Various

“ Bacteria are plants; not because of any absolute characteristic that separates them from animals, but because comparative study shows that they are more like plants than animals. They are single-celled organisms and each individual has the prime factors of life, assimilation, growth and reproduction. Each bacterium is an independent cell and although the cells in some species remain attached to one another, giving rise to characteristic groupings, they are mostly detached and free individuals. Bacteria can increase in numbers to a remarkable extent when favorable conditions exist. ”

“ It is said to be indigenous to every part of the inhabited globe except South America and the islands of the Pacific. It is equally at home in the fierce heat of the equator and among the frosts of Siberia. In olden times, the fig was the index of a native civilization. Later on, the vine was king, but at the present time there are many who maintain that the Apple is the only genuine index of civilized man, and claim that it flourishes best in those regions where man’s moral and intellectual supremacy is most marked. ”

“ There are many circumstances constantly at work to prevent an overgrowth of bacteria; exhaustion of food supply, antagonism of species and fresh air with sunshine, are the most important. Bacteria are present everywhere in greater or less numbers, except within the bodies of healthy, growing plants and animals. It is for this reason that bacteria become so active and multiply with great rapidity when once established in the tissue fluids of larger organisms, either before or after they have died. Vital activities during health prevent the entrance of bacteria into our bodies. ”

“ Decomposition stands before life; without it the progress of the generations would terminate. The gradual and ever rapid disappearance of the substance of vegetable and animal bodies after death makes room for growing life. With an absence of decomposition the bodies of plants and animals would collect on the earth and cover it so deeply with organic matter that plants in particular would be entirely unable to obtain requisite nourishment. Higher plants having chlorophyll are able to feed on inorganic material, while bacteria require organic matter to sustain life. ”

“ All the methods of preservation of food depend upon bacteriological principles, while modern sanitary science is based on the recognition of the cause of infectious diseases. The presence of specific bacteria in the secretions or tissues of man and animals is now such a certainty for many diseases that the work of making bacteriologic diagnoses is in itself an extensive vocation. Within the next few years every city in America will have a diagnosis laboratory for infectious diseases. ”

“ Hygienists are learning more every day as to the exact way in which disease bacteria pass from person to person, and the reasons for the occurrence of diseases. They have learned that the accidental and unusual circumstance is least important, 8 but that there is a regular train of cause and effect, and in the knowledge of how to break this chain is the key to the proper control of an epidemic. Veterinary medicine has been able to obtain benefits from bacteriology much beyond those already so important to human medicine. ”

“ In Europe, the scallop is considered quite a delicacy and several tons are gathered annually. One species (Pecten jacobaeus) has been dignified as a badge of several orders of knighthood and it was also worn by pilgrims to the Holy Land a good many years ago. It was called “St. James’ Shell.”
The most common shell to the layman is the oyster (Ostrea virginica) , the cultivation of which occupies the attention of a large number of men and the investment of considerable capital. The oyster is free and active when young, but becomes attached to some submerged object early in life. ”

“ And they had always thought that myriads of brilliant flowers were changed into the daintiest of all things. The little Humming Birds must have been flowers at one time, for they were always hovering around them, kissing them and making love to them. ”

“ Such a growth of bacteria in a test tube can contain many millions of bacteria, while the resulting appearance of growth is due to the heaping up of the individuals. To the naked eye the cells are invisible, but the mass is recognized in the same way that one would know a field of wheat in the distance without being able to see each separate plant. Species of bacteria are separated by distributing a few organisms throughout a fluid and then planting upon solid media. ”

“ In our own country they are not generally eaten, except by the poor in Florida and in some places along the Gulf of Mexico, but the waters of Florida furnish some very handsome species, among them the Cardium isocardia figured on our plate, and the large Cardium magnum, which grows to a length of five inches and whose shell is ornamented by beautiful color-patterns of brown and yellow. The foot of the Cardium is very peculiar, being shaped like a sickle, which enables the animal to pull itself along at a lively gait. ”

“ In some parts of the Indian Ocean, where pearl and sponge-fishing are carried on, this clam (known as the giant clam) , is a source of great danger to the divers, many losing their lives by being caught between the great valves of the shell, by either hands or feet. Many times a diver has amputated his fingers, hand or foot, and thus saved his life at the expense of one or more of these members.
The Tellinas (family Tellinidae) number among its five hundred or more species some very beautiful and interesting animals. ”

“ Vanilla must be cultivated with great care. In Mexico a clearing is made in the forest, leaving a few trees twelve to fifteen feet apart to serve as a support for the vanilla plants. Cuttings of the vanilla stems are made three to five feet in length, one cutting being inserted into the soil to a depth of about ten inches near each tree. The cuttings become rooted in about one month and grow quite rapidly, but do not begin to bear fruit until the third year and continue to bear for about thirty years. ”

“ There are, however, times when the association of different species of bacteria and also the association of bacteria with higher plants is of mutual advantage. The association of decomposition and pathogenic bacteria frequently makes it possible for the latter to infect an animal, when alone it perhaps would not take place. Again, the growth of certain bacteria within the root-structure of plants greatly improves their functional activity. The leguminous plants are enabled to assimilate much larger quantities of nitrogen when associated with bacteria than when growing alone. ”

“ The admiration of all are my legs and claws, as I keep them so clean, and they are a beautiful blue, just the shade of malachite. I am seven inches long, and for the last month have been getting black spots over my eyes and on my throat. ”

“ Successful cultivation of bacteria depends upon a knowledge of sterilization, preparation of culture media and isolation of species. It is in fact miniature gardening. A rod of platinum wire is the trowel and this is kept clean and free from undesirable organisms by heating it red hot in the gas flame. With it bacteria are lifted from tube or plate. The culture media required are mostly beef-tea and gelatine mixtures and are prepared with extreme care as to their composition and reaction. ”

“ They may be found everywhere, in salt and fresh water, in our forests and fields, our ponds, brooks and rivers; in the valleys and on the mountain tops, and even in the waters of the frozen north, while in the warm waters of the tropics they flourish in uncounted millions. ”

“ As they are full of nervous activity, and are “eminently migratory birds,” they seem to flit rather than fly through the United States as they pass northward in the spring to their breeding places, and southward in the fall to their winter homes among the luxuriant forests and plantations of the tropics. All the species are purely American, and as they fly from one extreme to the other of their migratory range they remain but a few days in any intermediate locality. Time seems to be an important matter with them. ”

“ The number of eggs varies from three to seven, and are frequently laid long before the ice and snow have disappeared. “The eggs vary from oval to oblong oval in shape, are pure white in color, and somewhat glossy, the shell is smooth and fine-grained.” Incubation begins as soon as the first egg is laid, and both sexes participate in this duty, and occasionally both are found on the nest at the same time. At the nesting season the courage of both sexes is very marked. The male will fight with its talons, and even when wounded will still defend itself. ”

“ Bacteriology is now an established science, and it is as competent to render service in due proportion to its development and with the same integrity as any biological subject. There are now many known facts in bacteriology that cannot be made useful because intermediate steps in their study have not been learned. It will require long series of experiments in some cases, but when added to the present usefulness of bacteriology the results may be expected to satisfy the most severe critics. ”

“ The Townsend’s Warbler is a native of Western North America, especially near the Pacific coast. Its range extends from Sitka on the north to Central America on the south, where it appears during the winter. In its migration it wanders as far east as Colorado. It breeds from the southern border of the United States northward, nesting in regions of cone-bearing trees. It is said that the nest of this Warbler is usually placed at a considerable height, though at times as low as from five to fifteen feet from the ground. ”

“ The different varieties of apples have all descended from a species of crab found wild in most parts of Europe. Although there are two or three species of wild crab belonging to this country, yet none of our cultivated varieties have been raised from them, but rather from seeds of the species brought here by the colonists from Europe—over two hundred varieties of apples are known at the present time. As a rule, the Apple is a hardy, slow-growing tree, with an irregular head, rigid branches, roughish bark, and a close-grained wood. It thrives best in limestone soils and deep loams. ”

“ The decomposition of the culture medium is prevented by keeping it in test tubes or flasks plugged with cotton and sterilized by boiling. By means of the cotton plug the air passing in and out of the tube is filtered and the bacteria floating in the air are caught in the cotton and cannot get into the tube. It also prevents bacteria from the culture getting out of the tube and spreading infectious material. Each test tube represents a little greenhouse, but one that is free from all life ”

“ A set of stout adductor muscles keep the two shells or valves together and allow them to open and close at the will of the animal. The majority of clams live in the mud in a horizontal position, the anterior end being buried and the posterior end, containing the siphons which draw in and expel the water, being out of the mud, in the water. The clam progresses by pushing forward its strong, muscular foot, getting a firm hold of the mud and then drawing the shell after it. ”