population as the
amount of energy it receives from the sun and other sources will
warrant; public debts and the efficiency of the governments being the
variable elements.

"The rabbits in Australia, and the far more objectionable poisonous
snakes in South America and India, have been exterminated by the
capture of a few dozen of the creatures in the infested districts,
their inoculation with the virus similar to the murus tiphi,
tuberculosis or any other contagious-germ complaint to which the
species treated was particularly susceptible, and the release of these
individuals when the disease was seen to be taking hold. The rabbits
and serpents released at once returned to their old haunts, carrying
the plague far and wide. The unfortunate rabbits were greatly
commiserated even by the medicos that wielded the death-dealing
syringe; but, fortunately for themselves, they died easily. The
reptiles, perhaps on account of the wider distribution of the nerve
centres, had more lingering but not painful deaths, often, while in
articulo mortis, leaving the holes with which they seemed to connect
their discomfort, and making a final struggle along the ground, only to
die more quickly as a result of their exertions. We have applied this
also to the potato-bug, locust, and other insect pests, no victim being
too small for the ubiquitous, subtle germ, which, properly cultivated
and utilized, has become one of man's best friends.

"We have microbe tests that show us as unmistakably whether the germs
of any particular disease--like malaria, typhoid, or scarlet fever--are
present in the air, as litmus-paper shows alkalinity of a solution. We
also inoculate as a preventive against these and almost all other germ
diseases, with the same success that we vaccinate for smallpox.

"The medicinal properties of all articles of food are so well
understood also, that most cures are brought about simply by dieting.
This, reminds me of the mistakes perpetrated on a friend of mine who
called in Dr. Grave-Powders, one of the old-school physicians, to be
treated for insomnia and dyspepsia. This old numskull restricted his
diet, gave him huge doses of medicine, and decided most learnedly that
he was daily growing worse. Concluding that he had but a short time to
live, my friend threw away the nauseating medicines, ate whatever he
had a natural desire for, and was soon as well as ever--the obvious
moral of which is, that we can get whatever t