Lessons from Common Things

Lessons from Common Things By Dr. Franklin S. Harris, President of the Brigham Young University 4. GERMS MOST of us are inclined to think of germs as deadly foes, to be strictly avoided. In offering advice about health to each other, it is usually expressed in terms concerning the avoid- ance of germs. These little microbes have gained a very disreputable place in the thoughts of man because of the plagues and other malig- nant disease which they cause. While most diseases are caused by germs, it is unjust to look upon these minute organisms as an un- mitigated evil. If we think of germs as being present only under the unusual conditions when sickness is caused, we are in error, because they are found everywhere throughout nature. On our hands and clothing, and covered over all the food we eat, there are millions of tiny living things; I suppose that no one of us has ever taken a mouthful of food without eating many of them, for they are just about the most common things that can be imagined. They are riding on dust par- ticles throughout the air; and every particle of soil that we come in contact with contains untold numbers. Even what we regard as pure water may contain from 500 to 1,000 of these organisms in a teaspoonful, and such food as the milk used in cities very often con- tains a hundred thousand in a single drop. Of course, the bacteria causing diseases to man are not so com- mon, else man would be sick continually. If typhoid fever germs get into the alimentary canal of a person who is susceptible to the disease, he is almost sure to have it. Likewise smallpox, diphtheria, and other diseases of this kind are transferred through organisms which come in contact with the patient. Such organisms must be carefully avoided or the diseases they cause soon make their appear- ance. Not long ago I heard someone complaining about the world and wondering why bacteria are allowed to exist on the earth, especially why the wise Creator would not make a world entirely free of germs. When I first learned that germs cause disease, I decided that if it were in my power, I would certainly want to eliminate from the earth everything that might be called a germ, but now that I have investi- gated the problem more thoroughly I find that I was very short- sighted in wishing such a destruction. Some of the germs I would

Apni, 1929 LESSONS FROM COMMON THINGS 467 have destroyed cause diseases in man, but most of them are either harmless or decidedly beneficial. If all the germs in the world should be suddenly exterminated, man would not be able to live very long. For example, in the soil there is a group of two or three distinct kinds of organisms working together which fix the free nitrogen of the air and make it available for the use of higher plants, such as our ordinary crops. If it were not for these organisms cooperating in this way, it would not take very long for the earth's supply of available nitrogen to be exhausted and this would soon cause death to all the life on earth. The great chemist, Sir William Crooks, in giving an address before the British Association for the Advancement of Science, pre- dicted that it would not be many generations before the available supply of nitrogen in the world would be exhausted, and hence plants and animals would die, unless some practicable artificial means of fixing nitrogen were discovered. At that time the func- tions of the nitrogen-fixing organisms were not understood. Since then, scientists have discovered something of the role of the bacteria of the soil and how they are constantly working to tear down the unavailable materials of the soil and to render them suitable for the growth of crops. In fact, it has been definitely determined that the fertility of the soil on the one hand and its sterility on the other, may be merely due to the difference in the micro-organisms of the soil. One of the main soil problems is that of producing a condition in the soil that will be favorable to the growth of desirable organisms*. This is just one example of the almost unlimited kinds of or- ganisms which are working for the benefit of man. The good being derived from these beneficial organisms was not recognized as the work of living creatures until comparatively recent times, although the world has been profiting by it throughout all the ages. Now that we know whence comes these great blessings we marvel the more at the Planner of the universe, who had the foresight to create such harmony that every living thing, from the tiniest micro-organism to the giant tree, might work together to prepare the way for man. Without the higher plants, the germs would die, and without the germs the higher plants would die. The Creator not only gave the world the right kind of life, but he created them in proper proportion for the best results. Does this harmony not fill you with awe at the wisdom of our Father in heaven? Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use. — Johnson.