The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-26
AN rMpoRrANT SUBJECT.

Now let The Advertiser denounce the criminal practice of putting "puss, broken down animal matter into any system, human or animal. on the plea of preventing or curing any Kind or disease. Vaccination should be made legal crime, as 1t is now physical and moral crime. The great surgeons and physicians all over the world, now op- pose the practice of vaccination and in- ocuiation for diphtheria and other ail- ments, why let the ignorant physician keep up the fraud? There is not a reputable physician in Alabama that will publicly defend the practice.
 The recent unfortunate, if not actually criminal, incident in St. Louis, whereby a number of helpless children lost their lives through innoculation with infected serum. has furnished fresh arguments for those who believe with The Stan dard Because ignorant or careless hospital officials allowed matter to go out for use in diphtheria cases. which matter was proven to have been obtained from a diseased horse, and because that mat ter is known to have caused fatal conse- uuences, it is assumed and contended that all forms of innoculation and vacci- nation are morally criminal and should be made legally so.
 This style of argument is unjust and not supported by the facts. It would be equally just to condemn all canned meats because sometimes fatal conse- | ouences follow the eating of can of spoilt meat. It is a species Of reasoning which would condemn any form Of | a ignorant practitioner may make a fatal error.
 Ii is well known to medical men as we'll as to others that diphtheria IS one | of the most dreaded diseases to Whlch children are subject. It has been known and feared and combatted for centuries and all remedies, and they are many have so far proven of more than oouo'- full efficiency A physician sometimes .ures A severe case, but another may | prove fatal in a few hours In spite or all that science and skill can suggest. II nsw remedy gives promise of success certainly all humane persons, medical as well as others, should welcome 1t, en- courar re its use and see that It has a fair trial. The latest remedy is antitoxin of which The Canada Lancet thus speaks:
 The efficiency of the antitoxin treat | roant of diphtheria, according 10 the statements of those having the widest eA- | perience with it. has been so thorousnS | asta hlished that further discussion oI the | subject might seem unnecessary. oPecIe' scientific commissions appointed py VaFi- | ous medical societies to inquire into tle l matter. dealing with statistics or the
 as,,1ts obtained in both hospitals and nrivate practice in all parts of the world | have reported so overwhelmingly Tn us | favor that there can no longer pc oouot as to its therapeutic value. 80 much IS this the case that most journals nave | for some time refrained from attemptihs to prove the utility of method or treat ment that is established on as nrn | basis as that of vacclnauoh III 'he | prophyIaxis of smallpox.
 It may be that extravagant claims have been nut forward for this new treatment
 of diphtheria, for that is the fate ot all
 remedies when they are first brought be-
 fore the public. This remedy has really
 been tried but a few years. It has been lass than a score of years since German science ascertained the nature Of diuhtheria and succeeded in locating ana cultivat ting the germs which physicians call "the causative element or the disease, and then the efforts of scientists were directed to the task of finding the counter treatment. That treatment IS the same in it's general features as Vaccl- nation, the material difference being that | the antitoxin Is used after diphtheria has developed, and it's object is to counterac' and stop the original disease.
 That it has succeeded to remarKapie degree is proven by the records which have been kept of its use and effects
 Although it has been fairly used ana tested but a few years, and that oitei in not the best way, carefully compiled records show a wonderful reduction In fatalities from this dreaded disease. In Baltimore, for example, the per centage
 of deaths fell from 74.15 in 1894 to 4.6l II
 1899. In Washington City the mortality
 was reduced about one-haf In elSh' years, and in many other cases the good
 effects of this treatment have been SC
 apparent that medical men have righ'
 to feel that they have found remedy
 for a dreaded disease.
 What we have said Is only intended to show that the fatality at St. Louii was not the fault of the remedy but o the quality of serum used. It IS wei
 known that vaccine matter Is sometimes obtained from diseased source and tha
 lamentable results follow it's use, bu
 that is not a fair or valid argument against the plan of vaccinating against
 smallpox, but is a strong argument II
 favor of the use of extra care in order
 that impure or doubtful virus may moi
 be used If the carelessness or cupidit1
 of those who supply vaccine matter ano
 serum tempts them to disregard or neg
 feet any of the safeguards which should
 surround the business then 1t is the duty
 of the State to interpose, just as 1t inter
 poses for the protection of the lives ana
 health of the people in other cases, ana
 we cannot do better than to copy DOT
 tion of a strong editorial in recent issu'
 of The New York Times, and though
 rather lengthy 1t is directly to the point The Times says:
 The safeguards by which the business . of producing virus and serum needs to b'
 surrounded are simple enough, but no one of the least of them is safely negli gible. It cannot be carried on withou 8 immeasurable risk to life and health witt
 worn-out horses or sickly calves, nor fl