Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-06

some Recent Investigations Concern.
Ing It's Supposed Properties.

some Recent Investigations Concern
Ing Its Supposed Properties.
From American Medicine.
Among the means OF protection possessed
by the organism against infectious diseases
and toxic agencies. laboratory investiga-
ton has recently placed the bile; but as
Is true Of so many other facts in medicine
empiric knowledge anticipated scientific
discovery. Thus. the natives of Africa ac-
eordins to Fraser. have long known the
'aiue OF serpents bile an antidote in the
treatment OF snake bites, and among thu
natives OF Bengal II has been q custom
centuries old, 10 employ the liver OF mad
dogs as protective agent against HYDRO
phobia- In a letter TO the Gazette Heb-
domadaire de Medicin, a French traveller
writes follows:
About three months ago a mad dos h,,
six or seven persons. among whom were
Two or my porters. / ordered bits OF iron
ID be heated white-hot for cauterizins the
wounds. but the natives said to me. with
q laugh. oh. Sahb that Is nothing. we
nave an excellent remedy for hyprophobia:
you shall see.' The mad dog approa ched
again One OF the natives took a club and
Killed the animal. Another opened i,s
oody. took therefrom the palpitating liver
wounded man. who ate them raw. There
ia no more danger they said to me ASH
remained incredulous they brought me 10
young man who bore large scars on his
legs He had been bitten FIVE years before
by mad dog. but had eaten a raw piece
effects.
These events took place in March. and
II is now July g. The wounds ane cured
ana all the men continue to do we'll Our
ratives even assert that the remedy WIFI
cure a man after he has been attacked by
the disease" -
Wehrmann found by experiment tba.
BILE destroys the toxic properties of eel Sc
rum and of snake venom but that IL an
parentiy has no protective or curative
properties. The active anti-toxic principle
OF bile was found by Phisalix TO be the
taurocholate. and especially the giycocho-
late, Of sodium.
The important experiments Of Fraser are
well known. He found that the bile of both
POISONOUS and non-poisonous serpents
counteracts the toxic effects Of snake VEN
ON; oxgall has similar properties but was
estimated TO De seventy times weaker than
the bile Of poisonous serpents The bile
also neutraiizes dphtheria toxin but, as
Frasers experiments show. only when IL
comes from the same species of animal as
that injected with the toxin
Perhaps the most interesting observation
connected with the autitoxic properties OF
Die are those made by Koch in his study
OF the rinderpest in South Africa IN was
found that cattle can be immunized when
injected with the bite Of animals that have
DIED with rfnderpest on the nth or sixth
day OF the disease. The protection con-
1erred lasts Tor period OF four months
kolle and Turner have, however Improved
upon Koch's method OF immunizatfon BY
the Infection of virulent rinderpest blood
ana of serum from animals that have re-
covered from the disease they have OBJ
tsined an antitoxic serum that is much
more powerful than bile. Koile is of the
opinion that the antitoxic properties of bile
are not due to the presence In IL of any
soluble poison or antitoxin but that with
the bile are introduced micro-organIsms of
the disease which grow at the point of In
oculation. their dissemination being pre-
vented by the action OF the bile the sur
rounding tissues. In other words the i'm
munity Is active, analogous to that con-
ferred by vaccination against anthrax and
not passive. as Is the immunity obtained
by means of antitoxns against dtphtheria
and tetanus.
Vincenci found that the bile of animals
sunering from tetanus Is able to antago-
nize a certain amount of tetanus toxin
while the bile from healthy animals is de-
void Of such property. That the bile has
also the power Of neutralizing certain pois-
onous alkaloids was shown by Arnold This
investigator injected a series OF frogs with
varying doses Of strychnine. and recorded
the onset of commissions. the severity du-
ration and the time within which death
occurred Another series Of frogs were in
tected with the same doses of strychnine
mixed with fresh frogs bile: a third with
similar doses OF strychnine mixed with
oxgall. and fourth with bile alone. The
frogs that had received the strychnine
mixed with bile survived the doses OF
strychnine which were surely fatal when
given alone, The symptoms appeared later,
ard were less severe. The fresh frogs
bile was more active than the OK bile
None of the frogs died after the injection
with bile alone.
In connection with the subject Of the
antitoxic action of bile. IL Is Interesting 10
note that the theory. so long mainta ined,
that bile In the fntestines exerts antiseptio
properties is not supported by recent in
vestlgations. Albu and Others have shown
that the reputed anti-putrefactiv property
of bile is a myth Mosso likewise demon
strated that bile has power to arrest
putrefaction although in his experiments
II seemed slightly to hinder the growth OF
bacteria Whatever influence the bile pos
sessses upon putrefactive processes in the
inf eSffna is Indirect