El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-18

! KY = ASH1NGTONs u. u NOV. 10
/ NJ Monkeys which have the
measles, guinea pigs with the
( diphtheria and rabbits with typhoid
6eTe-these are some of the things to
| be seen in the great experiment sta
) ton which Uncle Sam has established
/ on the banks Of the Potomac TO keep
/ disease away from his children. It Is
| now 10 years since national bureau
/ Of public health was founded Inc IN
stitutiOn has proved to De or enormous
I value, and there is a possibility that Il
i viii some day be made a cabinet oe-
partment with a secretary at its heaQ,
As 1t is now the bureau IS eontro5 45.-
by the secretary Of the treasury us
I superintendent is surgeon general wal
ter Wyman, whose life has been spent
/ in fighting the great diseases Wnlcn
affect the nation. 1t IS to him tnat
We owe the movement now being made
| against tuberculosis, pellagra ana "
phOid fever, to the government regu4a-
lions as to the sale Of Tiruses ana toN-
ms, and also to the esta blishnent o.
the hygienic laboratory whose Work
/ describe farther on in this letter
The Government as Doctor.
In fact Uncle Sam Is now one OF the
great doctors among the nations he
has scores of scientists who are inves-
tigatinE diseases and seeking new
| drugs to cure them At Panama ne
has practically wiped out malaria ana
D
showing US how to control typholo,
diphtheria and that great white plague
known as consumption. me govern
ment is trying to keep disease OUT OF
the country. 1t has Its medical exam
liners at every port Of Europe WheIs
immigrants are Inspected before tney are
allowed to start for the united Sldtes,
and ii has other doctors 10, look men
over when they land. No person VINO
has an infectious disease is now al
lowed to enter this country, and during
the past summer the immigrants from
the Mediterranean have Deen pacIerl9-
logically tested to see lhat chOlela -
kept away.
T doubt whether there is in any part
of the world an institution OF meoicai
research more important thah Ihst
which the government has here at
Washington. I have visited the Well-
come laboratories at khartum, IN thS
Sudan They are devoted TO Nroplca1
dfsea ses-to the black water FEVER, the
e1ssT,iy7er sickness and other horrors Of
the upper Nile and middle Africa IneIe
is laboratory OF medical reaSearch
In London and there are others N
Paris. Berlin and Vienna me nost
~ these are private institutions carried
on with private capital our govern
menf institution, known as tHe ny
rfenfc laboratory, is backed up by the
nation and IT gets its appropriations
from congress It is connected with
the national bureau OF health, ana II
has so grown that ii is now one OF the
most important Of the government IN
The hTgienie laboratory consists Of
several large buildings which are de-
voted to research work II contains
chemical and other laboratories 'spe-
ciallv fitted up rooms in which germs
and microbes of all kinds are reared
rooms for the testing OF diseases
through study OF animals Wiilcn l
have been injected with them ana All
the machinery for modern medlcal IN
vestigation It would take many col
umns to give a record Of the various
kinds Of work now going on ana ue-
scription Of what has already oeen ic-
complished. In this letter 1 can mem
tion only a few Of the problems which
are now being studied and some OF the
methods by which the scientists arrive
at their conclusions.
Uncle Sans Medical Zoo.
One Of the interesting feat aeS OF
the laboratory is its study OF \ - ~
diseases through animals, or one III
or other. Indeed, IN one respecI siie
institution might be called Uncle sam s
Medical Zoo" for it has colonies OF
animals which the government keeps
on hand in order that it may inVesI-
gate through them the diseases W.
which man is afflicted. These animals
are fnoculated with human blood taken
from persons who have certain as
eases and through them the diseases
are studied and Investigated. Inc SICK
animal is given drug after drug IN ;
order that the right one for this spe-
cial ailment may be discovered, Such
animals are carefully watched, their
symptoms are noted, and, II necessary,
they are killed and cut to pieces 70
ascertain the origin and course Of the
disease and how it may be controlled
as it. affects man.
Among the animals used Tor this
purpose are guinea pigs rabbits, mice
and monkeys. We are said to be de-
scended from the monkey, and the
monkey is the nearest TO man In Its
makeup. It is only lately that It mas
been used in such investigations, but Ii
is proving to be of enormous value. At
present the government has on hand
about three score Of such monkeys, and
it wants more. The monkeys used come
from India. they are OF species
known as the Rhesus, which is said to
be- of all monkeys. the best for this
purpose. These Rhesus monkeys are
little fellows, not much bigger than a
good-sized fox terrier, and are quite
a S cunning, as miSchievOus and as in
teresting as any monkey you viii see
in the Zoo. They are kept in cages in
a monkey house and are taken out from
time to time as they are needed in the
Investigations.
In the Guinea Pig Pens.
In another part Of this house is
what I might call the guiena pig stock
Yards. This is composed of many little
pens occupied by guinea pigs A male
and four females are allotted to each
pen. They breed rapidly, and there are
more of these little animals which the
laboratory consumes every year
In another place there are rabbits,
some of the softest gray and others as
white as the ernine cloak Of a princess.
There are also dainty mice of the color
of snow, which scamper and play about
the little houses in which they are
penned Each kind Of animal has its own
place in the research work and many
of those which have been kept here
have been Of service in the remarkable /
discoveries made by this laboratory as
to human diseases. All Of these animals
are carefully treated They have well
ventilated houses heated by steam, and
the best of food thar can be obtained.
During my stay I saw them feeding
the monkeys. The little animals were
given bananas. bread nuts and such
other things as they specially like The
guinea pigs are kept fat on guinea pig
dainties and the rabbits rejoice in green
lettuce and cabbage. The animals are
kept in perfect health and as far as
possible in good spirits in order that
the disease given to them may be d.
rectly diagnosed and studied
Monkeys With the Measles.
Among the special human ills which
Uncle sam is now Investigating is