The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-16


BALTIMORE, Nov ia Baltimore ex-
fert has decided that the cat and deg do
not transmit typhoid fever germs. a ques-
ton in which medical men have long been
interested
Prof. William Royal Stokes, city bacte-
riOlogist and professor of pathology, Uni
yerslty OF Maryland, has just completed
/ many experiments at the suggestion of DR..
John s. Fulton, Secretary of the State
Board of Health. which prove that neith-
er the dog mol. cat, horses nor COWS, pigs
nor mice, nor any domestic animals can
! transmit typhoid fever to man.
/ This discovery, 1t is said, is most i'm
portant one to the medical world, for it
at once does away with any suspicion
directed toward these animals and directs
! attention 20 the real sources of the ty-
i phoid bacilIf
/ The occurrence of many typhoid cases
n an isolated farming community is got
/ entirely e1piainnbIe by the wells which
/ supply it. For the typhoid baciln could
not very easily penetrate many depths of
/ soil to enter the we'll, because the soil
acts as filter and no bacteria are found
/ below six or eight feet. The possibility OF
/ infection in the wells from the bodies Of
| animals seemed to many medical and lay
minds a ready explanation of the direct
contamination of the water.
DR.. Fulton and Dr.. Stokes, however,
were not satisfied with this explanation.
and these important experiments were
consequently undertaken with the result
| OF setting aside theories which had held
/ the minds of medical men for-years-
| 1t was found that when typhoid bacilli
/ were fed to dogs. cats, pigs. calves and
| others in quantities so large that they
ought to kill an elephant or a regiment of
IGen, the animals were not in the least
| disturbed. nor did they suffer illness OF
any kird
Anthrax, rabies. CHAMBERS. smallpox,
| plague, malaria, consumption and many
diseases have been proved to be easily
| transmitted from animals to mar. but ty-
! phoid DR.. Stokes proved not thus trans
missible
The manner in which these experiments
were carried on is as follows: The ty-
| phcid baeiHi of the must virulent form
/ were obtained by DR.. Stokes from patients
suffering with the mcst malignant form
| Of typhoid fever. and the bacilii were then
! placed on gelatin and put in an incubator
| and allowed to grow In such a manner
| that they would not infect anything or
anybody Eight Of such colonies" as
| they are called, we're grown
| Two chickens. two white rats, and a
| six-weeks-old calf were then taken
/ flask With Two quarts of bouiIlcn was then
| inocdlated with typhoid bacilii. and after
| the typhoid germs had grown in It for two
I days one-haIf or the bouilion was fed to
| the calf in its milk and the other half
/ was mixed with grain and given TO the
I chickens and rats. The animals we're fed
/ in different cages. They we're fed on this
! much-infected material every day for TWO
/ weeks Cultures were also taken from
| the animals every day, but no colonies OF
! typhoid bacilli were ever reobtained from
i them They seemed TO digest them as
/ easily as 3 child digests common candy.
/ The next set of experiments was ier-
/ formed inca similar manner with larger
1 quantities 5of typhoid baeiIif for -EaoRta
/ upon a pig At the end Of the month Fot
/ one typhoid bacillus was found and all OF
| the animals were well and hearty
| Two rabbits. two guinea pigs, and a
young pig were subjected TO even more
! severe tests with this bacillus. so Inaiig
| nant 10 human beings, but so harmless
| TO animals; these. too, remained perfectly
| healthy and digested all Of the typhoid
| bacteria
! DT. Stokes concludes from these expert
| ments that the typhoid bacillus cannot
maintain its struggle for existence IN the
| intestines of any OF the domestic animals
| experimental upon.