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inferred that of whatever variety of corn the crop is composed,
that variety has been sown, and with equal certainty we infer
that of whatever kind of fever a man may be the subject he must
have been infected by the germ peculiar to that fever, and by
no other—that germ alone being capable of producing the
combination of symptoms that we witness and call by a special
name. Hence the conception of disease, as to cause and
nature is no longer a confused one, but on the contrary clear
and distinct, and on this account it may be reasonably
expected that at no distant future, effective means may be
found to prevent the incidence, limit the extent, and to place
an obstacle against the recurrcnce of infectious disease.
A practical result of the more exact knowledge of disease
is exemplified in the present mode of dealing with infection,
and in the more just appreciation attained of what constitutes
a disinfectant. A "disinfectant" cannot serve the purpose for
which it is employed without it disinfects; but to accomplish
this end it must destroy the living microbe of infection: if
it fails to do this it is useless, or useless to that degree in
which it fails.
But even to the minds of well-educated people the disinfectant
is invested with a mystic and fanciful importance,
altogether out of proportion to any inherent quality it may
possess. Like the electric locket, the bell and book of the
priest, or the caul which the sailor wears about his neck,
some evil-smelling compound from the chemist is exalted
into a fetish, or valued as a charm that shall exorcise or
conjure away the danger of infection.
I fear that in making this statement I am in danger of
offending the susceptibilities of many who would not consider
it consistent with the opinions they entertain of their
own intelligence to be thought capable of holding notions so