The record-union., 1898-12-05

ment may indicate a less virulent type
of the disease rather than any special
virtue in the treatment involved. Again,
since the advent of the antitoxin craze
many incompetent, inexperienced or
unprincipled physicians have classed
and treated as diphtheria many cases OF
simple follicular tonsilitis and other
non-specific throat diseases and thus
claimed a marvellous curative virtue for
antitoxin and attempted to show low
percentage of deaths when in large
proportion of cases it was used where
no diphtherda existed.
One notable and very unfortunate
feature Of the horse serum epidemic Is
the commercialis1n extant Great sta
bles and laboratories have been estab-
lished by enterprising laymen to pro-
duce the product and a very large per-
centage of the laudatory articles ap-
pearing in the medical and particularly
the daily secular press emanateS from
these sources. DR.. Behring, the anti
toxin "discoverer'' has SO far forgotten
his hippocrating oath and allegiance to
the medical code as to apply for and
procure a patent in the United States
NOfC11IS Ills QlSCOfeIy dInl ItOW Lie
numerous commercial producers and
advocates in America of the serum are
now engaged in a vigorous contest for
the existence of their establishments.
We beg to suggest to them the substitu-
tion of asses in lieu of horses in their
prOpagationS as it would overcome the
patent restrictions and be fully in har-
mony with the mulish propensity with
which the advocates Of the serum
treatment persist in its use.
Viewed from the standpoint of the
confding but gullible public, what fond
parent desires to have an innocent child
subjected to injections of horse serum
Surcharged'' with an unknown and
unknowable something alleged to be the
product of diphtheritic poison injected
into the horse. When he knows that
there are few poisons so virulent as
animal substance in which even the
slightest decomposition has taken place
and which will take place on the least
exposure to the atmosphere.
Physicians have often been known to
uncork a vial Of serum, inject a child,
recork the bottle and later inject an
other or the same child from the same
vial-a criminal proceeding which the
license Of the physician alone prevents
being classed as deliberate murder.
But to prevent the decomposition the
manufacturers add to their product an
antiseptic or preservative in the form
usually Of one-eighth of one per cent
of carbolic acid. and right here lies a
tale. Competent and reliable physi-
clans in America, believing that there
was some virtue in the antitoxin, and
suspecting that it rested in the pre-
servative used, recently inaugurated
experiments to determine wherein the
virtue laid, and by injecting pure water
meddcated with one-eighth of one per
cent. of carbolic acid, in cases Of un-
doubted diphtheria, found that they
secured precisely the same curative re-
suits and notably without the unfor-
tunate sequella following the antitoxin
treatment.
We suggest to the advocates of the
serum treatment that they try the
above formula and thereby may save
their patrons not only the heavy
charges for antitoxin injections, but
much suffering liable to result from an
indiscriminate use of the animal agent
We might go ON to show that admit
ting all the vaunted claims of low per-
centages OF deaths resulting firm the
use of antitoxin, yet statistics show
that such percentages are still twice as
large as those resulting from pure
homeopathic treatment, but our pur-
pose is not to fight again the battles Of
the medical schools, but rather to throw
a ray Of light upon the darkness from
which q deluded public suffers.
The local experience with antitoxin
sustains the sentiment of this article,
for a large percentage of deaths from
diphtheria in this city during the past
two years have resulted where the
serum was used and numerous unfortu-
nate sequella have been noted. In a
number of cases where the disease was
pronounced cured the patient subse-
quently and promptly died from what
was pronounced heart failure" but it
was not stated whether the heart fall
ure" resulted from the diphtheria or
from the antitoxin. G. NJ. DIXON.