New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-07-06
FOR TETANUs.
ONE OF SUFFICIENT STRENGTH TO
MAKE CURE CERTAIN.
THE GREAT TROUBLE rs THAT LocKJAw sYMP
TONS ARE ALWAYS SLOW IN MAN1rEsrrNo
THEMsELvEs-A SERUM OF WON

TOMS ARE ALWAYS SLOW IN MANIFEsrINo
THEMsELvEs-A SERUM OF WON
DERFUL POWER
Ut. T. n. Wilson. bacteriologist Of the Brook
Hn department OF Health. has probably gone
'ons way toward securing a practical anti
TOXIN Tor the prevention or cure Of the deadly
disease which is known to science as tetanus,
ana 10 the everyday world as lockjaw He has
recently devoted much Of his time to expert
ments IN the production Of such an antitoxin
ana the fact that he has developed a serum
that has a protecting power Of 1 In 100000
Is destined to interest the medical fraternity
not little. 1t is Of particular interest to the
lay mind on Long Island es the fact Is now
widely known that the soil Of Long Island Is
heavily charged with the bacillus tetanL
The problem that has confronted the pro-
ducers OF serum that shall immune from lock
Jaw has been to get Of sufficient power 50
that quantity not too large for injection may
yet be enough to attain the desir able result.
When 1t Is stated that DR.. Wilson has pro-
duced serum with q protecting power Of
to 3.OOOOOO. IL means that q dose weighing
l-3.OOO'OOOth as much as the person to be i'm
muned will. II injected. protect such person
from the disease. II twenty cubic centimetres
jected into human being, he need not worry
about suffering from tetanus.
DR.. Wilson CO Insiders twenty cubic centimetres
as still too large an amount to be injected, and
will continue his experiments with view
to getting a serum strong that FIVE cubic
centimetres Will be enough for an injection
This would mean a protecting power Of In
100000.
1t is generally acknowledged by scientists now
that lockjaw or tetanus is caused by a specific
organism called the bacillus tetani. 1t dis
covered by Ncolaier. an italian. in 1884. He
innoculated animals with ordinary soil and they
died from tetanus Locking Of the Jaw. blythe
way. Is only Of the symptoms Of tetanus
which affects all Of the voluntary muscles.
GENUINE CASES GENERALLY FATAL
DR.. Wilson Is Of the opinion. judging from
his own experience and information, that genu-
Inc cases Of tetanus generally fatal. II
man RECEIVERS 1t must be because he had some
other complaint which was accompanied by
convulsive locking Of the Jaw.
One cannot catch tetanuu unless some Of the
bacilli get into wound DR.. Wilson holde And
because Of the fact that the germ Will not grow
In the presence Of oxygen. Dr. Wilson says there
is little danger uness a bacillus gets imbedded
In punctured wound, so that the air Is shut of
from It,
The bacillus as soon as II Is established. be-
gins to manufacture two deadly poisons-te
famine and tetanotoxin. These absorbed
into the circulation and so effect the nervous
system that commissions follow Just why, In
the economy Of nature, this bit Of life makes a
deadly poison is matter of surmise, but 1t
may be to protect It from predatory bacilli OF
other species that are inimical toward 1t.
Ere I'd antftOXtn
was done by Kjtasato. a japanese bacteriologist.
IN Professor Kochs laboratory in Berlin. He
found Il possible by beginning with an extremely
small dose. followed by larger doses. to I'M
munize an animal against the poisons Of te-
tanus and that the blood serum Of the animal so
immunized contained substance (anttoxn)
which would the lives Of those inoculated
with it.
Since this discovery the medical books show
that there have been thirteen authenticated
cases Of cure Of this disease by antitoxin.
DR.. Wilson has been paying his respects to the
tetanus bacillus more or less for four years but
only recently has he given much attention to
Its cure.
more effective the antitOxin that is formed from
II. This Is the well-known principle upon which
Dr. Wilson has been working. The more times
the cultures are passed through susceptible anil
mails the more virulent the poison they are able
to produce. Suffice it to say lr lieu OF explana-
ton Of this that experiments show IT to be true
experiments with exceedingly viruent cultures
that were sent to him by Professor Tizzon an
Italian bacteriologist. There is telling how
many animals Professor Tizzoni passed these
cultures through. but DR.. Wilson continued TO
pass them through guinea pigs for year be-
fore he obtained from them his highly effective
serum.
rr Wilson was courteous enough TO take
Tribune reporter through his experiment rooms
in the Hoagand Laboratory. There is an in
teresting collection OF guinea pigs rabbits ana
white mice, all OF which are TO come TO untimely
deaths in the cause Of science. Some OF the
guinea pigs had tetanus bacilli in them. but as
they require about five days TO develop, the
animals showed no symptoms or the disease
1NcUBATING TETANUs BAC1LL1
For incubating baci Of sufficient virulence Or.
Wilson has large incubator. lined with asbestos
and kept at a uniform heat Of 80 degrees cent?
grade by an electrical regulator Some cultureE
were being developed in glasses OF beef tea. but
because Of the fact that they do not develop IN
air or oxygen the glasses were inclossd in large
glass receptacle. This was charged with hydro
een. and. for fear any oxygen might have re-
NAMED In It, a substance was placed at the bot
ton, NJ the lar that has the power to absorb
oxygen.
when this beef tea is thoroughly saturated
with the tetanus toxin the tea and poison are
.eparated from the cultures by means Of a porce-
,.,, filter Then the doctor is ready for his
horses Of which he has twelve with which he II
creating the life-saving serum. He begins by IN
iectine one half cubic centimetre OF the poison
into a horse Once in every f1ve or six DAYS the
dose Increased In size. Is repeated until finally
the horse Is given an injection OF ZOO cent?
metres. 40,
serum extracted The dimcult process OF stang ..
ardiznR the serum, rather. the anttoxln IN IL.
follows The way this Is done Is to inject small
animal with toxin Of known virulency. The va,