Evening journal., 1897-10-28
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2s, 1897.
THE HIRsCHFELDER DISCOVERY

There are hundreds of persons in
wilmington who are afflicted with pull
monary troubles. and many of them
have consumption of the lungs. Any
thing which promises to ameliorate
their condition must be OF prime inter-
est to them and their friends. Leon
Guastian, Belgian consul at San Fran
cisco, has received official notice that
the Belgian minister Of foreign affairs
has transmitted to the Royal Academy
of Medicine Of that country documents
concerning DR.. Joseph o. Hirschfeld-
ers consumptive cure and that Dr. Van
Lair. titular member, has been
commissioned by the academy to make
an examination. The medical name of
the cure is oxy-tuberculine and the for
mula is briefly stated as follows:
Veal is soaked in water, and its juice
is then boiled and filtered Glycerine,
peptone and salt are put in the liquid,
which is made slightly alkaline with
carbonate of soda. In this liquid the
germs of tuberculosis are grown. When
they are fully developed the liquid with
the germs is boiled and filtered. The
resultant liquid is tuberculine. This tn
berculine Is the basis Of DR.. Hirsch-
felders preparation. Peroxide OF ny
drogen is added to it, and the mixture
is heated for 1870 hours, at the end OF
which time It Is oXytuberculine. rms
is clarified by caustic soda solution,
and a portion of bOraxac acid Is put IN
to keep il from decomposing.
Should the Hirschfelder discovery
meet the claims of its discoverer he Will
pass down to posterity as one of the
worlds greatest benefactors, for there
is no disease so common and, at the
same time, so fattering and fatal.
Medical authorities agree that few
diseases possess such sad Interest for
humanity as consumption, both on ac-
count OF il widespread prevalence and
of its destructive effects, particularly
among the young. In every age OF
medicine the subject has formed a fer
tile field for inquiry as to its nature it's
cause and its treatment. Medical works
show that opinion has undergone nu-
merous changes with the advance OF
science and the application OF more ac-
curate methods Of investigation; and
still the disease has continued its raw
ages and medical men have been forced
to admit that they are wanting in both
knowledge and power toheal. Laennec'
stethoscope gave impetus to the study
Of diseases OF the chest. His doctrine
which held good for nearly half CEN
tury, was superseded by tnat OF Me
MEYER and others that the majority OF
cases Of phthisis had their origin In al
Inflammation of the lung, or catarrhal
pneumonia, but that tubercle might oc
casionally be evolved out of this condi
tion. This view, while widely accepted
has been materially modified particu
larly by its extension to Inflammation
in other parts besides the lungs, the un
absorbed products of which are held (
be capable of producing tubercle by in
lection from within the system. Thel
Koch discovered a micro-organism o
bacillus of tubercle, capable of cultiva
tion. This has been generally, but no
universally, adopted as furnishing Il
all probability rational basis of tn
pathology of tubercular consumption
But the disease continues to figure a
the head Of the column of deaths of tn
week and no cure has been discovered
Let us hope that the discovery of ID
Hirschfelder will supply this great de
ficiency in the healing art and that con
sumption will soon be at the mercy o
science instead of humanity and sci
ence being at the mercy Of consumr
tion