New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-24
FIGHTING THE PLAGUE.
vrRs1N-s WORK WITH THE BUBoN1c
MICROBE.

SUCCESS OF HIS EXPERIMENTS WITH
srRrM-uow THE INvEsTIGA-
-1oNs WE'RE CONDUCTED.
=. ~. hone which DR.. Yersin has permitted
.,...oI, n cherish for several months should
Ill.,. 90 No well grounded 1t will soon be posi-
p,V 80 cone successfully with the bubonc FEVER
-, &c lust now the cause OF such reariu'
W.T. ,r India. DR.. Yersin is young French
p.or,o,opist who visited Hong Kong early IN
so, sbortlv after the outbreak OF the plague
= ,,at civ and Canton Japanese i'Nes'
~ from, Toxic named kitasato Is cre1heo
~ having been the first person TO Isolate ana
We. the r,icrobe of this disease; put 'he
,--orcbman has apparently gone fur'her ,h"n
- ono else in producing an antitoXh WHICH
.u serve as a preventive and curative agent
.~So-er,.h to fight that tiny but remehoousiS
o,n,, mischief maker During 'he ciosi"s
&c % 1896 Dr. Yersin started from al Is ioi
having received an invitation from
-. r,c,,sh authorities to visit Bombay. Smai
INV .,.tos ~ his preparation were placed In the
Qu",.' :, ,ocol eynerts notably DR.. Haffkine.
49, has himself evolved successful anu'oNin
VIM It, broad u,alady. the cholera. And two
w. ,h-c. DAVIS ago the cable reported that DR.
VI 60, .oo Tod nv series OF recent expert
4
nol,.vc that an antdote had been found
.. .,,oruaied virus Of the plague Itself. IL Is
,.,lo that he referred TO DIR. Yerslns serum
- weeks NAV elapse before this suspicion is
-, Then. too the public must not be TOO
,,. ona sansuine in its Interpretation OF the
-. disnatch Eut the situation is at least
80, and lends profound interest TO the story
n yo~sin's work even though the latter
.x,ras close parallel TO the memoraoie eN-
'.-,r,sn,s ~ Pasteur, Behring. Koch. Hafklne'
poux and Calmette
WORKING on KITAsATO's LINES
..... os.ob,ish,ns laboratory at Hong Kong
l. ,rra 1894 IN the chief hospital under Eng
~ ~, o,-o, there. DR. Yersin at first set out to
..rern, Kj,asato's discovery He took bits OF sou
"oo +~oro tho characteristics swengs (bu-
..,., =, rats which had died from tho plague, ana
,,,o tror, human victims. and inoculated there
,h o,bar rats He also experimental on mice.
A,,.s ond euinea-pgs. all Of which animals
,,.aiarel, deyeIoped the disease and dled
,,,r I, He found pigeons and some other
...rres nroof against the baeful injections.
y. oiso found that flies which had died IN his
laboratory after autOpsies might be roppeu oi
their les wings and heads (Which couio become
externally contaminated. and then GROUND up
into a paste which possessed the same 1a'a'
rroperties But distinct proof or the pac'eiiai
.,.ao,or - Tho noison was obtained only by
crltivating the germs on s'erihzeu Eela'i"V
mates in houillon and in other we'll known WAY b.
The progeny Of the original rcrobe were lh''o-
auced into the veins. under the skin' or more
,oics rats rabbits and guinea-pigs. and Killed
quite ae surely II not as quickly. as the PUPPY
waiter derived from the swellings Of animals or
rersons clearly affected by the malay. Inc
nar,icular artificial PREPARATION or culture
Witch gave the most striking results was an
alkaline per cent solution Of peptone' 10 which
| or 9 per cent OF gelatine had been andeu'
IN passing I, may be remarked that 'he germ
gas also found In the blood. and certain organs
IKE .he spleen and liver. well as In the char-
sc,srstic swellings But it was less abundant
IN the blood. especially as the hour Of death ap-
n-oachod An examination Of the soil under a
house which had been infected showed that the
earth itself at a depth OF an inch or two con-
tanned living bacteria, even though the place
WAS supposed 10 have been dsinfected. These
szhuned germs presented the same appearance
nthose taken from swellings. when examined by
am,croscope. but they did not possess the same
vrulence.
The fo,n, Of the bubonic microbes is short ana
stubbed like bean. instead Of long and marry
In shape therefore. they are half way between
the rounded micrococcus. Of which the germs OF
tphtheria and smallpox are representatives, ana
The slender. rod-like bacillus. the genus to which
belong the agents Of tuberculosis and cholera'
However inasmuch DR.. Yersin and others
continually refer TO the newly found bacterium
asa bacillus" probably ii will not be necessary
10 establish new genus expressly 10 accoih"o-
date the little rascal. AS with other such Great
ures the bubonic bacilli arrange themselves IN
continuous chain usually in contact endwise'
but sometimes with their sides in touch Ihey
are naturally colorless and transparent al
though teey show faint iridescence at times IN
reflected light. and readily susceptible 10
being dyed with aniline colors
AN INTERESTING DIFFERENCE
| One highly Interesting fact was brought to
light iii the earlier researches OF Dr. Yersin'
Some colonies Of bubonic germs develop. when
cultivated. more rapidly than do others And
very perceptible differences were detected IN
'hei. viruence. Cultures from the bubo or
human patient would affect different animals dif-
ferently. and some specimens were found TO nave
los, their virulence entirely so far as a guinea
pg was concerned Germs reproduced from
others that had been derived from a convaescen'
patient three weeks after he was taken SICK
proved TO be devoid Of power when introduced
"'o Inc system or mouse. Stiii' Ito"i . ''i''
patient who was cured after an illness lasting
fifteen days bacillus was obtained that was
vlrulent both for mice and guinea pigs These
and some other facts led DR.. Yersin TO suspect
hat certain varieties OF This specific bacillus
which appeared TO be !noffensve, might bt
capable Of giving animals immunity aeains
he plague. And t. animals could be rendered
Proof. why not mar?
Dr. Yersln returned to Paris late In ls9i. Ever
before his arrival fresh experiments were under
tsAen, under the nominal supervision OF Dr
houx. who is In charge OF the Pasteur institute
" The French capital Messrs. Borrel and Cal
meue participated therein. Calmette. by
"e-way is the man who has produced