Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1891-01-30
The Secret Out.


what purports to be an official an
nOunccment OF the component parts
OF that alleged great curative agent,
DIR. koch's lymph. The report states
that the lymph consists Of glycerine
extract, obtained by pure cultivation
OF tubcrculous bacilli. Professor Koch,
in communication to a medical jour
nal making known the composition,
says: So far as | have been able to
review the many statements pub
lished and communications received,
my expectations have been fully and
completely confirmed. The general
concensus OF opinions thus expressed
Is that the remedy has Il specific effect
npon tubercular tissues and therefore
Is applicable rs n very delicate and
sure reagcnt for the discovery OF latent
and the diagnosis of doubtful tubcr-
cular processes. Most of the reports
received have agreed that many of
the patients have shown more or less
pronounced improvement, in not
few cases even cure has been effected.
Continuing, the Professor says that
standing quite alone is the assertion
that the remedy may be dangerous in
cases which have advanced too far be-
fore its application. The assertion
may be conceded; but the allegation
is also made that it actually promotes
tuberculosis, the processes being
therefore injurious. Prof. Koch says
that during the past six weeks of his
experience touching lymph, both as to
its curative effects and its efficacy as
Il diagnostic, he has applied it to
about $50 persons suffering from
tuberculosis i'll various types. Every
thing developed in that experience,
the Professor says, accorded with his
previous observations, and nothing
had transpired to make necessary any
modification Of what he has hereto
fore reported a positive application of
the principle underlying the discovery
to the treatment of other diseases
than those of tuberculosis nature, de-
mands on the part of the operator
full knowledge of the character of the
remedy. | therefore consider that the
time has arrived when the requisite in
dications in this direction shall he
made.
This is done in what follows. "Be-
fore going into the remedy business
itself | deem it necessary for the bet
ter understanding OF its operation to
state briefly the way by which / ar
rived at discovery. If healthy
Guinea pig be inoculated with the
pure cultivation oil German kultar of
tubercule bacilli, the wound caused by
the incubation mostly closes over
with a sticky matter and appears in
its early days to heal. Only after 10
to ii days hard nodule presents itself
which soon breaking, forms an ulcer
ing sore which continues until the
animal dies. Quite a different condi-
ton of things occurs when guinea
pig already suffering from tubercules
is inoculated. An animal successful
ly inoculated from four to six weeks
before is best adapted for this purpose.
In such an animal the small indenta-
ton assumes the same sticky covering
at the beginning, but no nodule forms;
on the contrary, only the following or
second day after incubation, the
place where the lymp is injected
shows strong change. 1t becomes
hard and assumes darker coloring
which is not confined to the inocula-
ton spot but spreads to the neigh
boring parts until it attains di-
ameter of 8 to ten centimeters. In
few days it becomes more manifest
that the skin thus charged is
neciotic, finally falling off, leaving a
flat liberation which usually heals
quick and permanently without any
cutting into adjacent lymphatic joints