The record-union., 1898-12-04
SCIENCE AT THE. BEDSIDE.
HOW MODERN DOCTORS SAVE
INFANT LIVES.
A Local Physicians Interesting
Account Of Antitoxine
in Diphtheria.

2cGOuAt ~ AAtAtoAxAC
In Diphtheria.
The Record Union" has from time
to time published special articles of
great interest and value on medical
subjects. Local physicians have often
contributed valuable information On
questions pertaining to hygienic and
sanitary measures.
The following interesting facts con-
ccrning the modern treatment of diph-
liberia were prepared by we'll known
physician of Sacramento. a practition-
er of the regular school:
The honor of the discovery and the
perfection of diphtheria antitoxine be-
longs to Behring and his colleagues.
Other scientists had been experiment.
ing along similar lines with remedies
for various germ diseases, and are en-
titled to great credit for their efforts
Professor Behring has given himself up
to onerous and comparatively unre-
munerative laboratory work, and should
be rewarded accordingly. The Pro-
fessor retains no secret. He announces
to the world his method and simply
asks a share of the profits which man
ufacturing chemists obtain from the
production and sale of the drug.
| In America little encouragement is
given to scientific laboratory work.
There is an extensive field for such in
vestigation, and students should be
promised reward for discoveries demon
strated to be of so great a value to
mankind.
| scs ay,a1
| IN the leading countries of the world
| in Germany, England, France and
| America. In America there are four
prominent manufacturing concerns.
Three of these are private corporations.
and the fourth is the Health Depart
ment of the City of New York. The
plant Of this department is thoroughly
equipped, and the drug produced by
| them has been demonstrated to be as
| effective as that produced by any other
| company. AS soon as the discovery
was announced, representatives from
| the New York Health Department. were
sent to Germany to study the method
| of manufacture. The department did
not await the return of these represan-
! tatives, but commenced preparations
under written instructions from these
gentlemen so that on their return the
preliminaries were. all attended to, and
the final work, requiring special skill,
only awaited their personal attention.
They did not place their drug on the
market Immediately but used it in the
charity institutions and charity cases
Throughout the city. 1t has since been
placed on the general market and has a
wide sale throughout the States, and
| Sacramento receives a large part of
her supply from that source. To the
Health Department of New York is due
great credit for it's prompt Introduction
| of the manufacture of antitoxine into
| America, and the results of the early
use of the drug under it's supervision
were important links in the demonstra-
tion of it's value.
| AS early as 1892 Behring and his col
league, Kitasato.s a native Of Japan.
published reports. of their results of
their experimentation with animals.
During that year the drug was i'm
proved upon, but it's use was limited to
experimentation with animals. In 1888
| it was first tried hin the hospitals of
| Berlin; during the same year it was
also used in Paris under the observa-
/
cases in which it was used in these
cities, both showing reduction in the
death rate, were made to the Interna-
tional Congress in 1894. In August,
1894 the first serum was placed on the
general market in Europe. and was
very SOON after uses, in America. 3.
The method of, preparation of anti
toxine has been perfected byi stages un-
til at present every step is completed
under most careful observation, and the
| final article is a great Improvement
over that used four years since, the
greatest Improvement being toward
the concentration Of strength. While
| the veterinarian for one is connected
with every antitoxine plant of any mo-
ment) is selecting the horses, the bac-
Iteriologist is selecting the germ. The
veterinarian chooses young horses, free
from disease, and has them attended to
| in a most careful manner. The bacter-
| iologst selects a virulent culture of
germs in the following manner:
| He applies a cotton swab to the
throat of a patient having diphtheria;
this is then applied to a preparation of
Sleeps serum on which the germs grow
rapidly This culture medium is kept
at a constant temperature Gn an in
strument known as an incubator) for
from Is to "a hours. During this time
q large number of colonies of the diph-
iberia germ will have appeared on the
preparation. A specimen is then made
for the microscope, which is used only
to verify the result of the growth OH
favorable medium which is usually
characteristic. If the germ is diphtheria
bacillus, small platinum wire is then
applied to a colony and thrust into a
medium known as bouillon culture me-
dunn. In this the germs multiply very
rapidly. and develop a poison known
as the toxin, which, if injected into an
animal in any considerable quantity,
would cause death. After several weeks
the medium is filtered through a porce-
| lain filter in order to obtain the pois-
onous product of the germ in solution
freed of the germs. This solution is in
jected into the horse in gradually in
Icreasing doses. Records of the temper
ature of the horse are kept, some being
more susceptible to the poison than
lothers. When the horse has reached
Ii the stage where he can take large doses
of the poison without showing marked
reaction. a test is made of the blood
drawn from the jugular vein. All in
tstruments and glass receivers are as
Thoroughly cleaned as for the most
complicated abdominal operation. The
blood soon coagulates after being
ldrawn. and the serum is separated from
1.-THE clot. The serum is the drug known
1 ,,.rr xy1,s, n