The record-union., 1898-12-05

sponse to an article that appeared IN
the Record Union yesterday from the
pen Of prominent physician:
Eds. Record Union: The article
entitled Science at the Bedside" pub
Mshed in the Record Union" to-day,
should be answered in the interest of
humanity and the confiding public. It
was prepared by a so-called regular
physician, evidently meaning a member
of the allopathie or old school Of medi-
cine, but inaptly applied, for New
York Judge has recently decided-in a
case where a homeopathic physician
sued an allopathic physician for slander,
on the ground that he had called him
an irregular''-that a regular physi-
clan was one who had received license
to practice medicine from a duly au-
thorized State body, and he gave the
plaintiff heavy damages.
The article referred to is in advocacy
of the use of antitoxin in the treatment
of diphtheria, and serves to illustrate
forcibly the unbecoming chase after
phantoms by the members of the med
deal profession of the day. AS re-
cent writer says. lit is the fashion of
the old school to introduce the new pro-
ducts of chemical and archaeological
laboratories lauding their crown vir-
tues, merely to cast them, aside as soon
as another meteor flashes across the
medical firmanant" all of which is
evidenced by the appearance and wan
ang of Koch's consumptive cure, Hirsch-
feldars anti -tubercular serum, Pas
neurs cure for rabies and the almost
endless ''anti-germ'' cures based on the
radlacdous theory that specific germs are
the cause Of all or nearly all forms of
disease.
remedy lauded by the daily press
as a dangerous element, for the public
interest thus aroused is doomed to a
decided reaction We are warranted
an the assertion that at the present time
the evidence against the obsolete virtue
of antftoxin DIS growing rapidly and al
though its advocates assert that there
us no doubt about its absolute position
as curative agent, there are very reh-
able and authoritative voices warning
against it's use.
Many prominent physicians abroad
are better satisfied with their success
without than with antitoxin. So strong
an advocate as DR.. Boetticher of Ber-
ain admits that the busiest practitioners
and those sought after by the public in
Germany stand antagonistic to diph-
theritdc serum.
1t lis interesting and important to list
en- to the testimony of men who stand at
the head of large public hospitals and
who thus are in a position to judge OF
the point at issue. DR.. Arthur Hen
ing Of Koengsburg, emphasizes the fire.
quent presence of genuine virulent
diphtheria bacilli in the nose and mouth
of perfectly healthy individuals and in
follicular tonsilitis and other forms of
disease in individuals who have never
had diphtheria or been in contact with
the disease and he concludes that the
diphtheria bacillus is not under those
circumstances a specific cause Of the
disease and a method of cure based
solely upon the presence of the bacillus
can never be considered rational or
specific. DR.. Hennig has treated /, 1927
cases of diphtheria without using anti
toxin with mortality Of 3.06 per cent.
only Therapeutische Wochenschrift
Nos. IL, Is. 1896. Professor Month of
Vienna an advocate of the serum treat
ment, has treated 104 cases with anti
toxin in the hospital with a remarkable
mortality of 20 per cent.-Archiv +
Kinduheilkunde VOL XXI.
Professor Schmiedeberg of Strass-
burg, also an advocate of the serum,
gives his observations ON the kidneys OF
diphtheritic children. Those treated
with antdtoxin serum presented 209 per
cent of severe post diphtheritic kidney
affections and 263 per cent. of slight
albuminuria. Those treated without
antftoxin presented 4.6 per cent. of Sc
we're and 90 per cent. Of slighter effec-
tions-Virchow's Archiv, Vol. 146, No.
2.
DR.. A. Posselt OF the General Hospital
of Innsbruck, Austria, reports thirty
two cases treated with antoxin OF which
nine died and twenty-six cases treated
without antitoxin of which only two
died. In Posselt's resume of his obser-
vations he says: Firstly, frequently the
injections were made without success
Secondly, in three cases the injections
could not prevent the ensuing weak
ness of the heart. Thirdly, marked
albuminuria could be observed in four
cases following the injections and
fourthly, the post morten examinations
of the fatal cases showed an extreme
enteritis as we'll as an oedematous con-
dition of the follicles and mesenteriS
glands.-Wiener Med. Wochenschrift
Nos 40 to- 81, 1896
Professor Soerensen of Copenhagen
reports from his experience with anti
toxin at the Blegdam Hospital, a decid-
edly unfavorable result and gives for
nlidable list of post -diphtheritic compli-
cations resulting from thhe use of tbs
horse He reports 220 cases oil
diphtheria treated, eighty of which were
treated with serum with nine deaths
and 40 without serum with only five
deaths. In all cases the progress of the
disease Twas equal-Therapeu
Monatschefte, July and August, 1896
The authorities quoted are men Of
standing and note in the medical pro
fession abroad and members Of the al.
Iopathic school as well. It is mat
ter of observation that epidemics o.
diphtheria occurring at different periods
vary greatly in severity and it is OBJ
vious that periods showing a low per
centage of mortality under serum treat.
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