Bacteria: Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public healthNewman, George, Sir
Science
Bacteria: Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public health
Newman, George, Sir
Bacteria; Bacteriology
_Tetanus._ The pathology of this terrible disease has during recent
years been considerably elucidated. It was the custom to look upon it
as "spontaneous," and arising no one knew how; now, however, after the
experiments of Sternberg and Nicolaier, the disease is known to be due
to a micro-organism common in the soil of certain localities, existing
there either as a bacillus or in a resting stage of spores. Fortunately
Tetanus is comparatively rare, and one of the peculiar biological
characteristics of the bacillus is that it grows only in the absence of
oxygen. This fact contributed not a little to the difficulties which
were met with in securing its isolation.
Tetanus occurs in man and horses most commonly, though it may affect
other animals. There is usually a wound, often an insignificant one,
which may occur in any part of the body. The popular idea that a severe
cut between the thumb and the index finger leads to tetanus is without
scientific foundation. As a matter of fact, the wound is nearly always
on one or other of the limbs, and is infected simply because they come
more into contact with soil and dust than does the trunk. It is not the
locality of the wound nor its size that affects the disease. A cut with
a dirty knife, a gash in the foot from the prong of a gardener's fork,
the bite of an insect, or even the prick of a thorn have before now
set up tetanus. Wounds which are jagged, and occurring in absorptive
tissues, are those most fitted to allow the entrance of the bacillus.
The wound forms a local manufactory, so to speak, of the bacillus and
its secreted poisons; the bacillus always remains in the wound, but
the toxins may pass throughout the body, and are especially absorbed
by the cells of the central nervous system, and thus give rise to the
spasms which characterise the disease. Suppuration generally occurs in
the wound, and in the pus thus produced may be found a great variety
of bacteria, as well as the specific agent itself. After a few days
or, it may be, as much as a fortnight, when the primary wound may be
almost forgotten, general symptoms occur. Their appearance is often the
first sign of the disease. Stiffness of the neck and facial muscles,
including the muscles of the jaw, is the most prominent sign. This is
rapidly followed by spasms and local convulsions, which, when affecting
the respiratory or alimentary tract, may cause a fatal result. Fever
and increased rate of pulse and respiration are further signs of the
disease becoming general. After death, which results in the majority of
cases, there is very little to show the cause of fatality. The wound
is observable, and patches of congestion may be found on different
parts of the nervous system, particularly the medulla (grey matter),
pons, and even cerebellum. Evidence has recently been forthcoming
at the Pasteur Institute to support the theory that tetanus is a
nervous disease, more or less allied to rabies, and is best treated by
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