Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-01-22
PHTHISIS CURE.
Prof Koch Makes Known His
Remedy.
HIS EXPERIMENTS on GUINEA PIGS.
Reasons For Delaying the Revelation-The
Lymph a GIycerine Extract of the
TubercIe BaciIli-Successfu Treat
ment of Patients.

|
position of his lymph is com
paratively brief. 1t says the lymph
consists of a glycerine extract derived
from the pure cultivation of the tuber-
Gle bacili. Prof. Koch says:
Since publishing, two months ago, the re-
suits of my expCr ments with the new rem
edy for tuberculosis, many physicians who
received the preparation have been
enabled to become acquainted with
its properties through their own ex
periments. So far rs l have been
able to review the statements published and
the communications received by letter, my
indications have been fully and completely
confirmed. The general cOncensUs of opin-
ion is that the remedy has specific effect
upon tuborcuIar tissues and is therefore ap-
| plicablc as a very delicate and sure agent for
discovering latent and diagnosing doubtful
tuberculosis processes.
| Regarding the curative effects of the rem
edy most reports agree that despite the com
paratively short duration of its application
many patients have shown more or less pro-
nOunced Improvement. 1t has been affirmed
that in not few cases even cure has been
established. Standing quite by itself is the
assertion that the remedy may not only
be dangerous in cases which have advanced
| too far-a fact VIII oh may forthwith be con-
| ceded-but also that il actually rOmoteS the
| tuberculosis process, being therefore iniuTi-
|
| have had had opportunity to bring together
| further experiences touching the curative
| effects and diagnOstic application of the
| remedy in the cases of about $50 sufferers
! from tuberculosis of the most varied types
| in this city and in the Moabit Hospital I
can only say that every thing / have lat
terly seen accOfds with my previous OBJ
| scrYatiOns, AS long it was only a
| question of proving the accuracy of
my indications, it was needless for
any one to know what the remedy contained
| or whence it was derived. On the contrary
| subsequent testing would necessarily be
more unbiased, the less people know of the
| remedy itself Now, after sufficient confirm
atOry testing, the Importance of the remedy
| is proved, Ny next task is to extend my
| study of the remedy beyond the fed where
| it has hitherto been applied and, if possible
| to apply the principle underlying the discov-
| cry to other diseases
| This task naturally demands full knowl-
| edge OF the remedy. / therefore consider
| that the time has arrived when the requisite
| indications in this direction shall be made
| This is done i'm what follows. Before going
into the remedy itself, deem it necessary,
| for the better understanding of its mode of
| operation, to state briefly the way by which
| l arrived at the discovery. If a healthy guinea
| pig be inOculated with the pure cultivation
! of German kultur of tubcrcle bacilli, the
! wound caused by the incubation mostly
closes over with a sticky matter and appears
| In its early days to heat. Only after ten to
! fourteen days hard nOdule presents itself
| which, soon breaking forms an ulcerating
sore which continues until the animal dies
| Quite a different condition of things occurs
! when guinea pig, already suffering from
| tuberculosis, is inoculatcd. An animal sue
| ccSsfully inoculated from four to six
| weeks before is best adapted for this
purpose In such an animal the
] small indentatiOn assumes tile same sticky
:
! forms. On the contrary, on the day follow
! Ing or the second day after the incubation,
/ the place where the lymph is injected shows
4 strange change. 1t becomes hard and as
sUmcs Il darker cOlOring, which is not con
| fined to the inoculatcd spot, but spreads to
the neighbOrng parts until it attains a d-
ametcr of from to eentimcter In few
days it becomes more and more manifest
that the skin thus changed is nccrOtic,
finally falling off, leaving fiat liberation
which usually heals rapidly and permanent
~ without any cutting into the adjacent
| lymphatic glands.
Thus the injected tubercular bacilIi quite
| differently affects the skin of a healthy
| guinea pig from one affected with tubercu-
| l"sis This effect is not exclusively produced
with living tubcrcular bacilli, but is also OBJ.
served with the dead Eaciili, the result being
the same whether, as l discovered by
experiments ut the outset, the baclli
are killed ny somewhat prolonged
application of low temperature
or boiling heat or by means of certain
chemicals This peculiar fact followed up
in all directions and this further result was
oJtaned-that killed pure civilizations of
tubcrcular bacilli, after rinsing i'm water,
might be injected in great quantities under
healthy guinea pigs skin, without any thing
occurring beyond local suppuration.
Prof. Koch here interpolates a note
that such injections belong to the sim
plest and surest means of producing
suppuration free from living bacteria.
Tuberculous guinea pigs, on the other
hand, are killed by the injection of very
small quantities of such diluted cultiva-
tions. In fact, within six to forty eight
hours, according to the strength of the dose,
an injection which is not sufficient to pro-
duce the death of the animal may cause ex-
tended necrosis to the skin in the vicinity of
the place of injection. If the diluton is still
further diluted until il is scarcely visibly
clouded, the animals inoculated remain
alive and a noticeable improvement
in their condition soon super
venes. If the injections are continued at in
terval5 of from one to two days, the ulcerat-
ing incubation wound becomes smaller and
finally scars over, which otherwise It never
does, the size of the swollen lymphatic
glands is reduced, the body becomes better
nourished and the morbid process ceases,
unless it has gone too far, in which case the
animal perisheS from exhaustion. By this
means the basis of a curative process against
tuberculosis was established.
Against the practical application of such
dilutions of dead tubercle bacilli, there pre-
sented itself the fact thai the tubercle bacilli
are not absorbed at the incubation points,
nor do they disappear in any other way, but
for long time remain unchanged and engen-
der greater or smaller suppurative foci. Any
thing, therefore, intended to exercise a heal
ing effect on the tuberculosis process must be
a soluble substance which would be lixivated
to a certain extent by the fluids of the body
floating around the tubercle bacilli and
transferred in a fairly rapid manner to the
Juice of the body, while the substance pro-
ducing suppuratiOn apparently remains be-
hind in the tubercular bacilli or dis
solves but very slowly. The only i'm
portant point was, therefore, to induce
outside the body the process going on
inside, if possible, and to extract from the
tubercular bacili alone the curative sub
stance. This demanded time and toll before
/ succeeded with the aid of 40 to 80 per cent.
solution of glycerine in obtaining an effect
i've substance from the tubercular bacilli
With the fluid so obtained, made further
experiments on animals and finally on hu-
man beings These fluids. were given to
other physicians to enable them to repeat
the experiments
Prof. Koch concludes with reference
to the duration of the remedy. Of the
.consumptive patients whom he de-
scribed as temporarily cured two have
returned to the hospital for further OBJ
servation. No bacilli have appeared in
their sputum for the past three months
and their phthsis symptoms have grad
uo1Iv and eonn1efa1v diSznnearad