From Miasma To Germ Theory: The Debates On Cholera
Although the connection between germ and disease was proposed quite early, it was not until the late-1800s that the germ theory was generally accepted. The miasmatic theory was first disproved by John Snow following an epidemic in Soho, central London in 1854. Because of the miasmatic theory's predominance among Italian scientists, the discovery in the same year by Filippo Pacini of the bacillus that caused the disease was completely ignored, and the bacteria had to be rediscovered thirty years later by Robert Koch.
In 1846, the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act was passed to identify whether the transmission of Cholera is by air or by water. The bill supported the Germ theory, and was used to encourage the owner to clean their dwelling and connect them to sewers.
Some years later in 1855, John Snow made a testimony against the Amendment to this bill that regularize air pollution of some industries. He claimed that:
| “ | That is possible; but I believe that the poison of the cholera is either swallowed in water, or got directly from some other person in the family, or in the room; I believe it is quite an exception for it to be conveyed in the air; though if the matter gets dry it may be wafted a short distance. | ” |
At the same year, William Farr, who was then the major supporter of the Miasma Theory, issued a report to criticize the germ theory. Farr and the Committee wrote that:
| “ | After careful inquiry, we see no reason to adopt this belief. We do not feel it established that the water was contaminated in the manner alleged; nor is there before us any sufficient evidence to show whether inhabitants of that district, drinking from that well, suffered in proportion more than other inhabitants of the district who drank from other sources. | ” |
The more formal experiments on the relationship between germ and disease were conducted by Louis Pasteur between 1860 and 1864. He discovered the pathology of the puerperal fever and the pyogenic vibrio in the blood, and suggest using boric acid to kill these micro organisms before and after confinement.
By 1866, eight years after the death of John Snow, William Farr publicly acknowledged that the miasma theory on the transmission of cholera was wrong, by his statistics' justification on the death rate.
Read more about this topic: Miasma Theory
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—Richard Matheson (b. 1926)
“In the Original Unity of the First Thing lies the Secondary Cause of All Things, with the Germ of their Inevitable Annihilation.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
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