If I had my tin foil hat on, I’d say this is one of the most clever campaigns ever to get young people to play with cigarette machines. I’d raise a brow at how the blogosphere has helped Mr. Nicotine to spread his subliminal ads.

Discovery of the Bacteria
In 1903 Russian biologist Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916) and French scientist Pierre-Paul-Emile Roux demonstrated that syphilis could be transmitted to monkeys. With this capability, the disease could be studied in the laboratory. Two years later, German zoologist Fritz Schaudinn and his assistant Erich Hoffmann isolated the bacterium that causes syphilis. Schaudinn and Hoffmann showed it to be a spiral-shaped spirochete called Treponema pallidum.

Salvarsan
In 1904 German researcher Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and Japanese bacteriologist Sahachiro Hata began looking for a safe, effective treatment for syphilis. They tested hundreds of derivatives of atoxyl, eventually discovering one that worked. Ehrlich called the derivative “Salvarsan.” Following trials of the substance on humans, Ehrlich and Hata announced in 1911 that the drug was an effective cure for syphilis. The drug attacked the bacteria without harming healthy cells.

(http://www.discoveriesinmedicine.com/Ra-Thy/Syphilis-Test.html)