Bacteria Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public health — Reading Companion

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Authors: Newman, George, Sir, 1870-1948 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2015 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Bacteriology; Bacteria Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 107,830

Reading time 469 min

Text sections 16

Bacteria Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public health — Reading Companion can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 107,830 words, 7 hr 49 min estimated reading time, and 16 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 19.2 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Bacteriology,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #48793

Newman's 1899 popular science work examines bacteria's roles in nature, industry, and public health, emphasizing quantitative data and the challenges of establishing bacterial standards in milk and water.

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------------------------------------------ Transcriber's note: Words and sentences in bold typefont are surrounded with + signs. ------------------------------------------

1. +The Study of Man.+--By A. C. HADDON. Illustrated, 8^o, $2.00.

2. +The Groundwork of Science.+--By ST. GEORGE MIVART. 8^o, $1.75.

3. +Rivers of North America.+--By ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. Illustrated, 8^o, $2. 00.

4. +Earth Sculpture.+--By JAMES GEIKIE. Illustrated, 8^o, $2.00.

5. +Volcanoes.+--By T. G. BONNEY. Illustrated, 8^o, $2.00.

6. +Bacteria.+--By GEORGE NEWMAN. Illustrated, 8^o, $?

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON

Professor J. McKeen Cattell, M.A., Ph.D.

F. E. Beddard, M.A., F.R.S.

ESPECIALLY AS THEY ARE RELATED TO THE ECONOMY OF NATURE TO INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES AND TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH

M.D., F.R.S. (EDIN.), D.P.H. (CAMB.), ETC.

DEMONSTRATOR OF BACTERIOLOGY IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON

NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

The present volume is not a record of original work, nor is it a text-book for the laboratory. Theoretical and practical text-books of Bacteriology plentifully exist both in England and America. There are two large works widely used, one by Professor Crookshank, entitled _Bacteriology and Infective Diseases_, the other by Dr. Sternberg, _A Manual of Bacteriology_. There are also, in English, a number of smaller works by Abbott, Ball, Hewlett, Klein, Macfarland, Muir and Ritchie, and Sims Woodhead. This book is of a less technical nature. It is an attempt, in response to the editor of the series, to set forth a popular scientific statement of our present knowledge of bacteria. Popular science is a somewhat dangerous quantity with which to deal. On the one hand it may become too popular, on the other too technical. It is difficult to escape the Scylla and Charybdis in such a voyage.

I am much indebted to Professor Crookshank, who, in reading the manuscript, has helped me by many valuable criticisms. My thanks are also due to Sir C. T. D. Acland, Bart., for many kind suggestions, and to Mr. E. J. Spitta, M.R.C.S., who has been good enough to take a number of excellent photo-micrographs for me. Some other illustrations have been derived from the _Atlas of Bacteriology_, brought out jointly by Messrs. Slater and Spitta. For these also I am glad to have an opportunity of expressing my thanks. It should be understood that the outline drawings are only of a diagrammatic nature.

THE BIOLOGY OF BACTERIA 1

BACTERIA IN THE AIR 96

BACTERIA AND FERMENTATION 111

BACTERIA IN THE SOIL 137

BACTERIA IN MILK, MILK PRODUCTS, AND OTHER FOODS 178

THE QUESTION OF IMMUNITY AND ANTITOXINS 240

BACTERIA AND DISEASE 264

VARIOUS FORMS OF BACTERIA 9

NORMAL AND PLEOMORPHIC FORMS OF TUBERCLE 13

BACILLI, SHOWING FLAGELLA 15

VARIOUS FORMS OF SPORE FORMATION AND FLAGELLA 18

POTATO IN A ROUX TUBE PREPARED FOR CULTIVATION 22

STAPHYLOCOCCUS PYOGENES AUREUS INCUBATOR _to face_ 22

CULTURE MEDIA READY FOR INOCULATION 23

INOCULATING NEEDLES 24

PASTEUR'S LARGE INCUBATOR FOR CULTIVATION AT ROOM TEMPERATURE _to face_ 24

METHOD OF PRODUCING HYDROGEN BY KIPP'S APPARATUS FOR CULTIVATION OF ANAËROBES 27

KOCH'S STEAM STERILISER 31

LEVELLING APPARATUS FOR KOCH'S PLATE 40

MOIST CHAMBER IN WHICH KOCH'S PLATES ARE INCUBATED 41

HOT-AIR STERILISER 42

DRYING STAGE FOR FIXING FILMS 45

TYPES OF LIQUEFACTION OF GELATINE 47

WOLFHÜGEL'S COUNTER 49

APPARATUS FOR FILTERING WATER TO FACILITATE ITS BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION _to face_ 52

BACTERIA OF TYPHOID FEVER 56

BACILLUS COLI COMMUNIS 60

THE COMMA-SHAPED BACILLUS OF CHOLERA 66

*BACILLUS TYPHOSUS _to face_ 66

*BACILLUS TYPHOSUS " 66

*BACILLUS COLI COMMUNIS " 66

*BACILLUS MYCOIDES " 66

PASTEUR-CHAMBERLAND FILTER 80

BACILLUS ENTERIDITIS SPOROGENES 86

A PLAN OF SEPTIC TANK AND FILTER-BEDS 91

SEDGWICK'S SUGAR-TUBE 99

SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIÆ 117

ASCOSPORE FORMATION 120

ASCOSPORE FORMATION IN YEAST " 122

NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA FROM ROOTLET NODULES " 122

*BACILLUS OF TETANUS " 122

SACCHAROMYCES ELLIPSOIDEUS 126

SACCHAROMYCES PASTORIANUS 126

BACILLUS ACIDI LACTICI 131

BACILLUS BUTYRICUS 133

A METHOD OF GROWING CULTIVATIONS IN A VACUUM OVER PYROGALLIC SOLUTION 143

MICROCOCCUS FROM SOIL 151

NITROUS ORGANISM _to face_ 158

NITRIC ORGANISM " 158

NITROGEN-FIXING ORGANISM FROM SECRETION OF ROOT-NODULES " 158

ROOTLET OF PEA WITH NODULES 163

NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA IN SITU IN NODULE ON ROOTLET OF A PEA _to face_ 164

NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA IN SITU IN ROOTLET-NODULE OF A PEA " 164

NITROGEN-FIXING BACTERIA IN SITU IN ROOT-NODULE OF A PEA " 164

BACILLUS OF TETANUS 170

BACILLUS OF SYMPTOMATIC ANTHRAX 172

BACILLUS OF MALIGNANT ŒDEMA 172

SUSPENDED SPINAL CORD 255

FLASK USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THE TOXIN OF DIPHTHERIA 262

*BACILLUS TUBERCULOSIS _to face_ 280

*BACILLUS TUBERCULOSIS " 280

*STREPTOCOCCUS PYOGENES " 280

*BACILLUS ANTHRACIS " 280

FLASK USED IN THE PREPARATION OF TUBERCULIN 282

BACILLUS OF DIPHTHERIA 289

TYPES OF STREPTOCOCCUS 298

MICROCOCCUS TETRAGONUS 299

DIPLOCOCCUS OF NEISSER 300

BACILLUS OF ANTHRAX AND BLOOD CORPUSCLES 302

THREADS OF BACILLUS ANTHRACIS, SHOWING SPORES 302

BACILLUS OF PLAGUE 306

*BACILLUS OF PLAGUE _to face_ 310

*BACILLUS OF LEPROSY " 310

STREPTOTHRIX ACTINOMYCES " 310

BACILLUS MALLEI " 310

DIPLOCOCCUS OF PNEUMONIA 312

BACILLUS OF INFLUENZA 315

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George Newman opens Bacteria by positioning it as a popular scientific statement, deliberately distinct from the existing laboratory textbooks by Crookshank, Sternberg, and others. He acknowledges the difficulty of balancing accessibility with technical accuracy, a tension he calls the “Scylla and Charybdis” of popular science. The book’s subtitle—Especially as they are related to the economy of nature, to industrial processes, and to the public health—signals its broad, applied scope. Newman’s preface reveals a careful author: he thanks Professor Crookshank for reading the manuscript and notes that outline drawings are “only of a diagrammatic nature.” This self-awareness about the limits of illustration and the provisional nature of bacteriological knowledge recurs throughout the text.

Numbers, Temperature, and Time

Newman’s treatment of bacteria in milk is dominated by numerical data, yet he repeatedly warns against over-reliance on counts. He presents tables from Conn and Freudenreich showing how bacterial populations in milk rise from 153,000 per cubic inch at drawing to 85,000,000 after 24 hours. He also cites Buchanan Young’s Edinburgh research, which found 24,000 micro-organisms per cc in winter milk versus 173,000 in late summer. But Newman immediately undercuts these figures: “It is impossible to state even approximately how many bacteria … have been isolated from milk.” He calls mathematical computations “practically worthless” without an international standard, and labels sensational numbers “needlessly alarming.” This tension—between the desire to quantify and the recognition that conditions vary too widely—gives the prose a cautious, almost skeptical tone. Newman insists that qualitative analysis matters more than raw counts, and that most milk bacteria are fermentative, not pathogenic.

The Fermentative Majority

Newman classifies milk bacteria into two broad groups: non-pathogenic fermenters and pathogens such as tuberculosis, typhoid, and diphtheria. He devotes more space to the former, listing milk’s constituents—water, milk-sugar, fat, proteids, mineral matter—and noting that lactose (C12H24O12) is an “important and constant” substrate. His language here is methodical, almost textbook-like, but he avoids overclaiming: “At the most we can make a merely provisional classification of these processes.” The phrase “merely provisional” is characteristic. Newman frequently hedges, reminding readers that knowledge is limited and that many fermentations are “intimately related” and poorly understood. This restraint contrasts with the confident numerical tables elsewhere, creating a deliberate rhythm of assertion and qualification. The effect is a voice that values precision but refuses to pretend to certainty.

A Popular Science Balancing Act

Newman’s preface frames the book as a response to the series editor’s request for a “popular scientific statement.” He worries that popular science “may become too popular, on the other too technical.” This anxiety shapes the book’s structure: chapters move from biology to water, air, soil, milk, immunity, and disease, each mixing concrete data with broader context. In the milk chapter, Newman shifts between detailed tables and cautionary remarks about their unreliability. He also notes that “vast numbers of bacteria are economic in the best sense of the term,” a reminder that not all microbes are enemies. The prose is direct, often using short declarative sentences: “Concerning these figures little comment is necessary.” Yet he also employs rhetorical questions and occasional dry humor. The overall effect is that of a lecturer who knows his audience needs both facts and perspective, and who trusts them to handle uncertainty.

Newman’s Bacteria rewards readers who attend to its hesitations as much as its certainties. The author’s repeated warnings about provisional knowledge and the limits of numerical standards are not weaknesses but features of a careful scientific mind. For those interested in the history of public health or the rhetoric of early bacteriology, this book offers a revealing snapshot of how experts communicated uncertainty to a general audience at the turn of the century. Approach it not as a definitive manual but as a thoughtful, self-aware attempt to make a young science intelligible.

It’s funny how some books stay with you—I still think about that old Victorian one on bacteria, how quietly it measured the invisible in milk and water. Reading it felt like watching someone tend a garden by lamplight. About that same careful, almost solemn attention, I found in An Authentick Account of the Measures and Precautions Used at Venice By the Magistrate of the Office of Health, for the Preservation of Publick Health — Inside the Classic—the same steady hand, the same old worry for our shared air and water, phrased like a letter from a friend who simply wanted things to be safer for everyone.