Marshall writes: > It either kills life or it doesn't. I know it does. The meaning of > antibiotic is defined in the dictionary. If you don't like the > definition, take it up with Merriam and Webster.
I know where Ian is coming from, Marshall. There is a sense in a lot of the literature that the term is used in a more restricted sense than suggested by Merriam and Webster... Here's a cite from an online textbook to be found at http://www.bact.wisc.edu/microtextbook/ControlGrowth/antibiotic.html > Antibiotics: antimicrobial agents produced by microorganisms that > kill or inhibit other microorganisms. This is the microbiologist's > definition. A more broadened definition of an antibiotic includes > any chemical of natural origin (from any type of cell) which has the > effect to kill or inhibit the growth of other types cells. Since most > clinically-useful antibiotics are produced by microorganisms and are > used to kill or inhibit infectious Bacteria, we will follow the > classic definition. So, my point is, Marshall, that people *are* being taught that 'antibiotic' has a more specific meaning than you are arguing. In that sense, I think you may want to recognise this situation and give Ian the benefit of the doubt. Given the above definition, we can see that "natural" becomes a bit of a slippery term when we consider synthetic "antibiotics", but the term "antibiotics" seems to be commonly applied to those substances, like penecillin, that are produced by various organisms and were found to inhibit growth of bacteria... Be well, Mike D. [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [mdev...@eskimo.com ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. Instructions for unsubscribing may be found at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
