The record-union., 1899-07-05
Weather Forecast.
4 CHANCE FOR MEDICAL SCI
ENCE


: It may surprise the general reader
to learn from paper by Professor
Andrew H. Smith, read before learn
ed society of New York, that pneu-
monia kills more people than any 9TH
er acute disease which physicians are
called upon to treat. Yet of all who
suffer from the attack, we are told
that three recover where one dies.
This raises the aggregate Of the dis
ease to a startlingly large figure.
It follows, therefore, that every ply
stefan in practice must see great
deal Of the disease, and have rather
large experience with it. The mystic
rious popularity of the disease, says
Professor Smith, is that it is one in
which the fever accompanying the
acute Inflammation goes down. while
the Inflammation remains. That is to
say, the cause of the fever remains
while the fever disappears. So 1t has
been concluded that this dread dis
ease is not an ordinary Inflammation
OF the lungs. Then followed the dis
covery that there is bacillus of pneu-
monia. But some of the most intelli-
gent and practiced students of the
disease deny that there is any pneu-
monia anti-toxine.
Professor Smith now comes forward
with the theory that pneumonia is not
an Inflammation at all, for infiamma-
ton is perverted nutrition-a process
which begins in the nutrient vessels OF
part, and which necessarily brings
about a change of structure. The lungs
have. says Professor Smith, two dis
tinct calculations, the nutrient sup
piled from the left side of the heart,
and the functional from the right side.
So it follows that there may be dis
turbance Of the functional while the
nutrient remains undisturbed.
This fact the Professor thinks un-
deriaes the whole question of the ma
ture of this dread disease, which full
one half the population have expert
etlced in their persons or their fami-
lies. He asserts therefore that pneu-
nonia is simply process of germ
culture-but why simply? Rather
we.sshould say, seriously. So when a
person takes" pneumonia the pneu-
mococci are nearly always present in
the upper air passages. and find their
way into the air cells, and each one
becomes a little. culture tube. They
excite peculiar irritation. The result Is
that the pouring out from the func-
tional capillaries Of fibrinous ma
terial which ultimately fills the air
cells. and in this material, just as in
gelatin or other culture media of the
laboratory, the pneumococcus multi
plies aid produces it's appropriate
pneumotoxin.
But it is noted that given amount
of culture material can maintain life
In given number of cocci only for
certain. time. All the while these cocci
are giving off excreta. This toxin pol
sons the medium and finally the point
is reached when the medium can no
longer sustain the organisms. That he
asserts is what takes place in pneu-
monia. The supply Of toxin which Is
steadily absorbed into the circulation
causes the rise in temperature and
other symptoms. When the supply
ceases. there is fall In temperature
or the crisis"
, But what the Professor calls a "beau-
tiful disqualification Of the adaptation
OF means to an end" Is another factor
In the process of defervescence, and it
is purely chemical one. In respira-
ton a variable amount Of sodium BIZ
carbonate passes constantly through
the functional capillaries of the lung,
dissolved in blood. It is brought in
that carbonic acid. may be exhaled
with the breath, and be carried out
of the body. 1t comes there as solid
substance, and hence must be liberat-
ed from its combination with the So
dunn. The nutrition Of the lung pro-
vides that pneumic acid shall be fur
nished by the nutrient circulation. AS
the air cells fill with the fibrinous ma
terial pressure is exerted that inter-
feres with the pulmonary circulation,
and as the right side of the heart is
comparatively feeble, the pressure
brings about a standstill in the capil-
larry circulation.
In that case the supply of sodium
bicarbonate no longer arrives in the
hepstized lung, but the pneumic acid
is being formed all the time, and Is
not ,neutralized. But the pneumococ-
Gus will not tolerate acid in the me-
dunn in which it is growing, and so
the acid puts an end to it's activity
a correlative fact is that when this
condition sets up, the urine becomes
akaline. but the alkalinity disappears
soon after the .scrisis"
The Professor touches but lightly
The theory that there is another factor
IN the anti-pneumotoxin, and conludes
that III medical science adopts the
theory that pneumonia is not an In
fiammation but process Of germ culture
It follows that If in any way the cul-
fure medium can be influenced so as to
make it an unfit host for entertainment
Of the pneumococcus. then something
may be done directly n the line of
treating the cause. He maintains his