Dis-ease the Cause of Germs
Dr. Alexander M. Ross, Fellow of the Royal Society of England, said in speaking of germs, “They are the result, not the cause, of dis-ease. They are scavengers; their legitimate work is to clean out the sewers of our bodies.”
John B. Fraser, M.D., CM., writes, “The reasons for questioning the germ theory are mainly three, viz.:
“1st. The divergent views of bacteriologists as to which germ caused the dis-ease.
“2nd. The stronger claim of the bio-chemic theory.
“3rd. The absence of germs at the onset of dis-ease (as the following sample cases show).
“(a) A man crossing a river broke through the ice, was rescued, later became ill, and the doctor, fearing pneumonia, tested for pneumo-cocci—there were none present; when the pneumonia developed they appeared.
“(b) After an oyster supper some men had cramps and diarrhœa, followed by typhoid fever—no Eberth bacilli were present in the first stools, but were present later.
“(c) Hurrying, a girl arrived at her shop sweating; as the shop was cold, she became very chilly; next day complained of a sore throat, but no Klebs-Loffler bacilli were found; later, when a diphtheretic patch appeared, the bacilli were present.
“Here in each case the bacilli followed the onset of the dis-ease.
“Believing that the above germs were the result and not the cause of the dis-eases, tests of the germs of diphtheria, typhoid and pneumonia were made.
“The first test was whether the Klebs-Loffler bacilli would cause diphtheria, and about 50,000 were swallowed without any result. Later 100,000, 500,000 and a million and more were swallowed, and in no case did they cause any ill-effect.
“The series of tests was to decide whether the Eberth bacillus would cause typhoid, but each test was negative; even when millions were swallowed. The third series of tests showed that one could swallow a million (and over) pneumo-cocci without causing pneumonia, or any disturbance.
“The investigations covered about two years and forty-five (45) different tests were made, giving an average of fifteen tests each. I personally tested each germ (culture) before allowing the others to do so; and six persons (3 male, 3 female) knowingly took part in the tests and in no case did any symptoms of the dis-ease follow.
“The germs were swallowed in each case, and were given in milk, water, bread, cheese, meat, head-cheese, fish, and apples—also tested on the tongue.
“Most of the cultures were grown by myself—some from stock tubes furnished by Parke, Davis & Co., and one tube furnished by the Toronto Board of Health through one of their bacteriologists.
“As the tests were carefully made, they prove that there is not the danger from germs that bacteriologists claim; they also may stimulate other Canadians to undertake further experimental work, for the actual test on man decides the truth of the theory.”