Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-20
DEATH FROM OLD AGE
May Soon Be Abolished, the
Scientists Say.
A CURIOUS INTERVIEW
EXPERIMENTS OF THE MOST
SENSATIONAL INTEREST.
When the Discoveries Emerge From
the Mystery of the Laboratory
Results May Be Looked For.
A CURIOUS INTERVIEW

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
PARIS. September 5. 1902.
For the first time in the history of hui
manity a living man may say 1t may be
possible for me to live indefinitely, until
some accident shall take me off; long as
| escape such accidents 1 need not die of
old age.
These extraordinary words were spoken
to us by a friend Of one high in the Pasteur
Institute. We had been talking of the re-
cent Inauguration of the statue of Pasteur
at Dole his native town. and of the yelled
promises contained in the discourse of DR..
Roux on that occasion.
The Pasteur Institute has solved a prob
lem that may change the destiny of all hu-
mainly as we imagine it, continued this
friend of one of its workers. 1T Is now
slowly and methodically studying how to
apply the discovery to man instead of
laboratory animals. 1t will make no more
premature announcements to the public
Like that of its specific serum for the
blood in January. 1902" l suggested.
THAT was the first discovery of this same
series" was the reply. The institute had
reason to regret its condolences to the pub
lie First came the reporters, who exag-
gerated the immediate consequences OF the
great discovery; then there came hundreds
of old men. who asked to be rejuvenated
on the spot. When the papers ceased TO
talk about it-no one having been rejuven-
ated-the experimenters thankfully contin-
ued working on In silence.
Here Is the outline OF the discoveries.
said the friend of the institute They all
grew out of that of the blood serum. whose
announcement made such a stir in January.
1900 At that time DR.. Bordet began by in
tecting the blood Of n living rabbit into the
body of a living guinea pig. Later he In
jected blood from this same guinea pig INTO
10 1fa6 70 N
from the fact that the poison elaborated
in the guinea pig was fatal in large doses.
Prof. Mechnlkoff the chief of Dr. Bordet,
argued that its action in small doses might
be stimulating TO the rabbit. On this prin-
ciple is based the action of such poison
medicines as arsenic and strychnine. He
therefore began to inject into rabbits Ger
tain feeble solutions of the blood of guinea
pigs into whose bodies there had been IN
Jected the blood of a rabbit. The cubic
millimeter of the rabbits blood before In
lection contained 3.0COnO0 red globules. In
three or four days the number had IN
creased to 5000. 900.
"A sovereign remedy against anaemia
had been discovered. Then. little by little
1t dawned on them that they had hit on
specific serum for the blood ana means
of Indefinitely prolonging human Ire
DO they still make that claim we
asked.
Not There Just Yet.
LAS much as ever. When the reporters
crowded around him the first day of the an
nouncement DIR. Bordet told them; The
main problem has been solved: but for the
moment we cannot prolong anything. we
are still at laboratory experiments. abstract
work. For the moment all have to say is
that in theory it seems possible to prolong
human existence indefinitely by arreStns
senile decrepitude.'
And what would he say now" I asked.
HE could say a great deal more IL he
Were willing. answered the friend or the
institute. The discoveries have gone far
beyond that OF the blood serum. In a word.
they have proved the same thing for each
organ Of the body. For example. they take
out living rabbits liver. They inject a
paste of it into living guinea pig A few
days after, they inject blood from this
guinea pig into another rabbit. And just
a in the case OF the first serum for the
blood, it's effect In small doses is to invig-
crate the special organ whose cells had
been previously injected into the guinea
pig.
have discovered great general law con-
cluded our informant. Cells OF rabbit g
liver having sojourned for few days in
the body a guinea pig. there elaborate a
specific poison or a specific invigora tor-you
may even say a rejuvenatOr-for the livers
(and the livers only OF all other rabbits.
And so with the nerves, brain, kidneys and
other organs "
And the practical RESULT" we asked.
You can sec for yourselves" he an
swered. When all these discoveries are
brought from laboratory proof to actual
practice mar may hope to live on almost
Indefinitely. Should you or l come to the
doctors with our kidneys damag ed. they
could set the forces Of our body working TO
restore them. 1t will be we'll worth while,
because We shall no longer have to fear
death from old age"
That very afternoon I met Paris doctor
OF celebrity. from whom I hoped, II l went
the right way about it. to procure an intro
duction TO the Pasteur Institute expert
mentors. This was DIR. Oscar Jennings. the
authority on drug and alcohol addctions
and n specialist of nerves and neurasthenia
Are these things true?" l asked him
An Open Secret.
''I do not know how you will word them"
he replied. but there is no doubt that their
outline circulates in Paris a. a KIND of open
secret. Besides. the Pasteur Institute has
taken care to publish. here and there from
time to time, just enough to make good it's
priority to such discoveries, and no more
DIR. Bordet has spoken very openly" I
said ''Old age seemed natural; every one
accepted It. Then one day says Dr. Bor-
Diet in an interview, 1t struck me that there
might be interesting matter for inveStiga-
ton in the subject. 1t came to me from
this reflection: Life being function like
any other. II we should die normally we
ought 10 die with JOY, with the desire to