FACTS ABOUT GERMS &HOW GERMS MULTIPLY RAPIDLY.

Germs are also called micro-organisms, because they are so small that one cannot see them without making use of a microscope. One dozen of germs can easily be accommodated inside a blood cell and have plenty of room to spare. And the blood cells are so small that five million germs could be crowded into one cubic millimeter of space. A millimeter is the distance across the inside of the typed letter "o". Some germs are round like a ball while others are elongated, being two or three times as long as they are wide. Some germs are still longer like a snake and others shaped like a cigar. Some are unable to move and others are able to move with the help of their hair-like legs.
Germs multiply very fast. It requires several months from the time a seed is planted until it sprouts, grows up and yields other seeds. But one germ, if it is in a warm place, will, in thirty minutes divide and become two full- grown germs; and in another thirty minutes these two germs will each divide into two, thus producing four; and in another half-hour there will be eight germs. If they keep on multiplying at this rate, the one germ can produce a family of a million germs in ten hours time.
Germs will grow in any place that is warm and has a little moisture. The conditions that favour most rapid growth and multiplication are warmth, moisture, and darkness. Unlike plants that requires sunlight in order to grow but germs are killed by strong sunlight. Germs also grow abundantly in places where there is decaying vegetables or animal matter. As a general rule it may be stated that the cleaner and lighter the place, the fewer germs there will be in it.
Since germs are so small, so light in weight, multiply so rapidly and can grow in or on almost everything, they are distributed very rapidly, in fact, there is hardly any place you could name where there are no germs. They are in our mouths and noses. They are in the food we eat, and the water we drink. Germs are on the floor and walls of our houses,in the surface soil of our courtyards, in the water ponds, wells and rivers, and in the air we breath. Wherever human beings live in large numbers, there the most germs are found.
Not all germs are harmful, but there are so many that harm man, the only safe plan is to be on guard against all germs,
We should always wash our hands with soap and water after using the toilet. The hands should also be washed before eating, our water for bathing, cleaning the house, and washing of our cloths should contain antiseptics or disinfectants. Moreover, water for drinking should be boiled or chlorinated.
In spite of every precaution being taken against disease germs, they will at times get into the body. But, thanks to the loving care of God, our bodies have been endowed with power to destroy disease germs if they are not too poisonous or too numerous. This power of resisting disease and destroying poisonous germs resides in the blood. If one does not have good food, or if he breathes air that is not pure, or works so hard that he is continually fatigued, or if he uses alcohol or tobacco, or if he is given to sexual excesses, the blood loses much of its power to resist and and destroy disease germs. Therefore it is important that in our efforts to guard against being infected with disease germs,we eat good food, breathe pure air, get seven to eight hours sleep every night, abstain from the use of alcohol and tobacco in any form, and live a clean lives normally. In this way the body will be strong and vigorous, and the blood will usually be enabled to kill the disease germs that may gain entrance to the body from time to time.