The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-11-07
CURE FOR DlPnTHERIA.
gRoY. BEHRING'S GREAT DfsooE
FRY DESCRIBED IN DETAIL
The highest Medical Authorities Cosssde
1ts EMIeaey- In the Hsspita's
Of the Esropeas Capitals.

The French Budget Committee mas re-
commende,i Government APPROPRIATION
OF 10000 francs for the purchase or Sc
rum 10 be distributed among the hospitals
Of France. Berlin has taken steps 70 OBJ
tain q supply for all It's hospitals, WINE ~
Vienna, Dresden, and other Continental
cities the treatment has already been
adopted. In New York, too the remedy
will soon be In use, Health Commissioner
pr; Cyrus Edso,, having deeIarsd b hss d be
covery on record In therapeutic medicine
Pref Behring began in 1890 the expert
ments that resulted In his discovery. lie
Is a disciple OF Prof. Koch, whose expert
ments with lymph for the cure OF con
sumption attracted the attention OF the
whole world n few years ago. Prof..
Loffler. another disciple OF Koch, had al
ready discovered the bacillus that pro-
duces diphtheria, and an army or invesu-
gators was at work upon the line OF IN
curry previously followed by Pasteur,
trying 10 turn the discovery TO practical
use. Pasteurs incubation method was
based upon the theory that the bacteria
must be weakened before being lntryy-
duced into the blood, as otherwise DEAN
and not Immunity from the disease wosiu
ensue. The investigators OF the dipht5he-
ria bacillus only succeeded IN eluciua-
ting that not onyg the b gaG ihn tse iaud
In which they have been cultivated mas as
the same eject even though 4 contain not
single snimslcule. This on diiscPrr skine VII
the series OF experiments that lei 10
his great achievement. 80. .,ot,st
Irstead of levellrg his attack agalnst
the bacteria he decided TO leave mem ~, ~,
peace and 20 paralyze their action ps
rendering the soil IN which tbey Woih
tsrren by IpaI' red sG them innocuous
According TO the theory OF predisPc 1s 10 .
10 disease. upon which much nght , has
beeu thrown BY DR., Wassermann or Bef-
lin. rot only ara the bacteria not aDsos
jutely necessary for the production Oh
the disease, but their presence y py ~
means a proof that II exists, NUMBERS
~ nerfectIy healthy persons have been
f,olnd TO have diphtherial bacteria III the,r
blood without suffering any lnconVe.thti.
ence What is the explanation OF tne
curious fact? Simply that they also pos
ssss In their blood the anti-dote 10 the
poisof. Now, this immunity Is not IN
born, inherited. II Is acquired, anu
therefore characteristic OF V tba Ipouppe
iro confer II by artificial means was there-
fore the problem TO be solved; ,,.ora
Prof. Behring's first experlnssh,tss nc
made ON guinea pigs. He found that ths
r,oIsonous virus, II injected into the blooa
n, small quantities is harmless Then ne
tried the effect Of gradually incredSil5
the doses. with The same result result a 10 vii
a number Of uninoculated anlmais lhto
one guinea pig. and II re.nalneup a.
healthy and brisk as before. Proi. pen "Id
ring then advanced step further, anu anu
discovered that, as bacteria are not nee
essayy TO. cause the disease, neither are
they needed in order to rennef tne ~. W
! 0anism Droof against Ii. AS the lnlectloh
NAV lie I'm the fluid in when they were
cultivated 80 the antidote may be s0usu'
Sor i'm the blood of the animal inoculateu'
and he found by experiment that suGn
a. Inc ease. and that that element OF me
blood which can thus render an organ
ism diphtheria proof Is the serum. s
Speaking loosely, the serum is lne ' 1.1,
parent part of the blood. Put some dtops.
~ blood on a saucer, and In very shor.
| time they coagulate; that is, u ASSUMES
| the appearance of a mess OF JeiIy, Vil ny !,
surface of which drops OF a yelowi,S5Ih,
waterv fluid are visible, red, semisond
moss living underneath. This is called tne e
clot. and the former Is the serum, anu
in this serum Prof. Behrng mas nIdc from
The further ravages of dlphtheria. re
poured into a bowl quahtlty Oh seeau tdd
taken from, the blood OF an d1iobtberia
poison, II mixed with It, became peiIect,,
w innocuous. If that mixture be lnJecoes y
Under the skin, the organism Is not oi'i y
not deleterously affected thereby, Dut u
Tendefed secrre against the future at
lacks Of the malady. .. ,or. M
Another series of experiments leit pn no
doubt In Prof Behring's mind that fas-
feur's notion that the efficacy o. the IN
oculation depended on us pelns ~, mv"n ~
ened was erroneous. 1t IL question vi
quantity. and nothing more, r cornggscles
in the blood which protect the Pa.iems
from a new attack; and this tact opens ~,
out a wide perspective TO cohtelnpoiiaiy,
and future medicine The next anu lds.
sten was to try the efficacy or serum OH
human beings, and the result OF the APP
plication confirmed the Professors Wild
prof. Ehdlich. In Berlin, took the matter
nm with yigor, and having first verliieu
behring's observations by inocuiatlhe
animals suffering III from x.c, d,p" in the
same way. OF the difficulties he had TO
contend with at the first, the chieI was
that OF obtaining the serum IN su'iici ,ISy
more or less satisfactorily solved. In hve
hospitals In Berlin diphtheria has peen
treated with serum, ana the results al ~ 3
as follows First b Gi a To- gauge an e their sig
nificance, Prof. Enrich mentions ,h sa
seyenty-two cases OF the malay having
been treated by the usual mesho e s,.v .mtV
eight diphtheria patients VINO, CUTIE i a ane
first forty eight hours Of their i,ihes esq
had serum injected into their ploou' "i'''
The conclusion TO which TINS slsnll-
rant fact points Is that the newly dis
covered remedy, II applied at an u, cary aS
sneeil,h,a cure. In two other hospitals
OF the same city tthe Charlie ana hnIih a.
beth's Hospital there was tweive, ueains
out OF eighty nine paueil.s, r .sins when
A is stated that of these Twelve, seven De,
ionced TO the most malignant kinu OIL
tiinhtheria known, so malignant tnat there
was no hope of recovery from ,ne w. Z
first. The application Of serum Was ~ e,
the other cases Immediately iolloWeu ps
n notable falling off of the Temperature
and n perfectly normal pulse Whef tne
uatient was treated without loss OF tune
one day was enough to remove an .he
main symptoms of the malay, anu ~ ~.
dangers that usually make themselves iei'
during the period of convalescence are
minimized 10 a wonderful extent
Serum IS absolutely innocuous even
in large quantities; the. only inconVehi'
ence II can cause is rash or enlorescence
on the skin, such as mgnt, De Gauss ssra, nv
produced by TRANSMISSION of blood, anu
Which disappears without. leaving any
traces The quantity needed for. inJec.
lion during the maiady Is desc OF aoou!
ten cubic centimetres, which at presehI
great majority OF cases. Now, the I'M
portant point. as Prof, Ehrlch points OUT
Is to provide serum in sufficient quantl-
dies al a cost which will put II WITHIN
reach of the poorest classes, ana this can
be done only by the State
At present horses are used Tor me pusr.
liberia poison in gradually increasing
doses. and are weighed after each mice
ton III they lose weight the inoculauon
Ia stopped until they have resained VIVA!
they lost, and then the process rs resumed
and cor tinued until they are fS cap ,;r, %
Then their serum Is already for use;
4 vein Is opened and about two POUNDS
weight OF blood let after which they are
we'll fed. until such time as they can
spare another couple OF pounds OF plo0d
from which the serun Is eS,raslso "a s n,'
Observation-Disclosures from this frequent