The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-11-27
IF TAKEN IN TIME
The Lives Of Forty Thousand Peo-
pie Can Be Saved Annually.
The Cure for Diphtheris Recovery 4.
Certain IL the Disease he Attacked
Within Twenty-Four Hours-Dr.
Cyrus Edson's Views of II.
COPYRIGHT. iSA.

'There are living in the UniteSj
States to-day forty thousand person,
who viii be dead at this time mex,
year. If the new cure for diphtheri1
is not Immediately prepared IN suffi-
cient quantities TO meet the require
ments of American hospitals"
This amazing statement. coming
from DR.. Cyrus Edison, famous as an
| investigating scientist, and occupying
the high pose ion Of commissioner of
health in New York city, shows the
Importance of this latest of medical
discoveries in the minds of medical
men ell over the world. Everywhere
IL is considered that the work of Prcfs-
Behrens, of Berlin. and Roux. Of
Paris, is only second in its value to
humanity TO Jenner's discovery that
vaccination with the virus from an in
feeted cow would prevent smallpox.
Like other big things-like most big
things-the new diphtheria cure is sim
pie. Two weeks age l wrote about the
way in which DR.. Edson had solved tho
puzzle that has been battling the scien:
fists of crime for many years In ten
minutes he found way of differen,
tiating-defning between the blood o,
human beings and the blood of ami
mais-a discovery that will be Il
the utmost Importance in future MUIR
der eases where Il is necessary 20 de-
termine the source of blood found upon
q knife or other instrument in order to
determine the guilt or innocence of thu
accused. OF like simple nature is the
new cure for diphtheria. The nature OF
the disease has long been well under
stood. The presence of a disease germ
in the throat generates poison which
flows through the blood of the whole
body. 1t is like the work of a inca.
bone in kettle of boullion. The
strength Of it grows and grows as il il
stewed out and spread, until the whole
body IS impregnated with il, the
whole kettle full is irnpregnated with
the flavor and strength of the meat
bone.
This much has been understood for
years. II has also been known that
one attack of diphtheria from which a
patient was lucky enough to recover
generally gave him immunity from
similar attack for several months.
These facts the European scientists
made note of. They put two and two
together. and mada up their minds
that If one attack of disease relieved
one Of susceptibility to it again, there
must be some good reason for ii. The
reason that at once occurred to them
was that the system. which is always
certain to protect itself from disease
as far as its strength permits it to-,
generated during the first illness some
property which was hostile to the poi
son-the ''toxine" as it is known N the
case Of diphtheria-and that when the
patient recovered il was sign that in
his ease the system had been able TO
generate enough of the antidote-the
''anti-tOxine'-tO overcome for some
time, or until the anti-tOxine was ex-
hausted. any new efforts which the
disease germ might make to gain a
foothold in the system.
Having esta blished this fact to their
entire satisfaction it remained for them
TO find some way Of generating this
anti-toxine artificially, so that 1t could
be introduced into the human system
whenever the presence of diphtheria,
or toxine, required il. In casting about
for way to accomplish this they re-
nembered that it was impossible 10
increase a mans or an animals power
of resistance TO a given poison by ad
ministering that poison in small doses
AZ first, but constantly Increasing in