IN ISOLATION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3182, 5 September 1917, Page 6

IN ISOLATION

SOLDIERS' TELL-TALE THROATS

HUMOURS OF GARGLE PARADE "Isolation. Camp. Magazines and Newspapers Wanted." So rims a roughly-pointed notice—black paint on a pieco of kerosene case—that is nailed to a fence post near Hcretauuga ltailway Station. Regular travellers gather all the papers they can find as the train approaches the spot und hurl them from the windows towards tlio men in khaki, who have come from their, i'raine-tonts to tho fence. "Poor beggars. Must be deadly dull, that sort of thing," a passenger will often say. "They look healthy enough, too." Most of them are healthy, as healthy as their comniiserators, many of whom, by the way, would bo in similar isolation if they wore subjected to tho bacteriological throat-test that 'these soldiers were put through. They are "carriers" mostly, theft men in isolation, and until they get a clean swab they must sit and ■watch the trains go by. One man has been thoro for four months. He has seen many trains go by. But although it is hard 'on tho individual, this little bunch of men in isolation is the explanation of tho fact that there is no infectious disease in Trentham Camp—or in Featherstou either, for that matter, 'though tho isolation area in that camp is not such a noticeablo feature. The same bacteriological research goes on in both camps the soldiers' throaits being- " the huntinggrounds of the "bug experts," as they are called. There is a story related of a medical student who was told to prepare a proper medium for the culture of bacteria, and when ho had done so he asked his .professor where ho could got some bacteria 'to culture. "You will find some in the mouth of any person you meet," ..was tho reply. And the experience of the camp doctors proves the truth of the professor's words. From what is termed a "dirty mouth an extraordinary'quantity of rubbishylooking bacteria is disclosed under tho microscope. Some look like bent walkingsticks, bundles of g'rasa, bent nails, coils of wire, and sinuous threads. Usually this conglomeration is quite harmless to | the health. It is when the bacilli are, i in ordered array that trouble may come. Sometimes, as in diphtheria, they go ahunting in pairs, or they may march out in a long line, or in groups like submarines round a mother ship. There is a scientific name for each class,' and thou"h some disease germs resemble those of entirely different diseases, the experts can always identify them. The regular "swabbing of throats reveals these things. How tho "bugs camo into tho throats is- another matter, a puzzle that few' can solve. , the idea is gaining ground, however, that trie germs of most infectious diseases aro always being carried in the throats of people who would bo astonished if they were told, that 'they were doingso. At certain times and in certain conditions the germs swarm like bees, and then, an epidemic occurs. Another presumption is that tho ordinary drain bacteria can transform themselves into malignant germß, tbougn this idea does not appear to have any actual verification. The influenza germ is likewise suspected of duplicity in talcing to itself tno form and functions of oerebro-spinal meningitis, but its guilt also has not been proved. . Gargle parade in-the camps is a regular daily scene. Platoons muster at the ablution stands, each man with .a mug of Condy's in his Hand. A mouthful is taken, heads are'thrown back, and the gurgling chorus begins. Some men hold their noses, some place hands on their throats, 'i'hey treat it more or ,less as a joke, but it is as, vital a matter to their fitness as-physical It may make all 'the difference, when, their Zoats are swabbed between isolate camp and the comradeship of the. ranks and the freedom of the camp. More bf an ordeal to the uninitiated is siibWng pTrade. Then the platoons.are mXe! at the sick hut and a medical officer swabs each throat. In a scaled bottle ifa sterilised pieco of nttaohed to a. wire which goes tlirougn the cork of the bottle. The offi«*„hJ. tho man to open his moutl Th J* he pulls out the cork and tho swab and nibs the drv wool against tho back ol the throat. It tickles, and the throat is inclined to contract. "Sav '4.-ah!" J eays the omcer. ■With his mouth wide open, the soldier kivs "Ah'" till the swab is taken. It goes backinto the. bottle and tho man's name and platoon is peeled Iona label on tho bottle. About a hundred of these swabs are taken every day in each canm Many of thorn are "cultured, in. tho camp laboratory, and the remainder arc sent to the larger laboratories 111 Wellington. Not only soldiers, but civilians who nro employed in the .camps are swabbed. More than once a carrier has been detected in this way and sent into isolation. ' . , The cultures aro nsually made in gelatine, into which the swabs are plaoeci, each in a separato phial. Then a gentle warmth is applied, and when the specimens aro cooked, a smear is made on a small piece of glass. This is dried .and sterilised over fc hot flame, and the glass, with the dead bacillus or bacteria upon it, is placed under the glass. Ihe verdict may'be spelt "isolation or it may be written "all'clear." Whichever way it goes, the group ot men who watch tho trains go by are the living sign that the health of the camps is well'under control. ■ V