Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser

SANITATION FOR THE PEOPLE. [BY DR. WALKER J] III.—OBJECT (continued). Following up the idea that a study of causes and conditions is the true objective of the sanitarian,. and in fulfilment of my promise, I will now essay the task of explaining what we mean by a Bacterium. It iø by no means easy to render into ,popular language, what is treated of in Science by a very liberal use of technical terms, some of which have seen the light only within the last year or two. Let me also remind the reader, that the subject is in its infancy, and know- ledge, ever increasing, renders any opinions and deductions liable to altera- tions. A bacterium is a minute* particle of semifluid matter apparently without struc- ture, except a central spot (nucleus) which may be seen in many of them. It is covered with a thin and pliable skin or membrane which gives it form. It takes about 25,000 of these specks placed side by side to measure one inch. Some are round or globular, some shorter or longer rods, some like bits of thread or hair, straight, twisted, or curled, some are branched,. some are seen separately, some in masses, irregular or in definite groups of four or eighty or like locks of hair. It has been lately found that both form and arrangement may be modified by the substance in which they develope, and therefore these are not as a means ahrays reliable identification. Some are capable of movement rapid or slow, by means of threads projecting from them (cilia) or otherwise; others are motionless. They have been classified in the vegetable kingdom, but some partake more of the animal type, They are of different colours, chiefly white or yellow, but some of brilliant red, blue, or green, and a few are phosphorescent. They usually give rise to a more or less offensive odour, but some give off a sweet though lieav; Huvium. Some live in or upon living is, animal or vegetable, as parasites; oi nrrv igate only or prefer- ably on dead* mittir (putrefactive), though they may produce disease in living matter also. To the former class chiefly belong the disease-producing germs (pathogenic) with which we are too familiar. Another important classification is their behaviour in relation to air, or rather the oxygen which exists in it to the extent of a fifth part. Oxygen is poisonous to many (anaerobic), and necessary to some (aerobic), The majority can exist either with or without air, though they have generally a preference for one or the other condition. Sunlight, especially direct sunlight, is fatal to some bacteria, some require light. while others are indifferent to its action. Great heat is destructive to the majority of germs, though some (like the hay-bacillus) can stand prolonged boiling. Their mode of propagation is of the greatest importance, and artificial culture is now relied on for identification even more than form or arrangement. By means of suitable sub- stances, as geiatine, beef-broth, starch, sugar etc., bacteria are made to colonize, are sepa- rated, and studied with the most assiduous care. The patience and skill of our bacter- iologists is but poorly requited by the world, which heaps its riches and honours on those who destroy instead of on those who labour to preserve human life. The rapidity or direction of their growth, their colours and other characteristics, and the results on the medium in which they are placed, dis- tinguish them from each other. Aniline dyes are used to stain the bacterium or its central nucleus, and are a valuable means of identification, without which it would often be quite invisible. The mode of pro- pagation may b. by sub-division, and this is often incredibly rapid, doubling their num- bers in an hour, or by spores, which is slower but much more persistent. In the spore or resting stage, which some bacteria assume when threatened with death, they are almost indestructible. Boiling, taking, or pounding will fail to kill them. Warmth and moisture favour the growth of germs. Severe cold or absence of water will merely delay their development. Their power of adapting themselves to circum- stances is remarkable. Recent discoveries show that they may be cultivated out of one class into another, thus going contrary to their usual mode of life. The particular species- and they are all mixed up in Nature-which finds the conditions most favourable, starve- out, poison, or devour their neighbours. There is a merciless warfare carried on, even to extermination of the weaker sort. When thieves fall out, honest men come by their own," says the proverb, and so this conflict results in the well-being of man and beast, and even inanimate Nature. The usefulness and potency of bacterial agency is now known as an established fact in the economy of Nature. Processes formerly thought to be chemical or mech- anical are now believed to be due to bacterial activity. Through it the soil is purified, and noxious matter de- stroyed or rather converted into food for plants. The growth and fructificataon of the plants themselves (as in peas and beans) is stimulated sometimes by. a root bacterium. Rain water is purified and terated by bacteria as it passes through the earth to feed the springs and fill our water courses. It is even believed that the earth's crust is modified in shape and condition by bacteria, and that the- coal measures found in them their early be- ginnings. But the relations of bacteria to man is the most important question. They enter his system by the mouth and nose, passing either to the throat, lung, or stomach, or by the skin or mucous membrane, or are inoculated by a wound or injury to the surface of the body. They give rise to fever, and the distinctive characters of the disease of which they are the bearers. These effects are believed to be due rather to poisonous products of the bacteria, than to the germs themselves, and may be produced or not according to the resis- ting power of the system. But a con- sideration of the natural or artificial means of protection against bacteria falls under the "heading of my next article— method.

THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH. THURSDAY last was a day of juMliation throughout the country. The news of the relief of Ladysmith was received here, in common with other districts, with the greatest enthusiasm. The demonstrations of rejoicing were quite spontaneous and totally unorganised, and some, as will be seen from our local reports, were not without a touch of quaintness-and humour. The enthusiasm was contagious, and when night fell, it was evident; from the blazing of many a distant hill-top that the tidings had reached the most secluded parts of the country. It is worthy of record that the demonstrations were carried out in the best of temper there was hardly any manifesta- tion of an ungenerous spirit towards a brave enemy. In the main, the public rejoiced over the accomplishment of a task that was the more great and noteable because of the greatness and, ardour of the fighting men whom our troops had overcome. Everyone sympathised with General WHITE and his gallant band, who. had so long withstood the attacks of the enemy, and no one could fail to recognise the heroism displayed by General BULLER and his troops in the face of tremendous difficulty. Business was practically suspended, and the popular enthusiasm which welcomed the announce- ment of the relief of Ladysmith was certainly not equalled for a generation. This year's Saint DAVID'S day will be er memorable. Let us hope that our English friends will not totally eclipse our Patron Saint by having General BULLER canonized f orthwitli.

SHORTHORN CATTLE. THIS week we print a full report of a valu- able address on The Breeding of Shorthorn Cattle" delivered by Mr. C. MORGAN RICHARDSON at the Annual Meeting of the Agricultural Association of the University College, Aberystwyth, which was held last Friday under the presidency of Professor EDWARD EDWARDS. Mr. MORGAN RICHARD- SON is an acknowledged authority on the subject which he so ably treated, and he is too well-known in these parts to need any word of recommendation we could give. All we can do is to give the address a wider publicity, which it so richly deserves and to urge all who are engaged in agriculture to carefully peruse it, and thus add to their intelligence and interest. Mr. RICHARDSON dwelt at length on the method of selection, and of securing fixity of type, and the advantages of co-operation among tenant farmers. He pointed out that Welsh tenant farmers have not been wholly unsuccessful as breeders, and that they have already made an enormous improvement in their cattle. He strongly advised the farmers to register their cattle, and not to be too fastidious as to colour. They should not follow any craze for a particular line of breeding, but rather buy good, straight, square cattle with good milking vessels. Great care should be taken to select animals to suit the district; for this reason he advised the farmers to buy locally, and at dispersal rather than at draught .sales. They should never buy a very thin cow, for more often than not the leanness was a sign of tuberculosis. The Agricultural Association is, as yet, only in its infancy, but it is already doing excellent work under the fostering care and guidance of Professors MURRAY and WILLIAMS. Prin- cipal ROBERTS said the Association consisted of a very fair proportion of the best future farmers of our counties, and he believed profoundly that the country would secure many benefits through such a co-operation as that brought about by the Association. It would enable these young farmers to exchange ideas, and it would also be an excellent medium to disseminate a fuller knowledge of modern methods aud illlgdern science. Principal ROBERTS remarked that perhaps the chief problem they had before them in connection with agriculture was the uplifting of the general standard of knowledge, especially in regard to natural sciences, of the younger generation.

RHODES: A NOTE OF WARNING. THE sinister figure of CEGII, RHODES already appears on the scene, and the significance of his proceedings should be marked at once. He has been speaking at the De Beers meet- ing in Kimberley, announcing heavy divi- dends and bright prospects of huge and everlasting profits the life of the diamond mines was endless." A great interest was at stake at Johannesburg, and it was time for some powerful corporation to deal with the dynamite monopoly which existed there.' RHODES favoured the meeting with his view of the war. The Dutch farmer has been deceived, but the day of reckoning is coming. The Pretorian Government is Kruger and his gang of Hollander placemen steened in corruption, and even the Dutch people have no voice and have been deluded." The Free State, he declared, had been plunged into the war by the will of two individuals. Attorney Fischer and bucolic Steyn." The latter he described as a great,, fat, hearty man of forty, physically quite capable of going into the field, but preferring to stay at Bloemfontein." We need not dwell on the execrable taste of these personal refer- ences or on the harm they are likely to do at a most critical stage in the war. Nor will we pause to recall the manner in which RHODES' prophecies and calculations about the war have been falsified. It is not necessary to ask by what right RHODES, whose frantic eflorts to get relief are already pretty well known and will be better known, sneers at any man's personal courage. What must strike everyone is the way in which, this man, in the hour of gaining his dearly bought freedom, gloats publicly over the prospects of increased dividends and "power- ful corporations." His speech is an outrage on the memory of our brave dead soldiers. RHODES was not worth the sacrifice of one life, and yet it is not too much to say that he is responsible for the loss of thousands. It was he who goaded the republics into a frenzy of suspicion and hate it was he who tied the hands of our Government in making provision for war by his abominable raid; it is he who is mainly responsible for the almost unanimous hos- tility with which we are regarded by civilised nations;, and it is undoubted that his now discredited predictions ane: estimates helped to induce the light heart which has lost us so much. We believe that the vast majority of our countrymen entered into this war because they believed it to be a war for liberty and justice. If they had been convinced that it was a war for RHODES and I his fellow-millionaires, they would never have put even one life in hazard. A word of strong and emphatic warn- ing is eminently needed at this hour. We must have a just and final settlement. Any just settlement must ensure the breaking of the tyranny of the capitalist. It must ensure that as large a part as possible of the cost of this war should be paid by them. It must, as far as possible, be in accordance with the Dutch sentiment. Unless RHODES and his like lie low there is a real danger that the sentiment of this country will not sanction such a settlement as is necessary to prevent further strife. Those opposed to the war may not be many. But if they are reinforced by those opposed to RHODES they will sweep the country. When the war is over, one of the first duties will be to demand that RHODES shall be struck from the list of the Privy Council, and deprived, as far as possible, of power to work further mischief. Better, we say deliberately, a South Africa under KRUGER and STEYN than a South Africa under RHODES- the man who had not i. word to spare for the heroes who have fallen-not a thought for his country's long agony- nothing in his mind or mouth but coarse insults for his not yet baffled foes, and baits and comforts for greedy shareholders.-The British Weekly

NOTES AND COMMENTS. + At a meeting of the North Cardiganshire Cob Society on Monday it was decided to hold a Show on the first Monday in April. It has been pointed out that despite a recent statement in the House of Commons, there is little doubt that the contributions of Churchmen to the support of their Vol- untary schools have decidedly fallen off since the Act of 1897. Even Canon Burnside's statistics, when analysed, show that for the year ending Easter, 1899, there was a drop of about X100,000 as compared with the previous year, and various diocesan reports bear witness to the apathy which is creeping over Churchmen in regard to their schools. A fight is proceeding between the social reformers of New York and the gambling magnates. Over 1,000 policy shops on the Italian style, with more than a million players exist in Greater New York. These establishments pay tribute to the police, who in consequence ignore their existence. In connection with the Anti-Policy Bill now be- foro the Legislature it is said the policy kings have sent a bribery fund of XlO,000 to the Senate. A little less idle criticism and a little more real encouragement is what the Aber- ystwyth and many another County School want while they are as yet struggling in their infancy. Aberystwyth County School is doing excellent work, and is in every way fully justifying its existence. Con- sidering the enormous demands in time and money that are not infrequently made upon some of the leading men of the town by the University College-which is a national in- stitution-we believe the managers of the Intermediate School, which is a more local institution, have strong claims for appealing for outside support. Sir William Harcourt, who was the chief guest of the Welsh National Dinner at the Hotel Cecil, London, on St. David's Day, said that a year or two ago lie enjoyed nothing so much as his visit to Aberyst- wytli, where he found himself renewing his youth." In reply to a correspondent, Lord Rose- bery has directed his secretary to say that "he is not aware that he has ever used language which could be construed, or even distorted, into the expression of a belief on his part that conscription is necessary, or expedient, in this country." Sir Samuel Montague, speaking in London on Monday night, said that he hoped that the cost of the war would be placed on the mining industry in the Transvaal. The Rand capitalists were mainly responsible for the war, and ought to have to pay for it. As it was, the working classes were being mulcted directly or indirectly in the whcle amount. Sir John Llewellyn, Sir John Jones Jenkins, and Mr. Brynmor Jones, supported by a large number of their Welsh Parlia- mentary colleagues, have presented a petition to the Chairman of the Inland Revenue Board in favour of the appointment of a Welsh-speaking officer to the- post of Chief Clerk of Inland Revenue at Swansea, which is now vacant. In definitely abandoning her visit to Bor- dighera the Queen, says the Morning Leader again shows her real sympathy with the national anxiety. Yet everyone will be sorry that her Majesty should, at her age, have to give up her opportunity of escaping the detestable winds which make March in England so intolerable. St. David's Day celebrations are evidently becoming more useful as well as more popular from year to year. This week the greater jpart of our columns are devoted to reports of festive gatherings in honour of our patron saint; and it will be seen that at not a few of these handsome contri- butions were made towards the Welsh Hospital for South Africa. At a Council held at Windsor Castle on Saturday, her Majesty performed the cere- mony of pricking the sheriffs for the ensuing year. The new officials for this district are Cardiganshire—Mr. Abraham Garrod Thomas, Panteryrod, Llanarth. Carmarthenshire — Mr. Benjamin Evans,. Llwynderw, Swansea. Merionethshire-Mr. Robert Charles Anwyl, Llugwy, Mach- ynlleth. Montgomeryshire—Captain Peter Audley David Arthur Lovell, Llanerchydol. Lampeter has a School Board which appears to be far more enlightened and progressive than its Town Council. We feel sure that the majority of the ratepayers of that town will live long enough to be grateful to Mr. T. Lloyd for the active interest he takes in questions of public health. But imagine the School Board I having to pass a resolution to call the attention of the local sanitary authority to an important question of public health. The late Earl Errol, father of the present Earl, who had charge of the Boer prisoners from Cronje's laager to Cape Town, used to make audible comments and corrections on the sermons of the preachers in Port Erroll Church. It is said that when one preacher was rebuking the conduct of the man in Scripture, who excused himself because "he had married a wife, and could' not come," and asking, rhetorically, the question, "Why could not he have taken his wife with him ? Lord Erroll leaned forward on his desk and whispered, Perhaps he bad enough of her at home." Sir Thomas Lipton, the great tea merchant, does not think that the effect of the increased duty on tea will have the effect of making any man or woman in this country drink a single cup of tea less. In the tea trade profits are cut so fine that the increased duty must come out of the pockets of the consumers. Of course it would mean, says Sir Thomas, that tea would be twopence a pound dearer. And he did not see why the teetotallers should object to contributing their quota towards the defence of the Empire. A succession of remarkable scenes, described by the officials as unprecedented, was witnessed at the London Custom House on Monday. A crowd assembled in the narrow street at an early hour, and when the doors were opened at nine the place was quickly crowed by an army of importers, merchants, and agents, anxious to take out of bond dutiable goods-whisky, wines, tea, and tobacco. Great excitement prevailed, and the struggle to be first was fierce. In a single hour, it is stated, the sum of XIOO,000 was paid in. Similar activity was displayed at other Custom Houses throughout the country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his Budget proposals, submitted to the House of Commons on Monday night, contemplates the raising of X12,317,000 by additional taxation in the ensuing financial y. Income-tax, which is increased by fourperice, is expected to produce X6,500,000, or more than half the total sum. An additional shilling per barrel is imposed on beer, sixpence per gallon on spirits, fourpence per pound on tobacco, and sixpence per pound on foreign cigars. The tea duty is augmented by twopence per pound, and some further revenue is expected from an extension of stamp duties payable on contract notes. Sir Michael Hicks Beach mentioned the interesting fact that during the current year the death duties have, in all, yielded no less than 17 millions sterling. Of this amount the estates of deceased millionaires have yielded £ 2,271,000. One estate alone paid £ 900,000—an estate which the Chancellor of the Exchequer explained amid cheers, fortunately belonged to a foreigner. Sir William Harcourt has spoken more than once of the rich source of income which these equitable duties tapped. In our gratitude for the results of them do not let us forget that the Tory party fought against them tooth and nail and endeavoured by a campaign of unparalleled obstruction to de- stroy them. At a meeting of the Farmers' Club at the Salisbury Hotel, Salisbury-square, Mr. J. Bowen-Jones read a paper on The First Report of the Royal Commission on Local Taxation," in the course of which he pointed out that outside the metropolis few authorities adopted any one system. There was no uniform principle of compounding, no guarantee that union assessment com- mittees fairly represented all the interests within their unions, and no statutory power to ascertain from owners and occupiers of property certain particulars. The effect of this was that inequalities existed, which might tend towards over or under valuation. He was in favour of some central and supervisory authority acting in conjunction with the local committee. t