Man in the World of Unseen Things

Man in the World of Unseen Things By Dr. Thomas L. Martin, Agronomist, B. Y. U. IT is accepted by many that bacteria, molds, insects, etc., which abound in the soil are organized for their work somewhat after the order that men and women are organized in human society. It is also understood that there are good and bad organisms in the soil, the good ones working best when conditions are favorable for a healthy soil. The soil condition in relation to its microscopic life is somewhat similar to human beings in relation to their microbial world. There is quite a parallel. There are in and about all human beings innumerable bacteria waiting for an opportunity to establish an abiding place in the re- gion of the human flesh. They are commonly known as "oppor- tunists." If the flesh is broken they pass into the tissue. If the body is healthy, little cells "phagocytes" popularly known as little white soldiers, attack these invaders and a real war ensues. In the battle, much tissue is destroyed and generally the soldiers win out. Dead bacteria, phagocytes and tissue are thrust from the body in the form of pus. As evidence that these things are occurring, the patient entertains a festering sore. Sometimes typhoid bacteria are taken into the digestive tract, thence into the blood stream where they slowly multiply. The individual contracts typhoid fever. The body throws into the blood stream substances known as agglutinins. These agglutinins draw the bacteria into little clumps which slowly weaken the organisms so that they cannot multiply. Soon they die and the individual slowly recovers. The diphtheria germ is all about us. It finds the region of the throat a suitable place in which to live. As this organism works, a great amount of poison is produced which destroys the throat tissues. It swells and the individual suffocates. Eventually some of the vital organs are affected. While this poisoning is going on, the body throws off some anti-poison, which counteracts the effects of the disease. The body, however, often is too slow, so man has come to the rescue, and by a series of experiments has found out how to secure antitoxin in large amounts. Now when a person contracts diphtheria, antitoxin is injected, which counteracts the poison. The individual gets better and slowly recovers. Another organism finds ready access to the lungs. If the body is weak the bacteria develop in the lungs, little tubercles or nodules which slowly fill up the little alveoli or cells of the lungs. Slowly

July, 1929 MAN IN THE WORLD OF UNSEEN THINGS 7M the lungs fail to work and the individual dies of tuberculosis. These little tubercles, filled by bacteria, are sometimes walled in by protec- tive tissue. There are very few individuals who have not sometime in their lives battled with these tubercle bacilli, but the resistance of the individual has been so strong that he has imprisoned these organisms within the walls of tissue so that they have died without doing much harm. The pneumonia germ, the tetanus bacillus, the small pox, spinal meningitis and infantile paralysis germs or filterable viruses and many others are waiting for weaknesses in men, but man as a class seems to have resisted the larger part of them and has held them in check. Has the thought ever arisen, why man should have this natural immunity, this power to resist the invading parasites? Is it not another illustration of the great plan of an All-wise Being? Does it not fit in with the same series of questions which ask why plants grow? Why the atmosphere contains the right proportion of oxygen and carbon dioxide? Why the seasons are as they are, etc.? The great force responsible for all this is the same great force re- sponsible for the ability which man possesses in resisting the attacks of the enemies of the unseen world. The second part of this discussion should prove impressive. There is a parallel between the unseen hosts which attack man and the unseen hosts in the soil which wait to attack that upon which man depends, the plant. In the soil there are innumerable organisms, as many as one billion in each pound of soil. Many of these organisms are "oppor- tunists" too. They, too, wait until the plant weakens, then start their destructive attacks. When the soil is in a healthy state the desirable bacteria work and render such great service that plants are produced abundantly. If soil conditions are not favorable, however, then the plant parasites do their work. Soil is naturally such that plants develop great resistance. Poor treatment of the soil wears down the ability of the soil to furnish the resistance the plant needs Give the soil improper care and any number of conditions may pre- vail which will allow the plant to lower its resistance and thus be- come a prey to the undesirable germs. Scab, rhizoctonia, mosaic and fusarium wilt of potatoes, scab, root rot, and nematode infection of sugar beets, smuts and rusts of grain, wilts and rots of alfalfa, stem rot of cabbage and tomatoes and many other diseases common to all crops are caused by disease germs which lurk in the soil. They are just as prevalent and wait as patiently for an opportunity as do the bacteria which prey upon

738 IMPROVEMENT ERA Mf. 1929 the human body. All they want is something to weaken the resistance of the plant. All plants must have carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, potash, sulphur, calcium, iron and magnesium. If nitrogen is short in the soil, large roots and poor top development will occur. Many plants will produce dry, yellowish brown, unfruitful, dwarfed bodies. If the nitrogen and the potash in the wheat are out of balance, yellow berry, a common disease of wheat, will result, which means a poor grade of flour in the manufactured product. Fleshy roots and tubers such as sugar beets and potatoes very often suffer from potash hunger and when they do, the plants develop yellow and bronzed leaves, discolored stems, and wilted leaves and stems, such that the whole plant is thrown out of a healthy condition and a weakened state ensues, followed by the invasion of the waiting parasites and all the accompanying diseases. Often it is interpreted that the disease germs were so prevalent that the plant could not resist. Really one should realize that it is largely due to the weak- ened resistance of the plant which prepared it for the attack by the waiting organisms, just as it is with human beings. If there is too much water in the soil, the temperature and air relations become bad for the plants, and they are weakened to the extent that they succumb to disease. Apple scald, black heart and tip burn of potatoes, lodging of grain, bitter pit of apples, blossom end rot in tomatoes, water core in apples, are all due to improper air, water and temperature relations. Most all of these physiological diseases lower the resistance of the plant, and when a plant acquires them they are so weak that any number of disease organisms do attack them, and soon new diseases complicate the whole plant situation. The thought one must get from this is that these parasitic disease troubles seldom occur until the weakened resistance has created a gateway by which the germs may enter. This parallelism between plant, soil and man is very evident. When man keeps up his resistance, the waiting army keeps on wait- ing. When man keeps up the resistance of the soil the disease army keeps on waiting. Man is powerful in both cases. Proper care in his eating, sleeping and other health habits keeps up his resistance. Man by proper rotation, fertility, plowing and cultivating practices keeps up the resistance of the soil, too. This takes care of the proper feed habits of plants, together with proper soil sanitation. It is in the power of man to take care of himself and to provide proper environ- ment for plants so that they can resist the ravages of disease. A little contemplation at this point is worth while. One is often asked to go into the clear night and gaze upon the stars and note their grandeur, or watch the wonderful panorama of nature

July, i92o MAN jN THE WORLD OF UNSEEN THINGS 739 when one stands upon Bright Angel Point and studies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Man's experience will place him in a reverential attitude, such that he will be led to declare, as one great scientist did when he said, "O God, I think thy thoughts after thee." A little contemplation on this problem "Man in the world of unseen things," too, can cause him to ask: When cometh all this? Why can man resist these innumerable hosts which are waiting for an opportunity to attack him? Why, when such diseases do occur thai man can develop phagocytes, agglutinins and antitoxins to over power these invaders? Why can man assist the helpless plants to resist, too, the disease germs of the soil. If he should not be able to do so, no plant could live upon the earth and hence man could not exist. He is absolutely dependent upon the plant for life and the plant is in turn dependent upon him to keep up its resistance. Why is this? What can have caused so ideal a situation to prevail? In the great scheme of things, could man have planned it so ideally? The thought stirs up the religious emotions so that when he observes these wonders of nature and feels the great divine force responsible for it all, he is led to declare with the psalmist of old, "What is man that thou are mindful of him?" Understanding When life began to polish off my corners, And grind them down, I thought it very hard. I did not understand the severe methods, Nor did I glimpse the final sweet reward. But as each roughened spot is cut and rounded. I come to see more clearly, and to know, The methods of the Jeweler's great labors, Who polishes a stone that it may show. Its facets gleaming pure; reflecting brightly The work that He had done, and showing Him To be the perfect workman, and that He has Ground and polished such a perfect gem. And though the process may be far from pleasant. If every corner broken makes more bright My soul, then I'll reflect in patient waiting The radiant beams of Heaven; it is right. Hazelton. Idaho • MRS. FRED G. KlLGORE