The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-03-09

@"oNe oescrlbed-several years OF continu-
GUS experimenting under the leadership of
one of the greatest Of contemporary medi-
cal investigators.
WHAT LEYDEN SAYS.
professor Won Leyden and his first as
sistant, DR.. BlumenthaI. will not talk
ABOUT the scarlet serum except with the
utmost reserve. The professor states-and
MS statement is corroborated by my per-
sOnal ObservatiOns-that in every case ex-
perimented on the very considerable fever
ceased few hours after incubation and
that. as consequence Of the abatement of
fever, the Illness took turn for the better
from that time on
But" added DR.. Won Leyden. whether
this was due TO my serum or TO other IA
Vorable circumstance, cannot be definitely
decided until our experiments cover at least
a thousand cases.
This modesty on the part OF the discov-
erer is certainly noteworthy in our time. of
brass and advertising As a matter of fact
Professor Won Leyden. though extremely
hopeful, VIII not ask practitioners in gen
eral to use the serum until the records of
thousand cases of scarlet fever treated
with serum have been compared with an
other thousand that were subject TO ordi-
nary treatment. If the comparison turns
out I'm his favor. then he will begin to think
that half the battle. at least. is won.
LET THE PEOPLE TAKE HOPE.
When a man of Professor Won Leydens
reputation iRdorses a method even in
half-heatred fashion good results may be
confidentially expected. He told me he felt
IL his duty 10 continue in his experiments
and that several months ago he asked
number of directors of medical clinics to
try the serum. All the gentlemen responded,
and it is to be hoped that the thousand
cases, necessary for a preliminary exami-
nation, may be reached by the end of the
spring. Meanwhile several well-known VII
emma physicians have taken up the study
and advising Won Leyden as to their
observations and the results of the treat
ment given.
AS soon as all reports are in, Professor
Won Leyden will submit the consensus of
opinion and the records to a jury of inter-
national medical celebrities, who will de-
eide whether the serum shall be placed
within reach of the. ordinary practitioners
not. If the decision favors Professor Won
Leydens theory, mothers in all parts of the
world will have good reason for thanksgiv-
ing, for scarlet fever and measles will then
indeed, have lost their terrors. Not only the
disease will be conquered. but the after
effects as well, as these are largely caused
by the fever. 1 have seen children, who
suffered from scarlet fever, fall into a state
of permanent bad health. many. though not
predisposed to the disease by heritage or
otherwise becoming victims of scrofula in
lax malignant forms.
WILL TRY TO SAVE CHILDREN.
Up to the present Professor Won Leyden
has restricted his experiments to grown
persons who consented to be treated in ac-
cordance with his method, but the nondan-
gerous character OF the serum having been
proved beyond question he and several of
his distinguished colleagues will now inoc-
ulate children suffering from scarlet fever.
The professor is engaged in experimenting
upon the quantity to be used for little
ones.
The discovery, or hoped-for discovery, of
the serum. is partly due to the success of
the diphtheria serum. The latter like the
scarlet serum, is absolutely nondangerous
and its benefits can hardly be exaggerated
after thousands of lives have been saved
by it's use. Objection is made in some quar-
tiers on the score that its success cannot be
measured by the reduction in the mortality
from diphtheria "inasmuch the diph-
iberia epidemic had reached it's climax and
was already on the decline when the serum
was first introduced" This may be true or
not, yet at best it is only a theory, which,
1 am glad to say, is not influencing prac-
ticing physicians 10 any extent for diph-
iberia serum is gaining right along and
saving lives by the hundreds year after
year.
L cannot say as much fop the tetanus
serum. which. like the other, is intended TO
destroy poisonous bacteria. But the diph-
liberia bacilli are dead matter. while those
of tetanus very much alive and able 10
| make the human body their breeding place.
For that reason the killing off of tetanus
/ bacteria IS matter of slow progress-too
| slow to be OF much practical use.