The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1908-10-09
WASHINGTON LETTER.

+ Since there has been lull in the cam-
paign letters from the White House and.
an announcement by the President him
self that he will not reply to Mr.. Bryan's
last letter inasmuch as it deals mainly in
personalities, there is but little of political
interest going on in Washington at
present.
For the time, the international Tuber-
culosis Congress holds the center of the
stage. Thursday, Secretary of State Root.
entertained three hundred of the dis
tinguished specialists at Wizards Hotel,
and the following day reception was
given to the visitors by the President.
The recent announcements from the
meetingsof the tuberculosis Congress
are little short of sensational. The start
ling claim is made that serum has been
discovered that will scotch this most SER
ious Of diseases known to the human race.
Science, it is said, is on the verge of
giving to the world serum that will
make mankind immune to the effects of
tuberculosis. A group of eminent men
this week permitted it to be known that
the long sought means of immunization
to consumption has at last been found.
This proved the most important announce
ment of the fourth day session of the
International Congress of Physicians.
The men who believe that this safeguard
against tuberculosis may be effected
through immunizing the human body
just as vaccination does with regard to
small pox. are distinguished in their re.
spective branches of medicine both in this
country aud abroad. In this connection,
and as strengthening their remarkable
claims, it may be we'll to mention their
names. They are Prof. M. A. Barber, of
the University of Kansas; DR.. Gerald B.
Webb and DIR. w. w. Williams, of Col
orado Springs; DR.. T. Ishigami, Director
of the Institute for Infectious Diseases at
Osaki, Japan; Prof. A. Calmette, of
Pasteur's Institute, France; DR.. ]. Bartell,
of Vienna, representing the Ministry of
Education at the Congress; DIR. Edward
R. Baldwin of Saranac Lake, distinguish
ed bacteriologisl; and DR.. H. Noguchi, OF
the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re-
search in New York. 1t will be interest
ing to vivisectionists and to anti-vivisec-
tionists alike to know that as in all SINH
lar researches; animals hape-been sacri.
feed to demonstrate this theory. The
guinea pig, as is most common in such
cases, has been the agent in proving the
correctness of this test. Its success has
also been demonstrated in cows. 1t has
been shown too, that this period OF i'm
munization by serum extends for not more
than two years in cattle. Professor
Barber makes more advanced ground
than the other scientists. He says: ANY
successful method of producing freedom
from tuberculosis must be sought through
the living germ" This statement created
stir among his auditors of medical and
lay delegates to the. Congress, inasmnch
as it is considered rad cal and opens up
new line of investigation. Professor
Barber said further:
1.-THE possibility of producing freedom
from disease or immunity by the inocu-
lation of living organisms has till now
only been accomplished in al few diseases.
in chief smallpox. The virus of this
disease weakened by passage through the
cow can safely be inoculated into human
beings, resulting in protection against
smallpox. The human race possesses in
a varying amount natural immunity
against tuberculosis. Were it not so the
race would long ago have become extinct.
Artificial protection to tuberculosis
has never yet been achieved for the
human race, but it is possibility we be-
lieve can be accomplished, inasmuch as
it is now possible by protective inoculation
by living organisms of the human type to
protect cattle from tuberculosis. All
conceivable methods of weakening the
tubercle bacillus, so that it can be safely
inoculated for the production Of immunity
have up to this time failed. Trudeau has
shown it possible to produce a certain
amount of immunity in guinea pigs by
the use of living bacteria.
"Dead tubercle bacilli and their pro
ducts, known as vaccnes and tuberculins,
when used for incubation have failed to
produce lasting immunity, although of
distinct value in the treatment of tuber-
culosis. Satisfactory immunity to tuber-
culosis has only been obtained exper-
mentally by the use of living bacilli. ~
Realizing the hitherto almost futile
attempts, we were led to the experiment
of attempting the production ofimmunity
by increasing numbers of bacteria by be-
ginning with the incubation of one living