Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-10-31

thing, than they were last. Las
Wednesday evening the subject o
"Antitoxins" was up for discussion
and Professors Zeife. Van Els, ant
Beckwith spoke to a highly interest
ed audience. Prof. Zeife told how
the antitoxins of diptheria and small
pox were prepared in the Parke
Davis & Co., laboratories in De
troit, Mich, illustrating by splendid
slides loaned for the occasion by tina
company the method of preparation
followed throughout. The care tax
en- to secure only healthy animals II
the preparation of the serum uset
for injection was shown, the abso
lutte cleanliness of barns, laborator
les, attendants emphasized.
What Antitoxin Is.
1t is the watery part of the blood
Of an animal that has been made
immune to a certain disease, as for
| example, diphtheria. BY giving at
first a very small dose, and gradually
increasing this from time to time
the physician is able at last to give
! let us say, 1000 times the original
dose. This animal is resistent to a
very high degree to the disease in
question. We say it is immune. We
will now take the blood of the ami
NAL, only a little of which is drawn
at any one time, and clot quickly
forms. The rest is the blood serum,
and in this is the principal, or what
you please to call it, that confer9
immunity. This serum, after being
filtered to keep out all bacteria, Is
standardized, ), or in other words it
is made of uniform and known eff
fects as a medicine. 1t is then put
up for use, and sent out. After :
time it's strength is impaired, and 1t
becomes necessary to secure later
preparations.
What Antitoxin Does.
DR.. Van Els spoke of the action of
the serum upon the system. What is
known to the bacteriologist as the
"Ehrlich Theory" is working basis
though it may not explain all the
facts in all cases. The cells of the
body have an, affinity for the bacteria
or germs of certain diseases. When
the disease germ enters the system,
it unites with the cell, breaking
down it's structure, and destroying it.
If there=are enough of the invading
army of disease germs, and they
multiply in the body with great ra-
pidity, death results. The antitoxin
increases the readiness of the cell to
unite with the disease germ to the
point where the cell throws off some
sort of principal that flows freely in
the blood, and, meeting the disease
germ, unites with it and. makes it
harmless. AS DR.. Van Els said, by
way of illustration, the disease germ
was key, looking for the chance
to unlock the cell, and let out the
|3life within it. The antitoxin creates
a loose key Lole' which, going
through the blood, engages inc ii
sease germ. and prevents it doing
any injury to the system.
Its Use In Medicine.
The use of the various antitoxins
has decreased very materially the
death rate, notably in smallpox and
diphtheria. With the Introduction
of smallpox vaccine that disease was
placed among the preventable and it's
mortality greatly lessened. In like
manner diphtheria, has become one
of the diseases which medical science
can successfully cope with. Nov
every disease germ that invades the
body their is it's anti-body, as the
medical fraternity calls them--the op-
posing tor:e or power that destroys
the action Of the germ onl makes it
I, nd fh1 ~ 80
today is to discover, for each spec
life germ disease, its antitoxin.
Infantfle Paralysis.
1t has lately been announced that
the germ Of infantile paralysis has
been located, and the antitoxin for
1T is known. This will make it pos
ssible, within the near future, to con-
troll that disease, as now the world
knows how to control such diseases
as have been mentioned, 49, 49,
A Debt to Chemistry. g.;
The advance that has been made in
the industrial and therapeutic
world, as we'll as in lines of agricul-
ture, has been, in larger degree
than most Of us realize, due to the
work of the chemist. Modern med
icine is based upon chemistry:
wherefore the demand for the phar-
macist, and his chemical knowledge.
The seemingly simple matter of the
baking of lori Of bread is largely
chemical, and chemist can tell you,
by taking the composition and bak-
ing test into account, which of two
strains Of wheat will be the better
TO reproduce. It may not do to say
that he can tell which Will have the
call on the market, But in the. ex-
detrimental mill at the Agricultural
college, which Is, taken altogether
a great chemical laboratory, is b ).
ing worked out problems which are
just as important to the farmer as
are any of the more easily seen mat
tiers OF good roads, freight rates, OF
the like. S1sFs 5.t S,..' =, ..
The Chemistry Of Bread Making.
Is cited only as an example. The
physical conditions are not forgot
ten, nor are they left out of the ac
count, but when they are the same
the chemist, seeing the difference be-
tween the good and the poor loaf
can weigh and measure that differ.
u q - E4t