New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-26
THE NEW DIPHTHERIA CCKE
WHAT ANTI-TOXINE IS AND DOES.
CURATIVE AND PREVENTATIVE QUALITIES OF
SERUM FROM "IMMI'TE' ANIMALS BLOOD
,From The Weekly Tribune,

CURATIVE AND PREVENTATIVE QUALITIES OF
srRr.M FROM "IMMr;;E" ANIMALS BLOOD
,Fron The Weekly Tribune).
clnce Tenner invented vaccination me application
q, i,s underlying principle to other diseases tnah
rr,alIpox has been repeatedly attempted. especia'y
I'm the last ten years during which time pac'e',
ologv has shed much light on the Ills 10 VIII" CIV
flesh IL heir But neither Kochs very pro"'s'ns
cure for consurp,ion nor Pasteurs for hyafo-
phobia nor Taffkine's FOR cholera, mas pro"u0e'
quite such striking results upon hrst triai as ',e
"orti.toxIne" treatment FOR diphthera. when ~
now attracting wide attention Professor benI'"s'
OF Berlin the author OF II. ana the earnest ~
perlments were tried In Germany beginning WIN
February OF this year a remarkable series OF tests
was made in "A leading Paris hospital lneSe nafe
satisfied the British Institute OF Preventive Medl-
cine Of the great value OF the new system ana pro
,ie,on l. nov being made by that organization foS
sr,,,lying the remedy at cost In NewYork city
last summer and sX later in Chicago. the hea'h
authorities investigated the matter Leading phyS
clans and medical bodies in this country, TOO nave
taken similar action. In consequence 'he an"
toXlne cure Is now being extensively tred III 'ho
United States. 1t is too soon, OF course 10 pro-
nounce Annlverdct upon It. But there Is room
ror hope that Professor Behring mas conieiieu
signal blessing on mankind.
/ ia four years since this now eminent Ger
man published his first essay on The Mechanism
| of Immunity Against Experimental Diphther'a IN
Animals" and that paper contained al the esseh'ldi
features Of hs discovery His subsequent Work
has been merely the working out OF details. lie IN
ltr,feI A. that time that death from dphtheria re-
suits from poison secrc,cd by the particular bachlus
- this disease Such action il called toxic Inc
-. = remedy defeats this. and hence Is caIied anu
toNine" Professor Behring found in his expert
,nonts on animals that he cou.i render them I'M
mure" or proof against the poison, in several ways
one was 10 inject subc I.aneOusiy liquid contain
,. cultures 81 the dph heris bacillus mixed with ri-
chloride ~ Iodine another Was 20 inocuate Win the
oxidation found IN the pleurai cavities OF animals
dying from diphthera another VAS 10 inject chem'-
al compounds like the trl-chloriie after inocuang
with virui-nt diphtheria poison But his most I'M
portant announcement. the foundation OF the pres
ent treatment that the Serious portion OF the
blood Of such animals as had already been I'M
mrnzed" against dphther'a had the power OF ne-
stroyng 'hr poison sccret"d by the special oaci'us
y tina, disease II finding TO what remarKa-
bio degree such serum possessed the preventive ana
curative quality that led him 10 give TINS last mem
toned remedy IN. preference.
In order TO ascertain the proper dose to admin
-,c- he worked in the following manner; Inc
liphtheria bacillus was cultivated by Itself ana py
| incubation with liquids containing the germ III
different degrees Of abundance 1t was first ascer'
,atned how much constituted certainly fatal
amount Then i've guinea pigs OF equal "e'sh'
were inoculated with equal quantities or the TOXIC
quiI. say one cubic ccntmetre each. four OF
chem received injections containing reSPVN''V
IL nl o0l ana nOi q. e.. OF serum from an I'M
,nunI,ed" horse The nth got none. and died in
aldo ~ twenty four hours. The one TO which only
o.l e. d, was administered died after several days
The Others recovered. Thus, the adequate uose
FOR guinea pigs was found TO be approximately De-
" cen col ana .c"l c. c. And so on win o'her
animals
Uowever there must be some uncertainty about
t,c nrccise amount necessary perform the desired
work especially with human beings Inc me-
cb,nisn, Of destruction and naturalization OF the
poison is not yet fully understood II prooaoiy Is
not a purely chemical operation. Ike the COM
b,nations OF acia with akah. for II Is found that
10, como ,nc,anccs r much smaller amount OF anti
,oxine kills A cubic centmetre OF poison than In
others This lack OF uniformity OF action tends
to prove that the result Is effected partly by the
cells ~ the body Tnis Is rendered more prooao'e
nv the fact that bacterial and other pro;opasmic
nelson's have been found in some cases 10 weaken
tho coils and thus 10 nhibN. prevent. the cura-
tIv. action of the serum. In man. unlike the
lower animals the diphtheria bacillus lives on the
surrace Of tho m. mhrane OF the lungs and air
passages where II is constantly subjected 10 cur
rents NJ al, In artificial culture the best results
ar. secured by initiating those conditions The
bacillus then secretes it's poison most freely in the
r.sniratory apparatus which. by the way is filled
with a lot OF other microbes. some Of them per-
n..ious and some harmless. The baeful ones se'
,r.t. their poson more actively on the soil pre-
pared by the bacillus OF dphtheria, ana mus aid
- IN. harm done by the latter. Hence IN man
kind m. malady Is apt to be more severe. and in
hibtions Of the curative effect OF the serum IL
more liable to occur.
In spite ~ the uncertainties thus suggested II Is
clear that the antl-toxine treatment has achieved
decided cures In the iIopal Trousseau. during
six months of the current year the death rate from
diphtheria among patients treated in the old man.
nor vas 6, per cent. while in the Hoptai des
Lrf,n,s Nalades another institution AT the French
capltol between February and July l. there were
AL alleged treated with serum ana the NOR
tally was only 2i5 PEI cent When these latter
ase. are further examined 1t is found thar
where there were other complications the death
rate WAS only II per cent. and In those In which
Tho on.ration of tracheotomy become necessary 49,
pur in the Hopi;a Trousseau NJ per cent OF
,racheoiomzed children died. In some wards In
Germany the mortality OF this class OF patients
is said to have been ~ low aas IA per cent
promptness appears be an important eiemen;
in the use OF the remedy. table prepared
by Professor Ehrch for German medical publ
cation and copied by Or. NJ 4. Rurer In con-
trirmtion to mature Uondon), covers los cases
in which this factor was noted Although the sum-
mary omits to specify the length OF the time interval
employed as "A standard thour. day or something
else) the significance Is unmistakable. Where the
serum was injected within one period AFTER the
onset OF the disease. 100 cent of the patients
were cured; within two periods, 81 within three
Sc: within four n within tive. $50. IL does not Yet
appear whether the serum deteriorates win age
cut the desirab.y Of having supply at hand ior
immediate use where even suspicion OF diphtheria
IL entertained IL obvious
IMPROVEMENTS IN PARLOR ORGANS.
HOW HENRY JAMES GETS A GREATER VARIETY
OF TONE-A PEDAL KEYBOARD.
Church or pipe" organs differ in two respects
siro frnn %