Professor Tyndell on "Germs."

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4229, 21 July 1882, Page 3

Professor Tyndell on "Germs."

,(?BOM THE TIMES.), The " before Easter " series of Friday evening discourses at the Royal Institution „,was opened by a lecture from Professor Tyndall. His object was the same as that I toi his s paper before the Royal Society on 'a prefiqus occasion. ' While in it, however, he merely laid the result of his : experiments "before the meeting, on this . occasion he pointed out some of the possible practical bearings when viewed in relation to medical science. The basis of Professor Tyndnll's experiments is, that, in the course of searching for.means of obtaining air free from floating motes, he found that if air is allowed to remain in a closed air-tight vessel, covered inside with glycerine, in the course of three or foitr days it deposits all its motes, which .adhere to the glycerine, and it thus becomes quite free from them. The test of its.perfect freedom is to pass a powerful beam of light through the case, when, if any.motes.are still floating, they make known .their-ipresence by reflecting the light. With air thus purified, Professor Tyndall has made a long series of experiments bearing on the question of spontaneous generation, and on disease germs. He 1 has placed test lubes in ca«es like those referred to, and has arranged to fiH-Jjke tubes by a pipette so arranged tl^Vit ran reach the tubes without external air. The method is t> flHpw' tbe.air to settle and purify itself,' &M tHeh to pour in the infusion down tho pipette!. At the..same time, a portion of , ' .th*e;inlfnsion is placed in tho tubes exposed to; the ovdina/y.. air. .The usual precau vtions and preparations laid down by those -.^lk)..- believe in-.spontaneous generation - '^'are carefully observed. Thus, one sample ■ ;Bf.an infusion is exposed to the influence "Jr6f motes, and another sample.is protected from tLem. "Over -and over again, with different kinds of infosions, the experiments'have been Iried. The protected tubes show not the slightest chanpe, while' the exposed tubes soon become putrid and .'show signs of low forms of life. Now, though we know nothing aboutinbtey-of the air, yet tbe professor puts it tnat it is fair to argue thus : - Suppose those motes were so large that we could handle them. If we took two pots of earth,, planted some of the motes in one, and carefully kept them from the other, and if we got a crop of cresses and grass from the first and nothing from the second, we should surely argue that the motes contained the germs of this vegetation.. So with these minute motes and the infusions which favor their development. We allow them to settle in one set of infusions and get a crowd of life forms; -we carefully keep them away- from another set of infusions' and get no life. Surely (he minute moles contain the germs among them. In various ways, in sealed casks, with calcined air, with filtered air, and in vacus,

■_ experiments all tending to the same results were exhibited. Fome of the failures in experimenting were referred to, and it was seen how. easy it is to be misled into accepting apparent proof of spontaneous generation.. In one instance a tube in one of the cases spilt a few drops of the infusion. It fell, on some germs lying on the glycerine, furnishing to them a means of development; life forms were soon seen, and a putrefaction on the spot set up. The case being near a stove, which heated it on one sidei currents of air were produced within it, and some of the germs got wafted into pne of the tubes and set up putrefaction and forms of lifeiiyJC-' Yet, although this went on for some time'and the evap'""txnijpn- from it was all round the other tubeiPuT'the same, case, they were not ..; affected.; Directly, however, a drop from the putrefying tube was transferred to one of the, others, it set up a series of changes at onfee'; i-From this Professor Tyndall argues that, sewer gas of itself is harmless; it is the germs floating in the sewer gas that' sow. disease. If there are no disease germs present, the gas does no harm. Another -set of experiments on the horizontal and vertical distribution of motes led to the conclusion that life germs float in little clouds, since an immense number-of tubes exposed in different , parts and at different heights in tbe ■ laboratory showed that some were affected many days before others. Clouds of ~ disease germs may explain a puzzle to surgeons—why a wound going on well for a while should suddenly, and without apparent reason; become putrid. It may be that it is be dressed just at a time when a "germ cloud "is passing. In his concluding remarks Professor Tyndall referred to the fact that it has remained for modern science to discover that, more than by battle, or accident, or famine, humanity suffers from disease germs conveyed in air and water. '