GERMS
Origin of Germ Theory
The average individual, who thinks of the cause of dis-ease and
then associates germs as that cause, probably does not realize that
the germ theory of the cause of dis-ease only dates back to about
1880. He does not realize that the man who decided germs cause
dis-ease died in 1895. However, it is true that as early as 1675 a
Dutch lens-maker published the fact that he had manufactured a lens
of such high power that “animalcules” could be seen in water. He
also asserted that microörganisms could be found in feces. However,
they were associated with dis-ease only in a speculative way; even
Aristotle in the second century speculated on microörganisms as the
cause of dis-ease, but this was only theory as he could not prove it,
having no microscopes with which to study the germs nor any methods
of isolating them. It was not until Louis Pasteur began his research
work in bacteriology that scientists considered there was proof that
germs caused dis-ease, and since that time medical science has gone
to the extreme along this line.
The germ theory of dis-ease has gained such favor that great
amounts of money and the very best talent have been lent to the
investigations. But as time has gone on and the zenith of this
doctrine has been reached, we find the theory has been questioned
until today even those who were previously advocates of this theory
are now doubting or rejecting it. Many questions are being raised
concerning dis-ease being the direct result of the introduction of
bacteria and germs into the body. It is now maintained by the best
authorities, among those who previously asserted that germs were the
cause of dis-ease, that dis-ease is the cause of the germs.
Action of Germs a Natural Process
The action of microörganisms, inside as well as outside the body, is
a perfectly natural process and one that has been provided in Nature
as a part of her general plan. It is a natural method just the same
as her method of purifying the air or the self-purification of water
or any of her other beneficent processes are natural. Milk will not
sour without bacteria. Putrefaction is the result of the activity
of the bacteria. Did it ever occur to you that the process of
putrefaction is one of Nature’s methods for keeping our environment
sanitary? Even this process is obtained only through bacterial
action. Bacteria are always present in the intestinal tract and aid
in intestinal digestion.
The term is applied to all microscopic organisms, whether vegetable
or animal. Vegetable microörganisms are known as bacteria while
animal microörganisms are called protozoa.
Bacteria
Bacteria are the simplest form of vegetable life and also the
smallest. They vary greatly in size and are grouped in three classes
according to their shape: cocci, which are minute spherical cells,
bacilli, rod-shaped cells, and spirilla, which have a spiral form.
There are three types of bacteria: the rod or bacillus, the sphere or
coccus, and the spiral or spirillum, all so named because of their
shape. They divide by what is known as fission, each cell dividing
into two and so on. When the conditions are favorable this division
may take place as often as every thirty minutes.
They may be produced artificially in a proper culture medium. It is
generally supposed by the layman that the bacteria are very hardy
little creatures and will develop in the body and cause dis-ease
under the least provocation. This, however, is quite erroneous for
they are very delicate and their propagation is difficult. The
temperature and moisture must be exactly right and they must have
just the proper kind of food or they will not multiply. They will
live in an environment, sometimes for a great length of time, that is
not suitable for propagation.
Diphtheric germs are found in the throat of the average person. These
germs, however, will not multiply nor develop until the tissues of
the throat are depleted. The tissues then become pathological and
form food for the bacteria, but even then they will not develop
unless the temperature and moisture are exactly right. Bacteria
multiply very rapidly when there is waste material in the tissue
of the throat which furnishes food and when the environment is
conducive to their development. The tissues weakened by the decrease
in the flow of mental impulses are not able to expel the germs and
they accumulate, not as the cause of dis-ease, but as a result of
dis-ease. The bacteriologist examines a culture from the throat of
the patient and because he finds the germs present he says the germs
cause the dis-ease, since no other cause is known; strange to say,
however, when the patient is adjusted and the tissues become normal
it is not necessary to kill the germs. They will starve to death and
Innate will excrete them.
Bacteria are found everywhere and in almost everything. In food,
water, on the walls and floors, and in the pores of the skin. All
life is due to the action of these bacteria. The action of the germs
soon produce fermentation and putrefaction of dead animal tissue and
of vegetables, thus reducing them into simpler elements which furnish
nourishment for plant life. The plants furnish food for animals and
man, and thus we have what is known as the food cycle. So we see
that vegetation is dependent upon bacterial action for its supply of
food. If the bacteria were all destroyed there would soon be an end
of food and plant life would die because of starvation. If there was
no plant life the animal kingdom would be robbed of its food supply.
Thus we see the important function performed by the bacteria.
The so-called dis-ease germs may be found in the healthy body,
but that body does not have the dis-ease merely because that germ
is present. If, however, there is a subluxation which interferes
with the transmission of mental impulses the tissues soon become
pathological and proper environment is created for the development of
the germ. Then this germ propagates and soon there is a large number
present. These germs will, however, disappear as soon as the tissues
become normal. In other words, when the incoördination is restored to
coördination the germs disappear.
Source of Communication
There are two recognized principal sources of communicable dis-ease
common to man, namely, man himself and the lower animals. It is
interesting to note that most of the so-called communicable dis-eases
are peculiar to man alone. They are not found in the lower animals
except as they are communicated by man for experimental purposes. It
is true that domesticated animals are more susceptible to dis-ease
than wild animals.
From the standpoint of hygiene there must be a distinction made
between the source of infection and the media of conveyance.
Man and animals are considered the main sources of infection.
Environment is regarded a source of infection. It is maintained
that water, food, air, and soul form a media for conveyance, but
they are not considered sources of infection. Rosenau, one of
the leading hygienists, states that “most of the microörganisms
causing the communicable dis-eases of man are frail and soon die
in our environment, as in the air, soil or water.” Notwithstanding
this fact, some still maintain that these frail little germs cause
dis-ease.
Modes of Transfer
Hygienists assert that germs are transmitted either by direct or
indirect means. The vehicles of transmission may be man himself,
animals, or anything that will carry the germs from one person to
another. Price says, “The most frequent and demonstrated mode of
infection is by direct contact of dis-ease with the healthy, of the
persons surrounding the infected one, such as physicians, nurses,
etc.”
We must differentiate between the mode of transmission, or, as it
is sometimes called, the mode of infection, and the channel of
infection. The channel of infection is the passage through which
the germs enter the body. In tuberculosis the channel of entrance
might be the respiratory tract, through the skin, or by means of the
digestive tract, while the mode of infection or mode of transfer
might be by such means as milk or sputum.
There are two principal modes of transference: (a) direct or contact
infection, (b) indirect infection. Under this second heading would be
included carriers or intermediate host. Direct or contact infection
is from person to person and may be accomplished through discharges
from the nose and mouth or other excretions from the body. There are
many dis-eases supposed to be transferred from person to person by
direct contact. Such dis-ease as diphtheria, tuberculosis, scarlet
fever, syphilis, gonorrhea and skin dis-eases belong in this class.
It is also asserted that these same dis-eases may be transmitted from
person to person by intermediate agents. For example, typhoid germs
may be transmitted in fecal matter into the water supply and ingested
into the body. The gonococci may be deposited upon fomites, such as
bedding, and transferred to other individuals. From a chiropractic
standpoint these incoördinations will be produced only when there
is interference with transmission of mental impulses, preventing
intellectual adaptation taking place in the body.
Indirect infection is accomplished from person to person through
such means as water, food, air and soil. It is claimed by medical
hygienists that dis-eases may be transferred great distances by these
vehicles. However, some of the so-called pathogenic germs are short
lived and will therefore not infect after any length of time.
It is affirmed by some that a person may be a carrier of a dis-ease
and not himself be suffering from the dis-ease. As, for instance,
there are cases on record where an individual has been a carrier of
diphtheria, having the germs in his own throat and from his throat
the germs have found their way into the throats of others. In other
words, there were pathogenic germs in his body which were doing
no harm to him, but when they entered the body of others caused
dis-ease. People have been found with every imaginable dis-ease germ
and yet have themselves been perfectly well. Such persons are known
as “carriers.” From a chiropractic viewpoint this condition is very
easily explained. In such people the transmission of mental impulses
is sufficient to permit Innate Intelligence to maintain a sufficient
degree of adaptation to prevent the propagation of the germs, but not
sufficient to enable Innate to excrete the germs as waste material.
The course followed in preventive medicine in these cases is
isolation of the individuals and the strictest sanitation. Their
occupations are controlled so that they will not handle food intended
for other people. In these ways danger from carriers is lessened.
Pathogenic bacteria live in the bodies of infected persons, in
their secretions and excretions, and in the discharges of the body,
but they are not found free in Nature. The principal vehicle of
transmission is man himself. He is also the principal recipient of
infection. Germs may be found in the various secretions such as
those from the eye, ear, nose, throat, from wounds and in the pus
from abscesses; they may be found also in sputum, urine and in the
solid excretions. In these ways they may be transmitted from one
individual to another. They may also be carried by animals, insects,
food, milk, water, air or any other mode or vehicle. The most common
mode of transference, however, is from person to person.
Channels of Entry
The channels through which germs enter the body are grouped as
follows: (a) respiratory tract, (b) digestive tract, (c) skin, (d)
genito-urinary tract.
Since the air contains many germs at all times, it can readily be
seen that the respiratory tract forms an excellent portal of entry
through the mucous membrane of the eyes, nose, mouth, throat and
lungs. It is asserted by those who believe that germs cause dis-ease,
that the germs of diphtheria, scarlatina, measles and pneumonia enter
the body through the respiratory tract. It can readily be seen that
since the air contains bacteria at all times, even of the so-called
pathogenic type, that they would be taken in with every breath and
if these germs were the cause of dis-ease every individual would
have all kinds of dis-ease. It is quite evident that these germs do
not remain in the body except under the most favorable conditions,
obtaining only when there is interference with transmission which
makes the tissues abnormal.
It is maintained by exponents of the germ theory that the greater
number of germ dis-eases are caused by the germs that enter the
body through the mouth into the alimentary tract. There are many
pathogenic and non-pathogenic germs contained in the food that we
eat and the water that we drink, and yet these germs do not produce
dis-ease in every individual, yet the exponents of the germ theory
hold that typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and many other dis-eases
are transmitted to the body through the alimentary canal by means of
food and water.
As a portal of entrance for germs into the body, the skin is
considered of least importance since the germs will not penetrate the
normal skin under ordinary circumstances. If there is an abrasion
or wound infection may be produced by the entrance of germs, but
this will take place only when there is sufficient interference with
transmission of mental impulses to make it impossible for Innate
Intelligence to bring about proper reparatory processes. Animal
parasites may find a portal of entrance through the skin.
The genito-urinary tract furnishes a portal of entrance into the body
for such germs as those of gonorrhea, syphilis and tuberculosis,
either by direct contact or through intermediary agents. Infection
of the body is by means of some of these entry channels which differ
with the different bacteria. The bacteria may be entirely innocent
when entering one part of the body, yet when they enter through some
other portal they may be considered pathogenic. In other words, some
germs will thrive in one part of the body but not in some other part.
Terms Infectious and Contagious
The terms infectious and contagious are not clearly defined and have
no scientific precision. “A contagious (contigere, to touch) dis-ease
is one that is readily communicable—in common parlance, ‘catching.’
Formerly a contagious dis-ease was considered as one which is caught
from another by contact, by the breath or by effluvia. A contagious
dis-ease implies direct or personal contact. If contagious dis-eases
are limited to those contracted by direct contact or touch, as
the etymology of the word signifies, only syphilis and dis-eases
similarly contracted would be contagious. As a matter of fact,
smallpox, measles and influenza are types of contagious dis-eases,
and the term is now usually understood.”
“An infectious (inficere, to put in, dip in, or mix in) dis-ease is
usually considered as one not conveyed directly and obviously, as in
the case of contagion, but indirectly through some hidden influence
or medium. In the days when specific febrile dis-eases were regarded
as caused by miasmata and noxious effluvia, the term ‘infectious’ and
‘miasmatic’ dis-eases were more or less synonymous. Typhoid fever was
often taken as a type of an infectious dis-ease. Malaria was the type
of miasmatic dis-ease.” (Rosenau, _Preventive Medicine and Hygiene_.)
Most authors consider that an infectious dis-ease may be contagious
and a contagious dis-ease is also infectious. Contagion implies more
of a personal contact as a mode of transfer, while infection implies
more of an indirect mode. The communicable is more specific, but does
not refer to any particular mode of transference.
There are many so-called communicable dis-eases, yet let it ever be
remembered that if Innate Intelligence is operating at par in the
body there will be an immunity from these dis-eases, although the
germs that are supposed to cause them will still exist.