The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-01
SANARELLPS METHODS.
HOW THE FAMOUS EXPERT STUD
les YELLOW FEVER.

He Has Experimental on Five Men,
Injecting Them With Fever Germs
Cultivated in His LRborntOry-Dar-
ing Means Adopted For Learning
the Secret of the yellow Plague.
From the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Washington, Sept. 25.-The newest scien-
tifc sensation is the revelation of the ex-
traordinary methods pursued by Sana-
relli in his study of the germ Of yellow
fever newly discovered by him. 1t APP
pears that he has not hesitated to inocu-
late healthy human beings with the most
fatal of infectives in order to prove the
verify of his microbe. This he was able
to prove at the quarantine station on the
Island of Flores, near Montevideo, because
in that part of the world lives are ex-
tremely cheap where the lowest orders Of
the people are concerned, and no law
stepped in to stay the hand of the bold
eXperimenter.
1t is understood that some, if not ALL
of TIL persons inoculated died of the dis
ease. DIR. SanarelH used for the purpose
filtered culture" of the new germ 1t
may be imagined with what interest he
viewed the effects, inasmuch as this was
the final and absolute test of the discov-
cry. If true yellow fever was produced
there could be no further dispute as to
whether the microbe was in reality the
specific bacillus of isteroid typhus, as vel
low fever is termed in medical parlance
The results obtained were the utmost that
could have been desired, the fearful malady
being developed with all its long train of
symptoms
Sanarelli himself says:
My experiments on man reached the
number of five. In two or the individuals
l tried the effect of subcutaneous iniec-
tons of the germ culture, and in the other
three that of intravenous injections.
These fortunate trials, though
few in number, are sufficient to illuml-
nate the pathogenic mechanism of the
disease, so obscure and so badly inter
preted until now. The injection of the
filtered culture in doses relatively small
reproduces in man typical yellow fever
The fever, the congestion, the hemor-
rhage. the vomit, the inflammation of the
Kidneys, the jaundice, the delrium. the
final collapse-in fine, all that conjunc-
ton OF symptoms which constitute the
basis OF the diagnosis of yellow fever
have seen unrolled before nv ewes
NA-NN+-NH lGtOAhk
low fever poison made in my laboratory"
II is hoped that the victims of DR.. San.
arellts experiments realize that they were
going through all these fortunes for the
sake of comforting a lasting benefit upon
mankind incidentally, they were able TO
set the seal OF absolute certainty upon the
new discovery. As the doctor himself
says: I'VE have at last the specific agent
of yellow fever. We have infinitely stu
died its life history, its necessities and its
relations to environment. We have re-
veaied the whole mechanism of the dis
ease it produces This maady, up to a
few months ago fearful mystery. is now
placed on the same level as all the other
great infective diseases"
This is certainly a magnificent achieve
lament Unscientific persons. however
may be disposed to criticise such expert
mentation upon human beings. Not that
the suffering and loss of life involved are
not amply paid for by the knowledge OBJ
| tained-lndeed, thousand times over.
| The question is merely whether any man
is warranted in assuming such a RESPONSE
| blhty. Is scientific murder a pardonable
crime? That is the question
Such experiments as these of DR.. Sana-
| relli are wholly without precedent in the
| history of medicine. Some very remarka
| Bile attempts were made in earlier days to
communicate yellow fever to human be-
! inSs, but the latter were the experiment.
| ers, and they had an unquestionable right
| 70 bestow upon themselves whatever mala-
dies they chose. Early in the present
| century number of physicians, enthusiasts
! tic IN their pursuit of the mystery of vel
| low fever, did everything possible 10 inoc-
ulate themselves with it. They injected
| the black vomit into their veins in various
| parts of the body. They applied il to
| wounds made in their arms, and even put
| It into their eyes They breathed the eff
| huvla of fits evaporation; made pills of IL.
which they swallowed, and inoculated
| themselves with the saliva and the pers-
piration of dying patients.
In short, every daring means was tried
| Tor eXperimentally transmitting yellow fe-
yer, but without result. Thus for a long
time the mistaken idea was accepted that
| the malady was non-contagious Thanks
| to DR.. Saranelli's discovery, 1t Is now
| known that these efforts made so unset
hshly in the interest Of mankind were fail
ures. Drs. Potter, Firth, Cattrali and
| Parker-their names should be embalmed
| in grateful memory-took 1t for granted
| that the germs of the disease would be
| found in the stomach. 1t was natural to
| suppose that the black vomit Characters
tic of the complaint would be full of the
| specific poison. The fact is, however, that
the germs do not occur in the stomach of
| the patient, unless very dilute and inaet-
| i've. They are found in the tissues and in
| the circulating blood.
Yellow fever is particularly ship dis
| ease. Cholera explodes on board of YES
| sci, so to speak, rapidly attacking all those
| who are to be attacked, but soon dying out
| of its own accord for lack of conditions
| suitable to the germ. Yellow fever, on the
| other hand, once installed on a ship, lin
| gers indefinitely. This, as now known, is
| because the microbes of icteroid typhus
| are adapted for living long time in mer-
chandise and in close places. Old and dir
| ty ships are famous yellow fever carriers.
| A vessel that is poorly ventilated the air
| stagnaing in the upper part and having a
foetid dampness below, is an ideal breeder
| of the disease.
These facts, DIR. Sanarelli has discov-
cred, are due to a certain very interest
| ing popularity in the GERMS method Of
| living. 1t depends actually for its breed
ing power upon the presence of fungi Of
| the low order known as molds. Where
molds are there will the yellow fever mi
crobe flourish and propagate It's kind;
| where they are not 1t does not multiply
at all apparently. This being understood
| 1t Is easily seen why the malady is ram
pant in damp and ill-Ventilated places.
Molds are the natural protectors of the
yellow bacillus II is solely through their