杀灭细菌的药物 某些传染疾病的微生物的发现，对现代医学的发展作出了巨大的贡献。路易·巴斯德发现了细菌。过了很久以后，科学家发现了病毒。但是，研制消灭这些可恶微生物的特效药的责任落在了当代科学家的肩上。 1928年秋，人们发现了一种强效药物。这一发现相当偶然。当时细菌学家亚历山大·佛来明博士正在地下试验室里研制一种能够杀灭致命细菌的物质。在他桌上放着一些装有细菌的小盘子。一天晚上，一个盘子碰巧没有盖上盖儿。第二天，他来到试验室，发现盘子在夜间生了霉菌。这本来不足为奇，因为地下室只有一扇窗户，又非常潮湿。但接着看到的却使他大吃一惊；那只没有盖上盖儿的盘子的外围细菌很多，而靠近霉菌的地方却一点也没有。那儿的细菌神秘地消失了。于是他很快把霉菌移到了一只洁净的盘子里，让它生长了两个星期。这种霉菌在试管里也同样能杀灭细菌。因此，他思索着：这种霉菌是否也能杀灭人体内的细菌呢？ 佛来明把试验结果写成一份报告，呈交给一个医学协会，他把发现的霉菌取名为“盘尼西林”。以后的十年里，他继续做盘尼西林试验，但他的发现根本没有引起医学界的重视。 与此同时，人类又发现了一种杀灭细菌和病毒的有效药物，这次也纯属偶然。当时一些德国科学家正研制纺织染料，其中一位名叫格哈特·杜马克。他把微量红色染料注射到患有传染病而奄奄一息的老鼠体内。转眼间，传染病消灭了，老鼠痊愈了。杜马克继续试验，从红色染料中研制出了一种新药，这就是最初的磺胺药。这一发现促使世界许多地方的科学家去寻求更新、更有效的磺胺药，他们也确实发现了若干种磺胺药，并做了改进。磺胺药物对一些可怕的疾病，如猩红热和麻疯病，都有良好的疗效。英国两位科学家研制了一种可以医治肺炎的磺胺药。在研制出此药之前，每年都有成千上万人死于肺炎。因此，不久这种磺胺药就赢得了特效药的美名。 美中不足的是，许多磺胺药都有副作用，这是因为磺胺药是一些不溶于人类血液的小晶体，可能在肾脏中集结，使肾功能衰减。还有人吃了磺胺药后，出现皮疹反应。 后来，1938年，英国一些科学家在一份旧医学杂志上偶然发现了佛来明博士的报告，并对该种药物重新做了进一步的试验。1941年，这种药物被宣布可安全用于人体。于是这种药投入大批量生产，价格也比以往便宜。成本降低后，全世界在治疗许多传染病时均可选用盘尼西林。然而，这其实是一种重新发现。 与磺胺药不同，盘尼西林是由人体可吸收的植物材料制成的，不过也有副作用，通常只是皮疹、低烧。但是，如果用在对这种药物过敏的患者身上，可能会有生命危险。尽管如此，这种药从开始使用以来已经拯救了千百万人的生命。 与此同时，人类仍在寻求新的药物，总希望有朝一日能发现更有效、更安全的制剂。 45C THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT There were once six blind men in India, who stood by the roadside every day, begging from the people who passed. They had often heard of elephants, but they had never seen one; for being blind, how could they? It so happened one morning that an elephant was being driven down the road where they stood begging. When they were told that the great beast was before them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they might see him. Of course they could not see him with their eyes, but they thought that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was. For, you see, they trusted their own sense of touch very much. The first happened to put his hand on the elephant's side. "Well," he said, "now I know all about this beast. He is like a wall." The second felt about the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said, "you are quite mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else." The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk, "both of you are entirely wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this elephant is like a snake." The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that he is round and tall like a tree." The fifth, being a very tall man, happened to take hold of the elephant's ear. "The blindest man ought to know that this elephant is not like any of the things you name," he said. "He is exactly like a huge fan." The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before he could find the elephant at all. At last he got hold of the elephant's tail. "Oh, silly fellows!" he said. "You surely have lost your senses. The elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree; neither is he like a fan. But any man with a little sense can see that he is exactly like a rope." Then the driver and the elephant moved on, and the six men sat by the roadside all day quarrelling about the elephant. Each believed that he knew just what the beast looked like; and they called each other names because they could not agree. It is not just blind men who make such silly mistakes. People who have eyes sometimes act just as foolishly when they take a one-sided view of things. 瞎子和大象 从前，印度有六个盲人，每天都站在路边向过往行人乞讨。他们常听人说起大象，但从未见过；因为是盲人，怎么看得见呢？ 一天上午，碰巧有人赶着一头大象经过他们行乞的那条路。当他们得知大象已走到身前时，就请赶象人把大象停下来，好让他们看看。 当然，他们无法亲眼看见大象，但是可以用手触摸，从而了解大象到底是什么样的动物。你知道，他们十分相信自己的触觉。 第一个盲人碰巧摸到了大象的身上，便说道：“噢，我现在完全了解大象了，大象很像一堵高墙。” 第二个盲人摸了摸象牙，说道：“老兄，你大错特错了，大象又圆，又光，又尖，根本不像高墙，把它比作长矛，再合适不过了。” 第三个盲人碰巧抓住了大象的鼻子，说道：“你们两位都不对，稍有常识的人都会知道这头大象像条蛇。” 第四个盲人伸出双臂，抱住了一条象腿，说道：“唉，你们真是有眼无珠，我现在才清楚，大象又圆又高，像棵树。” 第五个盲人身材高大，一下子就抓到了大象耳朵。说道：“再瞎的人也不会不知道，这头大象一点也不像你们说的。它实在就像一把巨大的扇子。” 第六个盲人实在太瞎了，过了好半天才摸到象。最后他抓住了大象的尾巴，说道：“嘿，蠢货，你们真糊涂。大象既不像高墙、长矛、蛇、大树，也不像扇子，稍有理性的人就会知道，它很像条绳子。” 随后，赶象的人和大象继续往前走去，这六个盲人一整天都坐在路边为大象的事争吵不休，每人都认为只有自己了解大象。由于不能统一看法，他们就相互谩骂起来。 犯这种愚蠢错误的，不仅仅是盲人。即使有视力的正常人有时也片面地看问题，他们一点也不比这几个盲人聪明。
(责任编辑：威展小王)
