New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-26

II believe" said VI. Pastcur. many years ago.
that We shall one day rid the world OF all
diseases which are caused 10y germs lie mas
done much Ia prove his faith by his works, ana
So have others who are laborng In the same
field The latest achievement In that direction
the discovery ~ anitoxn, appears to be one
II the most important yet made. There are IN
dubitablc reports from European hospitals
showing that the great claims AT first made Tor
n were no, exaggerated. The use Of II has
cured A large proportion Of cases Of diphihcria.
and Insured immunity against the disease III
others Failures there have been. doubtless.
I'm, n comparison NJ the death rate among thos"
treated with 1t with that among those not treat
cd with II bu, In all other respects similarly
affected satisfactorily demonstrates the vnlu"
~ thc new remedy And the disease thus dealt
with is one nf the most destructive II has long
hocn so familiar t. lis that mention Of IL, name
arouse, no such horror ~ that ~ Asiatic chol-
era or smallpox or yellow fever Yet iis raw
nrrs I'm this and most civilized countries. mr."
lncomparably greater than those Of the three
put together Only two or three diseases en-
demic here surpass 1t in number of victims \
reasonably sure cure for or prophyaciic against
II will he one Of the most bcnclccnt inventions
~ modern medicine.
There seems To be- reason to believe also.
tina, the recently devised system of incubation
against Asniic cholera will be productive Of
good II was pretty carefully tested this lasi
fall in India. and The results have now been
published The disease was accidentally intro
duccd into the Gaya Jail where there were
Az prisoners or these 30 were inoculatcd.
The remaining 2lS were not. All were equally
EXPOSED and apart from incubation, were
treated exactly alike. During the first five days
after incubation no material difference between
the two classes was observed. Among the in"cu'
lated there were : cases Of cholera and deaths;
among the Others cases and - deaths. The
next three days. the sixth seventh and eighth
after incubation. showed some contrast. Among
the Inoculatcd there were cases and death;
among the others cases and : deaths But
after the eighth day the contrast was most
marked Among the inoculatcd there was not
single case of cholera. while among the non
inoculatcd there were cases and deaths. Ii
will be- remembered that Dr. ilaffkne said the
incubation would only be- fully operative after
about ten days The actual results are two
days better than he claimed. 1t would be
premature to say that an nfallible preventive
against cholera has yet been discovered; but
certainly this showing Is significant.
third series Of researches In bncterioogy
has marked the present year Hitherto no spe-
cifc bacillus has been discovered In the lymph
Of cowpox or smallpox, and the failure 10 find
II has raised some doubts concerning the validity
Of the germ theory itself. An elaborate series
OF experiments has convinced DR.. Klein that
such bacillus exists. and may be found II the
lymph be examined ut the proper time But at
the time when the lymph Is taken for purposes
~ vaccination. the bacilli have already persisted
ia the process of speculation Hence the lymph
Is found 10 contain no bacilli. but only spores.
DR. Klein believes he has discovered The actual
bacillus but his attempts 10 cultivate II have
not yet succeeded. 1t i reasonable To expect,
however. that these attempts will one day be
successful, and the bac Of smallpox as are
those Of other communicable diseases. will be
cultivated in IN artificial medium thus Kidding
vaccination OF the most serious objections now
urged against II.