New-York tribune., 1908-09-21
THE TUBERCULOSIS CONGRESS.


Every civilized nation in the world will be
represented in the series Of meetings which be-
gin in Washington to-day to discuss methods
of dealing with the great white plague Ihls
fact and the enormous attendance which is as
sllred testify to the universal sense that such
warfare is both feasible and necessary. 1t is
recognition of the hopes excited by recent con-
quests and also of the wisdom Of seeking i'm
proved modes of warfare. Encouraging as is
the progress made since it was first discovered
that the prevention and cure of consumption
are possible it does not satisfy those who are
most actively engaged in the campaign. They
are eager to see what can be accomplished by
more sklfuI use of the weapons now In ser
vice and the adoption Of more efficient ones, II
such can be found.
Since there is yet no unanimity in regard to
the channels of infection, this fundamental
question calls for further discussion There
can be no intelligent choice of safeguards until
the directions from which trouble is likely to
come are distinctly seen. Concerning the pro-
priety of some other precautionary measures
such as the isolation of patients when the
nature of their aff1iction has been determined,
there is still q wide diversity OF opinion. The
largest benefit will not be secured with the
smallest expenditure of legal restraint until
experts are in more thorough agreement on
several of these points.
Since recovery is largely dependent on the
detection of tuberculosis at the earliest stage
new aids in diagnosis deserve careful considera-
tion. Hence it is not improbable that much
attention will be given in the next few days
to q plan originating two or three years ago
with Dr. Almroth Edward Wright, the bacteri-
ologist OF St Marys Hospital, London. It has
long been known that different persons do not
betray the same recuperative tendency when
attacked by the same malady. 1t has also
been discovered that when the baclllf OF any
disease get into the blood the white corpuScles
apparently wage war on the invaders. At any
rate they often absorb the baclli and render
them innocuous. Dr. Wright attributes the
variability in resisting power to inequalities in
the activity of the corpuscles, though he re-
CARDS the corpuscles merely as scavengers and
believes that the real germicidal effect is pro-
duced by something else in the blood. which
he calls "opsonins." He therefore observes,
under microscope, how much harm is done by
blood taken from patient to bacilli (which are
added for test purposes. The comparison is
made with the blood of a healthy person, and
the result Of the computation is designated the
"opsonic index" 1t Is for other specialists to
say how accurate the system is and how much
use may be made of it, but it seems to express
mathematcally a patients chance of getting
well. DR.. Wright himself tries TO uuLZe the
information thus obtained by making it the
basis of his treatment. He thinks that If dosage
is regulated by the "opsonic index better re-
suits will follow than could otherwise be ex-
pected. A serum akin to Koch's tuberculin, if
not identical with it. is the remedy he employs,
and he believes that Koch would have been
more successful if the distinguished German
had had some standard Of measurement like
| this. Whatever light can be shed on the virtue
of the plan by such authorities as DR.. i. L.
Trudeau (who is known TO have investigated
it ought to prove a helpful contribution to the
deliberations of the Washington conference.