The daily sentinel., 1908-05-22
DISCOVERY
BY A GREAT PHYSICIAN
The Long-Sought-fOr Germ of Pare
sis Has Been Found and the
Dreaded Disease is Pro-
nounced Durable.

In the laboratory of the Mas
silon state hospital. Massilon,
Ohio, DIR. ID. O'Brien today re-
iterated statement made by
him before the American MedicO-
Physiological associations con-
vention at Cincinnati, that he
had discovered the germs of
paresis and that the disease is
eurable. He summed up the re-
suit of his experiments in these
two declarations:
That parcsis undoubtedly is a
germ disease and that the germ has
been discovered; that while in the
experimental stage, sufficient tests
have been made to show that paresis
is durable and that he has specific
cases to point to as definite results.
DR.. O'Brien does not believe it
would be proper to make public the
names of the patients whom he
claims the treatment has cured, but
he gives the specific cases as a news
paper man of Washington who was
treated for the disease and is again
at work. cured man; civil en-
gineer of prominence in Nashville.
Tenn, who is cured and at work, be-
sides number of people in Ohio,
who were brought to the hospital
with serious forms of the dise ase and
cured
Others who are now at the hos
pital under treatment are showing
marked progress toward recovery.
DR.. O'Brien has at hand, in addition
to his own statements and reports
from hospital authorities in regard
to the successful treatment of
paresis, patients photographs which
show the historical form of attack
when brought to the Massilon state
hospital and the patients when dis
charged from the hospital as cured.
Il know" said DR.. O'Brien, that
it is bold statement to make that
the germ of paresis has been discov-
cred. people may doubt it, Many
scoffed when the germ diphtheria
and tuberculosis was found. We feel
confident, from the number of cases
treated and from the satisfactory re-
suits of the experiment made in stat
ing without qualification that paresis
is a germ disease. We also feel that
from the work done we have found
the bacillus. We have cured pa
tients, are helping many now and ex-
pect to go forward with the work"
DR.. O'Brien has confined his work
to living subjects; no pathological
investigation has been done on post
mortem subjects. He now has germs
in Culture" One of the favorite
forms of Couture" is bouillon.
He says that. like farmer. he is
seeking to find the best culture" in
which to grow baccilli from serum
extracted from patients and to that
end is doing considerable experiment
ing. Since DR.. o Brien read his pa
per at Cincinnati, he has had many
letters from doctors urging him to re-
ceive patients for treatment for
paresis.
Acting on the theory that the dis
ease was similar to that of tuber-
culosis or htheria-that germ
might be found which might yield to
serum treatmcnt-Dr. O'Bricn be-
gan his experiments by taking serum
from the spinal columns of living
patients. With this he treated dogs.
rabbits and rats with results which
proved to him that the animals inoc-
ulated contracted well developed
forms of paresis. In turn he used
the treatment on human patients.
DR.. O'Brien was graduated from
the jefferson medical college of
Philadelphia in 1908. He hcs passed
four and half years at Massilon
state hospital in hospital and labra-
tory and other work.