IS CONSUMPTION HEREDITARY ?

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 419, 19 October 1889, Page 6

IS CONSUMPTION HEREDITARY ?

Not many years ago to doubt that consumption descended regularly from lather to son, from mother to daughter, was to court ridicule. So insidious has this disease been in its approaches, thai until within a year or two all inquiry as to its immediate exciting cause had produced hardly any information which could be übed to combat this terrible weapon of King Death. And thus from one generation to another the awful sentence of premature death was handed on, a sentence which, by its very terror, often assisted to break, down the constitution and render it an easy prey. To people born of consumptive parents this sen ence of death was constantly present — a sentence against which there was no appeal, and only the passive force of quiet resignation to assist the victim of pre-destined evil' in fighting a losing struggle to the grave. But though thousands have succumbed to it and though the disease seems to elude the most caieiul search, yet science never despairs ; nay, she lives on hope, works in hope, and is rewarded by fre&h hopes. The only other guerdon she asks is that she may be able to be useful to mankind, and that mankind will respect her and make u&e of her woik to the largest possible extent. And so at last science has found the exciting cause ot consumption-, and with it the glorious tidings foi thousands of people that this terrible dL-ease- is not hereditary. The last twenty years have been remarkable for the study of certain organisms, little soecks of life, half animal half vegetable and so small as only to be visible under great microscopic power. It has , been iound that these germs or bacteria exist in stages previous to development in nearly every medium, in air, in water, and in the various foods. It has also been found that certain surrounding conditions aie necessary for their otherwise spontaneous rooting and growth, and that by certain means air or water or food may be "sterilised," or in other words the life of the bacteria may be killed. And it has. also been found that there are some species of bacteria which ure the natural enemies of other species, and which may be cultivated and used to annihilate' Ehe enemies of mankind. The same urinciple'is illustrated by our importation of cats and weasels 'for the eradication of the rabbit. _ One disea«e after another has been investigated, and has yielded to scientific re-pe-irch a complete history of its disease germs and of the other species which may be applied to stamping it out. We have all heard of the famou& inoculations practised by JVI, Pasteur for the. relief of hydrophobia, and the wonderful results, achieved under his treatment of the pest which was annihilating the silk industry. It has now come to the turn of consumption, and the discovery of Koch a few years ago of the germs of this disease is alreadybearing good fruit. Both in Pai isandin,New York responsible medical institutions have, after thorough investigation and discussion, pronounced consumption not to be hereditary, but to be a directly preveniible disease. This is the verdict which has been returned after patient investigation by the t Tuberculosis Congress, whose report was discussed by the Academy of Medicine at Paris on the 13th of August l»st. Instead of being the result of hereditary taint, this disease is found to be contagious, and caused by a direct transmission of microbes in the air, the water, or the food. There are certainly predisposing conditions, which may "be brought about by low physical vitality, the result of a constitution inherited from weak parents. These conditions will necessitate such care and treatment a& will build up the bodily frame and render it capable of resistance to disease. But the erreat hope for all consumptive people is that by careful isolation from those affected by this disease, their physical frames may be built up to a strength which will defy the inflammatory action of the" germs. The seed of these germs is iound in the spittle of the patients, and it has been proved to the satisfaction of the French scientists that the expectoration of consumptive people, when dried in the air, is sufficient to render the air infectious. Is thi3 last fact not sufficient contradiction to the old popular belief that^ consumption is hereditary ? Does •it > nob account for all the appearance of being an hereditary complaint, for. who would be more likely to acquire the taint than the childien of the parents already suffering from disease ? Doubtless the predisposing physical conditions may be fcracad to parentage, but these aie nob in themselves fatal, only becoming so under the contagion of these dreaded disease germs. ' To thousands this news must be of great gladness, for to know that, instead of an absolute decree of death, all that is necessary to achieve health and 'strength is pure air, pure water, and good, sound, honest, homely fare, and above all avoidance of infection, is good news-indeed. And where will such conditions be more readily obtained than under the clear skies and untainted breezes of Great Britain of thft South?-— "Auckland Star," October 10.'