The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1901-01-17

CuuAal organisms % many hCouIhea
nave been isolated and thoroughly
identified. what. then. has been
learned about small pox. and what
sort Of n micro-organism Is It that
medical science supposes to be It's
cause2 Prof. a. @. Abbott, the bac-
THEOLOGICAL expert Of the University
OF Pennsylvania, quite bluntly says
eThe cause OF small pox is as yet I'M
discovered" Prof Muir and Prof
RHchle. OF Glasgow and oxford, say In
recent work. NO organism has
ever been isolated which on trans.
ference to animals has been shown to
have any specific relations to the dis,
oase" (which means practically what
Prof Abbott said Or. William II.
Park, Of the New York state board OF
health. puts the same idea into these
words mo bacteria have been found
II, small pox which seem to have any
relation to the disease except as sec.
ondary infection The same is true
Of vaccinia."
The failure to ascertain the cause Of
snail pox Is not for lack of scientific
investigation, for the bug has been as
ruch sought aftera 5bs phIlost piers
stone or the fo'u atp gout' 'fhe
small pox gerrt ~ 'odrd to &c nov
bacilli, now nj lsocc 80 ana now or
ganisms that are cciiher the one nor
the other; but none OF these discover
ies has yet been able to stand investi-
cations. and about all that is left the
bacterlologists is the fact that small
Iox does exist, and the profound con.
yictlon that It's cause is contagium
y,vum-a micro-organism Of some sort.
I. is curious 70 note also that, while
the causal bacteria OF typhoid, diph-
iberia, tuberculosis, ire bubonlc
plague. and many others OF our viru-
lent diseases are familiar acquaint-
ances Of the medical man with the
microscope, there is a group OF allied
infections and contagious diseases that
have so far successfully defed science
to describe their cause of being.
Scarlet fever, measles and chicken pox
belong In this mysterious class.
Ignorant OF the nature OF small pox.
Il is not surprising that we do not
lui5w what vaccih-.s.oa really is, al
though II has blessed the htnan race
since Jenner discovered It in 1896.
Vaccination is defined as the process
By which specific disease, termed
vaccinia. or COW pox, is introduced
into the human organism with the
view Of protecting It against the at
tack Of an incomparably more severe
disease. small pox." But COW pox and
small pox have been proved to be prac-
tically the same disease, and. say Prof.
Muir and Prof Ritchie. "as we are
ignorant Of the cause os small pox
we can only conjecture what the ma
ture Of yaccinia is From what we know
OF other like processes we have some
ground for believing that IL consists OF
an active immunization by means of
an attenuated form OF the causal or
Cauism," Hardly more satisfactory is
the understanding Of the mysterious
processes involved in the preventive
inoculation for bubonic plague, and
tho injection OF antitoxin for diph-
liberia and loekjaw In these methods
no live bacteria are introduced into
the human system, there Is rather
premeditated ptomaine poisoning,
whereas in vaccination it is supposed
that the same germ is introduced alive
in yaccinia that Il is desired to frus.
trate In small pox It is good deal
the same sort OF strategy as Leather
stocking showed when he started
back fire 70 check the prairie's confla-
grafton
The value OF vaccination Is shown by
the fact thai most medical authorities
place 'he mortality OF small pox
among the unyaccInated at something
over 80 per cent. and among those
no have been yacclnated at per
cent or under. Marson from a great
number OF cases, obtains this percent
cge Of mortality:
Unvaccinated persons, $3.50 per
cent.
One cicatrlx. 7.50 per cent
Two cicatrIces, 4l6 per cont
Three oicatrices, 1.75 per cent.
-Four or more cicatrices, 40 per cent
These figures show clearly that there
have been surprisingly few deaths
among persons who have been yaccln
atcd one Or more times. The follow
Ing agures from the sheffield CEng)
epidemic OF 1878 show the probabill-
ties of attack among yaccnated and
unvacciuated persons:
For each 1000 children under 10
years.
Attack rate OF vacclnated .s. 500