The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-18
ANTI-T0K1i
PRICES LOWERED
Reported Increase Has Not At
fected Salt Lake.
OTHER COURSE is TAKEN
HOW TIE LIFE-SAVIEG SERUM
IS OBTAINED.

cans know nothing pf the morc pf the
alleged aati-tcxin trust, as reported
yesterday IN dispa tches from Chicago,
TO fierce a 1C0 per cent increase Of the
cCaT CT the Giphtheria serum. Every
drug store and physician in the city
handles and uses the anti-toxin- but
not enc Of them hs6 had any advices
from the sources Of supply that the
price has either been increased, or is F..
TO be double ON the contrary. anti
toxin for diphtheria can be purchased
at some drug stores today for less than
what 81 could or Jan J.
One leading druggist has pasted on
ire left hand side of his prescription
case a printed price list of the cost of
the different grades of the serum. u is
from one of the largest chemical manu-
featuring concerns I'm the United States
The notice says that ON and after Jan.
6. the prices for anti-toxin VIII be as
quoted. A comparison of the figures
given, with those in existence at the
first of the year, shows a reduction of
Is cents in one kind of the diphtheria
remedy alone.
Inquiry at more than half a dozen
other drug stores yesterday afternoon
showed that not all OF them were, ac-
cording to the Information given to
The interlOCut0T. enjoying the benefit
Of the recent decrease in the whole
sale price OF the commodity They adj
rHitted, however, that the price of the
serum is not ss great as it was year
or two ago; that as the demand Tor
it has increased, and the number Of
manufacturers has increased, the cost
TO the druggist and consumer has been
decreased.
Doubt Trust Can Control It.
There is some doubt expressed as TO
the trust having such a control of the
serum manufacture ss to be able to
dictate the price TO such an extent as
doubling it. The expense attendant
upon procuring anti-tOxin for diph-
iberia is great. and IL requires some
Weeks and months 10 secure the first
sarum, but those two conditions have
not restrained many firms from engag-
ing in the business. The high price
which the serum commands has als8
had a tendency 10 cause its manufac-
ture to be engaged in by people who
would not otherwise undertake il ex-
cepting for the large returns.
The druggists say that while the
price for the serum may be double in
Chicago what it is in Salt Lake City.
they do not think that such a condition
really exists; that there must be some
mistake i'm the dispatch. 1t was also
stated yesterday that if the trust has
control of the supply. a uOtice of in
crease may be received from the manu-
featuring chemists at any time. But
they do not look for any sucn a condi-
ton. They rather expect another de-
crease during the course of the year.
Amount Used in City Varies.
It is impossible 10 form an adequate
or clear idea of the amount of diDh-
iberia anti-toxin which Is used in the
g-1FE If has "a
Its demand depends entirely upon the
prevalence Of that contagious disease.
Where there is an epidemic the demand
for il is proportionately larger than
where there are but the ordinary cases
which prevail the year round in any
large community.
In volume anti-toxin is Insignificant.
il is a semi-fuid, about the consistency
of a solution between milk and con-
Ccnsed milk In color it is almost
white. Before the concentrated anti
toxin was introduced il required
about twice as mitch OF the serum for
a dose as IL does today The size OF
the dose depends upon many conditions
surrounding the patient and the stage
Of the disease. Where the symptoms
indicate very aggravated case, which
was not Identified as quickly as it
might have been. heroic treatment is
called FOR and given.
The diphtheria serum is gagged on
the unit system. A unit as explained
by a physician yesterday, who has used
the cure ever since it was discovered,
Is ten times the amount Of anti-tOxin
that viii neutralize ten times the
amount of toxin to kill a guinea pig
about TO 10 months old. While the
physician admitted that would not be
a particularly lucid explanation or
Of d. 70 he ua Off
zen, it is about as clear an answer as
The medical profession can give 10 the
uou-physician or person not familiar
with drugs, etc.
Cure For Five Diseases.
Anti-tOxin. as discovered by Pasteur
of the PssteuT institute of Paris,
where, by the way, its use is discred-
tied TO a greater. extent than in any
city of its size in the world is an abb
sOlute cure for FIVE of the most dreaded
diseases which man contracts from
men or animals-hydropho diph-
iberia lOCkjaw, bub0nic plague and
serpent venom
s The diDhtheria serum is a culture
taken from a horse who is cared for
especially Tor that sole purpose. His
one vocation in life, although he does
not know it, is to give up his life blood
in certain quantities and upon specific
Gates. which is fllsd with the precious
serum that saves the lives OF children
and adults suffering from diphtheria.
4 prize fighter Is not more carefully
guarded fed and looked after by his
Jugilistic admirers and hackers than
IS the horse selected to furnish the
serum The animals physique, breed
ing and general temperament are hrst
taken into consideration. Only those
who are rated exceptionally high are
selected for the purpose
He is then isolated for a period OF
weeks and months in a stable that IS
as near antiseptically pure as it is
POSSIBLE for man 10 make il. The
horse never comes into contact with
ANYTHING not even the brush and comb
used on his hair. that is not free from
every possible form of germ life. His
food-which is a blood producers alb
solutely the purest and the best. 1t
IS carefully selected for him.
When his physical condition IS con-
sidered as perfect as it is possible to
make a horse, ne is ready for the first
incubation. The dose of poison admin
istered is in quantity sufficient 10 Kill
2 rabbit. and quite innocuOus to
horse. From that small beginning up
20 a dose that wilt kill thousands Of
horses is the reach OF the preparation
Ieriod
The preparatory stage depends en-
tirely upon the horse. It also varies
WIKI the kind Of serum. IN FIVE months
the average horse would produce good
diphtheria serum LOckjaw serum Is
not acquired FOR about seven months,
and serpent serum for seventeen
months.