The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-08-14
CONCERNING TUBERCLES.
THE NEW MOVEMENT TO iNOCuLATE:
FOR CONSUMPTION.

plies-Those Who Believe I'm the Germ
Tbeory--Sertous Objections.
A new movement has been set on foot In
France with view TO practically demon-
strate whether consumption can be cured or
prevented ly incubation And this is
subject OF such widespread interest from
the fact that one-seventh OF the whole pop
ulation OF the EARTH one-sixth the popula-
tion of North America--because il IN much
more prevalent in the temperate yone-are
now actually sufferers from this disease and
are doomed to die from IT, With all their
immense practice and tho knowledge anu
experience that must los gained In IL, ths
tho faculty admits. In effect, that no remedy
has yet been discovered which viii materi-
ally check the progress of the disease, and,
therefore, IL NJ Verneuils experiments
should prove that incubation Is q successful
mode OF treatment, popular monument,
many times grander than the statue OF lib
erty, ought to lie erected in his honor.
The tubercle is vegetable deposit on the
lungs which was discovered in 1901 by
Bayle and Iaennees introduction OF the
practice of auscultation and the use or the
stethoscope, few years later, created tu-
bercular public opinion that the little mole
was the sole cause OF the disease. Prof
Virchows discoveries I'm cellular pathology
threw some doubt upon this, but most prac-
titioncrs still hold TO the tubercuar ijea,
and the disease Of that name is what we
have TO inquire into And here comes in
Koch. who, among his other valuable dis
coveries. finds that the tubercle is germ
which he calls tubercular bacilli, and this
new movement in France IL to find out q
way to "attenuate' or make thin the virus
of this germ SO that 1t can be used for ths
prevention OF consumption in the same way
as vaccine Is SO successfully applied to the
prevention OF smallpox
WILL vERNUIL's PLAN sUCCREDl
Now, what are the chances that M. Ver-
ncuils plan Of inoculation will succesdi
To calculate this one must take the opinions
Of the best authorities on the subject, and
also 10 sec II the germ himself has anything
to say. Let us interview the germ. When
not riding the breeze in search OF victims he
may be found at his private lodgings in tho
pathological laboratory of the College Of
Physicians and Surgeons, corner Of Twenty
third street and Fourth avenue There Dr.
frudden, the director, keeps him and his
congeners In cages, and feeds them on beef
tea, oysters blood puddings and other
cumulative lnxurieS After his almost i'm
suitable appetite Is appeased, and he can be
handled without danger, DR.. Prudden tikes
him out and pets him. and c0axes him to sit
under the microscope that tho visitor may
have look at MIN With q magnifying
power Of 500 dianeter-that Is to say, in
cree sing his sic by about ten thousand
times--one perceiveS little rod about the
forty second part Of an inch in length, and
you are informed that at New Years, when
they march in single file to salute their
president, a line of 1000 would about cover
tl,a ~ >i,,ty Ns,.t
1t Is as hard to properly estimate such
infnitesmalism as Is to grasp the iilimita.
ble distances Of celestial space. And yet
what mighty mite it Is! From sO,0t,OOO
TO 100, ,0OO, 90 Of the earth is human inhablt-
ants, to say nothing Of the animals, are
doomed to death by him--by him and his
family. And, by the way, what . funny
way he has Of raising a family As be
grows in age he simply lengthenG When
he has doubled his length he shakes the lat
ter half OIL and says, Go and grow son OF
your own" He does this every twenty
minutes; so IL you have any mind for fig-
ures you can easily calculate how long IL
would take him TO sink q ship.
The late Dr. Austin Flint, one of the lead
ing experts ou the subject of consumption,
believed In this germ theory, and so doos
DIR. Zemansky, his follower In the chair at
Bellevue hospital, who has been lecturing
on the heart and lungs for ten years. He
says that the tubercuar germs are invari-
bly, found In the sputa or expectorated mat
ter Of those who inherit consumption, and
In those cases where the history Of the fam
lily is known vaccination might prove u
preventive But the disease is not like
hydrophobia, which can he traced 70 dis
tinct cause and a distinct period. Mr.. Yer.
neuil may possibly--and Dr. Zemansky en-
phasizes tho last two words-succecd, and
thus prevent whole families from dying
out; but rhy sicians must wait patiently for
the experiments before expressing an opin-
ion
oBJEc rIoNs TO THE GERM THEORY.
There are some authorities who do not
accept this germ theory In its entirety. DR.
J. X Leaning, for instance, who has pub
lished several monograms on phthisis, does
not think the theory as yet well proved
Generally, however, the germ theory IL ac-
cepted, and, presuming it to be correct,
what are the chances Of making the virus
practical for inoculationi Professor Her.
man M. Biggs, who has probably given
moro careful study to germ life than any
one In the country, modestly gives his
opinion that they viii not be able to pro-
} duce this virus and that IL they do succeed
there is no probability Of their being able IA
prevent consumption by incubation. "You
must first settle this point" says he, "that
one attack gives insuscept bility. If you do
not get that there is no possibility Of your
getting preventive vaccine. In all OF the
ordinary contagious diseases you do get this
insusceptiLility after first attack, but in
{ consumption it is not known at all On
the contrary, there are well known case,
where persons have been cured Of tubor.
: culosis In one organ, and have afterwarsi
had it in another-in fact, they were more
liable to il than those who had never had
it."
Then, again, consumption Ia 70 insidious,
Il takes SO long . time for 1t to develop,
that 1t 10 impossible TO trace IL back % III
original cause This naturally leads TO tn
! question il IL II an infectious disease. and
Prof. Biggs emphatieally declares that Il
] is But it requires moro intensity and
much longer exposure than any other dis
ease DIR. A. b. Mott thinks the question
I Ii whether consumption Is scrofulous dis
sase, as has been held by certain author
titles, and II % the advisability Of inoculat
ing any one with disease 80 formidable h
very questionable DIR. f. C. Janeway als<
says that tho introduction Of such very
/ small quantities Of tubsrcls matter woult
: be very dangerous proceedingA The sub
ject should DO thoroughly tested ON animal6
/ and so far no such tests have been mad
. and proper safeguards discovered tha
. human beings 90 inoculated may NOT b
1 liable TO tuberculosis New York Herald
n
u During an Animated Disoussiow.
One day during an animated discusaio
Q at the French academy, N. dc Marian roa
Y and said: Gentlemen, propose that y
8 speak only four at time s-Ths Argonaui
It n said that one Of tho propayfise N