Man Against Microbe (1932)

and now that is for back three hundred years run this annual piece in his famous diary we read of a catastrophe that was typical of that and of the preceding ages an epidemic of the plague that had been raging in Europe took a fearful toll of life in England's capital in 1665 hundreds Tellier everyday and he died in Jordan people were stricken effete everyone fled from the victims for fear of the dread disease but by far the most horrible element of the tragedy was the mystery of its origin no one knew what or who carried the plague the solution came by way contraption any wouldn't know what this is no it isn't a can opener it's the first microscope may look like a toy to us but it's important to human life is tremendous it's the connecting link between our science of modern medicines and distant past in 1683 not very on her round the lens superior to any magnifying glass of that day this Dutch naturalist set this lens into a fruit thread and thus constructed his first microscope he examined drinking water imagine the astonishment of his friends when he shot him animals swimming about both of the teeth and found living beings too small to be seen with the naked eye this was man's first glimpse into the world of germs with which he comes in contact of in the following century many scientists studied germs in 1762 frenzies the Viennese doctor contended that many diseases were caused by living organisms invisible to the human eye with no one wanted to hear about the visions of a dreamer the medical men of the time demanded facts and Pentheus had no proof science was still waiting for the great genius of the microscope it took a hundred years to find him but when he came he revolutionized the entire field of medicine since 1860 all advances in work with germs have been been the fundamental experiments of Louis Pasteur this great Frenchman established that germs did not come to life by themselves by an ingenious test he proved that germs would not develop in a germ-free class unless they were carried there by some outside agencies such as dust particles he used the microscope to help the great wine industry of France he recognized the fact that yeast cells caused fermentation but that very often other organisms ruined the beverages Pasteur demented and found he could kill the harmful organisms with heat this was the first of the methods discovered for killing germs it is possible to demonstrate this method by placing an active culture of bacteria under the microscope applying heat and then observing the germs forming in clusters as they died the use of heat to kill germs as in pasteurization is today vital and safeguarding many of our foods particularly milk disease germs if present are eliminated by passing the milk over heated coils so that rennet is finally served it shall contain nothing but the nourishing qualities that ensure good health in even dr. Lister who had been carefully studying the work of Pasteur conceived the idea that germs might be responsible for the pus infection of wounds in those days a surgical operation was a gamble with death from blood poisoning mr. found that he could avert this by killing the germs in and around the womb he sprayed everything with carbolic acid bathed is it at the same chemical solution he destroyed the germs with chemicals just as pasture had done with heat this was the second of the methods discovered for killing germ the modern antiseptic and aseptic methods of surgery are the outgrowth of misters early experiments throughout France sheep were dying in large numbers of the disease known as anthrax the great pastor found that germs were responsible for this scourge he prepared a vaccine that enabled farmers to protect their sheep and cattle from anthrax thus Pasteur discovered the third method of combating Jerr that is by strengthening the defense forces of the body through the use of vaccines and antitoxin was by means of this third method that he achieved the crowning glory of his brilliant career the successful fight against rabies or hydrophobia his humble chemist became the founder of modern scientific medicine and one of the greatest benefactors of the human race Hester's successful expects the position of the microscope in scientific medical investigation in the next 50 years more progress was made in medicine than in the previous 2,000 years it is hard to believe that as late as 1832 New York was at the almost complete mercy of many infectious diseases such as cholera diphtheria and smallpox although vaccination then as now would have wiped out this last disease New York Post of June 16 1832 carried the story of an epidemic of Asiatic cholera that had broken out in Canada it was feared that the disease would reach New York shortly and that nothing could be done to stop it the epidemic did arrive and later spread its fearful hand over Europe as well not until 1883 did Robert Koch discover the germ that caused cholera in the preceding year Koch had found the germ responsible for tuberculosis later the typhoid germ is revealed by two German scientists doctor Ebert and dr. Jeff key and in 1883 doctor Krebs discovered the germ that caused diphtheria but the real fight against the merciless diphtheria germs was yet to be won on Christmas Eve 1891 in the conferred man hospital in Berlin a little girl was fighting for life against this murderous disease one ray of hope they in the skill and genius of doctor from bearing the former military surgeon who'd been making remarkable experiments under dr. [ __ ] he had successfully cured diphtheria in animals by means of an antitoxin with the courage and daring and was now ready to take the eventful step in the laboratory to the sick bed he brought his wonderful serum to the aid of the stricken child in a minute the painless injection had been completed contributions been bearing made for Humanity that Christmas Eve will remain an everlasting symbol of his goodwill to men once again man had conquered germs by the third method of combat that of helping the body in its fight against the agents of disease when bearings achievement was great but he saw that it would be far more wonderful to prevent the disease than to cure it this ideal has now been achieved and today we have toxin and the toxin or toxoid with which we are able to protect our children against diphtheria not all germs disclosed by the modern microscope are injurious to man some in fact are essential to his very life many live in the soil and make it possible for us to grow the fruits grains and other plant products so necessary for the existence of animals and mankind but the injurious germs and indeed the causes of those diseases not due to germs must be discovered controlled and if possible destroyed the causes of many diseases have come to be known in the last 50 years but there are others that still elude the searching eye of modern science the cause and cure for infantile paralysis rheumatic fever and cancer are among the baffling mysteries yet to be solved but there is every reason to believe that the scientists would be successful in the future year after year they struggle unrelentingly sometimes sacrificing their own lives to find new ways of controlling disease they are fighting the battle of man against microbe so that we unhandled by the scourge of sickness may achieve fullness of life and happiness [Music]