Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-10-19
DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIN.

Some Interesting Practical Informa-
tion About n Remarkable Remedy.
The following article from The Sat-
urday Evening Post, by Joseph McFar-
land, M. D., is of timely interest and
may be taken as authentic: :
In this world Of infinite complexities
II is the common fate Of all beings to
continually come into relation with OBJ
jects and conditions Of danger and des-
truction. 1t is the ability to combat
such conditions that enable us to sur
vive: for during the entire period Of
our lives we are, consciously or uncon-
sciously, defending ourselves against
them. Our foes are visible and invisi-
BILE, large and small. Their size, how
ever, has nothing to do with their
prowess, and the enemies whose pow
erful hosts most successfully war
against us are the inflnitesimally small
bacteria, or microbes, which are re-
sponsible for the infectious diseases.
Some species of bacteria we habitually
carry about with us, and from them
we can never escape; but fortunately
they do us comparatively little harm.
Others we encounter Unexpectedly ly-
ing in ambush, ready to feast upon
our flesh and juices, rending and tear
ing, Transforming our beautiful organs
into masses Of foulness, and leaving
us wounded, weakened, overcome-yes,
even dead.
Immunity, or the Ability to Resist
Disease.
The ability to resist the activity OF
disease producing bacteria is called I'M
munity. It may be the inherited pecli"
liarity Of species or whole group OF
animals, or it. may be the acquired or
cultivated popularity Of some single
individual. Many phases of immunity
are we'll known. Thus. men are sub
ject to smallpox, but horses and dogs
are not: men and cows are subject to
tuberculosis, or consumption, but dogs
and horses usually resist 1t. Children
usually fall victims to measles, chick
pox and other diseases Of childhood
when exposed to any Of them, but ate!
having once passed such an attack do
not take" them again-that Is, they
become immune to them. After vacci-
nation we become immune to small
pox. It is evident that the horse and
dog successfully combat the germs
which produce smallpox in man; dogs,
especially. frequently coming into con-
tact with men suffering from the dis
ease: and that the human beings who
have once lived through an attack OF
an infectious disease, or have been vac
cinated, have acquired the resisting
ability. How the immunity Is acquir-
ed, what change takes place In the
body enabling it to defend itself, is still
mere speculation.
The phenomena Of acquired immuni-
ty are by no means limited to the bac-
terial or infectious diseases. but ex-
tends to a great variety Of related con-
ditions. When we carefully inquire
how bacteria cause disease we find
that these little vegetable cells have
power, frequently seen in higher Vege-
table and many animal cells, Of gene
rating poisonous compounds as they
grow. The entrance Of such poisons In
to the circulating blood enables them
to act upon its vital centres.
It Is familiar to every reader that
the cells of the tobacco plant produce
nicotine, as those Of the nux vomica
plant produce strychnine; and that the
cells of certain glands of serpents.
SCORPIONS centipedes and wasps pro-
duce venom, all Of the substances be-
ing powerful poisons. There are ami
mails more or less immune to all or these
nelson's. The tobacco worm spends Its
entire life from egg to chrysalis indus
triously eating the poisonous plant, yet
no i'll effect. The hedgehog
and mongoose are unaffected by the
b,tes of the ordinary venomous snakes
with which they come in contact. HUI
man beings can also, with care, accus-
tom themselves to certain poisons so as
to become comparatively immune to
them. The smoker enjoys the flavor
and aroma of the good cigar he smokes.
but a novice is made very Ill by follow
ing his example.
Morphia profoundly poisons when ta-
ken in large doses, but the habitual
opium eater or "morphia fiend" can
take many times as much with very
effects. The Chinese
may become so habitu-
ated to the drug that as many as 100
pipes may be required to produce sleep.
though q novice is lulled to sleep by
one pipe, and may even be thrown In
TO profound stupor by it.
How Artificial Immunity May be Ac-
quired.
Immunity may be produced expert
mentally by the use of poisons of va
rious kinds, and though this does not
explain the phenomena-for 1t does not
tell how the immunity develops-it
teaches us that the organism defends
Itself against disease-producing bacte-
ria chiefly by enabling us to endure
their poisons.
Experience seems to show that though
it is difficult for a man or one of the
higher animals to become immune tol