New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-30
MP RROVNSEOUARDS ELIXIR.

DR. BROVN-SEQUARDS ELIXIR.
The use of vitaizing fluids in the bodies of
animals as a means of prolonging and invig
Grating human life has been recently advo-
Gated by DIR. Brown-Sequard after series of
successful experiments upon himself. The de-
tails were first recited in paper read in Paris
before the Socete de Biologie and were re-
ceived by the learned audience with thrill Of
astonishment and an air Of scientific increduty.
AS DIR. Brown Sequard was in his seventy
third year he was promising subject for hypo-
dermic injections of his new elixir of life and
the emphasis with which he described the
freshness of youth pulsating through his veins
and the recovery of impaired vital functions
produced profound impression upon the phys-
ologsts and surgeons there assembled. Sub
scQuently one of his assistants, DR.. Variot, Sc
lected three deblitated men, ranging in age
from ffty-four to sixty-eight, and turned the
syringe upon them with the result of immedi-
ately improving their digestion, increasing their
muscular action, and also of causing general
nervous excitement Sufficient time has not
elapsed to enable DR.. Brown-Sequard to judge
of the permanent effects of the treatment of
these three PATIENTS but he has prepared for
"The Lancet" synopsis of his papers on the
subject, and of his own experience with tho
reservation that DR.. Variots experiments, so
far as the results have been observed, strength
en- his own conclusions respecting the potency
of the elixir
DR.. -Sequards preliminary expert
ments were tried on animals in order to prove
the innocuity of the elixir, which was derived
IL +osa ola, IL g
pigs and dogs Before using the syringe upon
himself he tested the decnctOn by administer
ing it to two superannuated rabbits and one
old dog After this dog had received twenty
subcutaneOus injections without harm he con-
SideIed it safe to operate upon himself. From
Nav 8 to June he made ten injections in his
arms and legs, using a dark reddish fluid OBJ
tanned from the glands of a very young healthy
adult dog and several guinea-pigs. The results
were most surprising. Before the experiments
upon himself he was so weak that he was in
variably compelled to sit after working half an
hour in his laboratory and for many years he
had been so exhausted after returning home at
o'clock as to be forced at once to go to bed,
where he would be too tired to sleep. After
the experiments he was able to stand for three
or IOuf NOuIS Ill his IdDuIdJOly anu W NIIUo III
the evening for an hour and half without
feeling a sense of WEAKNESS. Instead Of creep
ing and hobblng On staircase, as had been
his habit in recent years he could run up and
down like boy. His arms, tested by dyna
nometer, regained a strength which til - had
not possessed for twenty-six years. Digestion
ard other functions were markedly improved.
With regard to the facility Of intellectual labor,
which had greatly diminished with advancing
age he records decided return to normal con-
ditons in the prime of life. In brief, all func
tions depending on the spinal chord and nervous
centres were notably and rapidly strengthened
by the action of the "vitalized principles of
the healthy dog and the agile young guinea
pigs.
Having demonstrated in his own person the
efficacy Of his rejuvenating medicine Dr.
Brown-Sequard, like the scientific investigator
he is, stopped taking it in order to ascertain
how long the beneficial results would last. For
four weeks there was no marked decline of
vitality, but from July there was complete
return of the pre-existing infrmities and weak
ness Of old age. As he was no worse than he
had been before receiving the first in lection, he
philosophically accepted the temporary loss of
reinforced strength as a cOunterproof of the
vitaizing influence exerted by his elixir for
month. With the borrowed resources Of an
other robust dog and few more guinca-pigs
he calmly contemplates in writing to "The
Lancet" the prospect of another months lease
Of youth and manly vigor. He does not, how
ever, claim the merit of discovering the secret
of perpetual youth, but rather of easing the
burdens of old age He modeStly gives the
results to the scientific world as basis for
further experiment, expressing a belief that
while special nutrtive actions bringing on GER
tain changes in men and animals are absolute
ly fatal and irrevcrSible, it is possible by means
of the vitalized elements used by him and the
three superannuated PariSians to re-endOw It's
sues, muscles and nerve-centres with power
once possessed but impaired by the weight of
years. Popular faith in DIR. BroWn-Sequard's
antdote for old age will depend in large meas
ure upon his own success in keeping himself
alive and vigorous by means of his monthly
, doses Of dog and gunea-pig. That he viii live
long and thrive on his dark-red detection will
be the desire of all men, whether in their
prime or in their dotage.
RAILROAD MEN AND THEIR OPINIONS.
Wastorn railroad officials whose renlies 70