

are taught In the nursery and the schoolroom; that deal with bows and smiles, knives and forks, demeanor in the street, and politeness in the home; we are probably as well behaved as ever we Were; but It is in our general conduct that we seem, as a nation, to be deteriorating. Just think of the difference there is between the conditions of society at the beginning of the twentieth century and those that existed in the seventies. Croquet was just beginning to give way to lawn tennis. Golf was undreamed of as a game in which women might Join As to cricket, hockey, and football, they were then men’s games. But now girls play them all. Girls pride themselves on being manly, just as our nice young mothers and out grandmothers before them prided themselves on being gentle, feminine creatures. They overdid It. They thought It the correct thing to scream if they saw a mouse, and to faint if a finger bled. And opr girls, overdo the manliness just as our mothers overdid the femininity. Are good manners -generally declining? Or Is it only here and there that we notice a roughness, and because it contrasts with the rest, accuse the whole? Is it really true that men are less polished, woinen louder of voice and more self-assertive?

PROBLEM OF THE DUST OF THE AIR.

By Andrew Wilson.

The publication of Tyndall’s instructive book entitled “The Floating Matter of the Air 1 !, marked an era not only in respect of science at large but also in respect of many problems of public health. The demonstration of the air as a “stirabout” of floating dust particles opened the eyes of those who read to the enormous dust cloud which Is comprised In the great air ocean that surrounds our globe. “Dust and disease" has become a

phrase which we accept because of the demonstration that the latter often arises out of the former. We are safe In saying that if we could abolish dust we should find many diseases to disappear. It would be a gross mistake to suppose that dust is universally dangerous. Much of it consists of mineral particles; some of it is represented by shreds of our clothing; some of it is dead particles derived from the bodies of animals and plants; some of it represents the germs or spores of molds and yeasts and other form of lower plant life; and some of it finally consists of disease producing microbes. Of the universal diffusion of dust nothing need be said. We only escape contact with it If we go to the mountain tops, or flush our lungs with the air of the open sea. When we enter the abodes of men our invasion by dust particles Is full and complete. In a cubic meter of air taken from the open sea or mountain tops there were found only six or ten germs. In old houses in Paris the quantity found was 79,000 and over. In our great centers of population we have to face a perpetual bombardment by dust particles of all species. Sweeping arrangements of ordinary kind only distribute them. The same may be said of the household sweeper and the familiar duster. There is displacement of dust, but no destruction. Even the corners of our rooms and the crevices of our cornices are harbors of refuge for the dust atoms. 1 hat is why in hospitals there are no angles in the walls, but rounded surfaces instead. The plan of the housewife who uses damp tea leaves preparatory £o her swooping down with her broom or sweeper is a concession to an old Idea. For so long as dust is kept wetted it is not dangerous. It is found that flushing the streets is a vastly superior process to sweeping them. The dust cart should be a thing of the past Especially in summer should flushing be carried out. It is then that dirt dries and becomes dust. It is then also that we get food tainted, and especially milk, with the result that the little children die off in thousands from infantile cholera, due to the tainting of their food. If to water disinfectants are added we render ourselves doubly safe. In the future we shall find the housewife dealing witih dust as science recommends. I read also of a system of cleaning carpets and other things by sucking the dust out of them by a vacuum process. I.et us bethink ourselves of a crusade against dust. Once undertaken, the grievous time represented by the “sprint cleaning” may become a thing of the past.