LIFE OF GERMS

Shannon News, 13 March 1928, Page 1

LIFE OF GERMS

REMARKABLE EXPERIMENT A remarkable result is said to have followed au experiment made with deadly germs by Sir William Simpson. Sir William is Director of Tropical Hygiene at the Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases at Putney Heath, London, tvhich he established with Dr. Castellan!, who has been invited by the Queen of Spain, to visit Madrid to study the general question of malaria. Twenty-six years ago—on .November 22, 1901—Sir William placed three germs in a test tube. They were bacilli taken from a patient suffering from one of the world’s most dreadful diseases. The tube was sealed and dated, and for all those years has remained so. Now., when Well over a quarter of a century has passed, Sir William Simpson has devoted his attention to discovering whether the germs are still alivo. To his astonishment, and that of everyone else who has heard of the experiment, they alivc> It seems almost incredible,, but the experiment hardly admits of error. A guinea pig w r as inoculated with them, and, after showing the wcll-kown symptoms of the disease, it died. Further tvork is proceeding,, for it is recognised that in the light of such a happening it may become necessary to revise completely the views previously held on the longevity of bacilli. It is said ■> that the longest period recorded hitherto in which life has persisted in a culture of this kind is a year. Sir William was reluctant to speak of the work, for although, the culture was made deliberately in 1901 with the object of an experiment like this being made so many years later, he prefers, as a cautious scientific man,, to proceed further witfc the work. "But what has happened,” he admitted, "certainly seems to open up a big range of possibilities., not merely with reference to the diseases caused by these bacilli, but to others. One has to consider, for instance, /what may be the position in relation to smallpox.” The speculations that arise will appeal to many people who always feel that germs of serious diseases, even when "dead and buried” for long periods, have never really abandoned their purpose in life. It has even been argued, without any scientific authority, that the exhumation of the remains of victims buried in London during the great plague would constitute a s(£ious danger of a fresh outbreak even at this late day. Similarly it has been suggested that the opening of ancient tombs could possibly liberate disease germs. The work done by Sir William Simpson, while not justifying such extravagant conclusions, reveals a somewhat remarkable state of affairs.

The Ross Institute is named after >Sir Ronald Ross, who discovered that a female mosquito of a certain type w r as the carrier of malaria. That discovery made it possible for the Panama Canal to be completed, and for large areas elsewhere to be cleared of the mosquito pest. Remarkable figures arc available as to the achieved. At Port Swettenham in the Malay States, which at one time was to have been closed because of' the tremendous mortality from malaria, the disease was stamped out. Similarly great work has been going forward in India, where out of a population of three hundred millions, two millions die annually from disease due directly or indirectly to malaria. It is regarded as of the very greatest importance that the Ross Institute, which is the father of the protective measures, and conducts the research work, should extend its activities considerably, and £35 000 is being appealed for in order that this extension may take place. Enormously important as this attentions is to malaria, the Ross Institute is aiso responsible for study in tro pica! diseases generally, and in the laboratories of which the world-fam-ous expert Dr. Castellani is in charge, noteworthy things are happening.

Dr. Castellani said; “The belief of so many people that tropical diseases occur only in the tropics is quite incorrect. They can occur in a temperate zone, including Great Britain. People who often are supposed to be suffering from tuberculosis in England are in reality the victims of a tropical disease which resembles it. There have been many cases of this kind.” Similarly with malaria, Sir Charles McLeod, chairman of the Ross Institute, said: “I am convinced that'very many people wdio believe they have g GI influenza arc instead the victims of malaria. ”