The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-03-31
FINDS The GERM.
Dread .Infantile Paralysis May
Now Be Conquered.
DIR. Crumbine Gets Letter From
an Eastern Board.
TELLS ALL ABOUT IT.
Unusual Condition i'm Blood of
Patients.
How the Search by Medical Men
Brought Results.
TELLS ALL ABOUT IC.

DR.. S. j. Crumbinc, secretary of the
Kansas board of health. has received a
letter from Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, Sec
rotary of the Pennsylvania board of
health. saying that DR.. Dixon believes
he has found the germ that causes in
fantile paralysis. DR.. Crrmbine and
the Kansas university medical men
have been working for two years trying
10 find the cause and to work out a
preventive or cure for this disease
which has killed over sixty people in
20 years and has caused the per
manent paralysis of more than one
hundred in this state. DR.. Dixon is NOT
prepared to say that he has found the
: rm but he has found a micro-organ-
ism i'm the blood of persons and mon
keys that died of thc disease that does
not appear in the blood of normal per-
sons or monkeys. This organism is not
described in any treatise and nothing is
known about it.
Infautile paralysis was prevalent
throughout northwest Kansas two
years ago There were eighty cases and
nineteen deaths reported during that
year. Last summer there were 1888 cases
and Il deaths reported from this dis
case. The mortality from it is almost
- per cent and those that do not die
generally are permanently paralyzCt
and never regain the Use of their limbs.
For two years physicians have been
trying to discover Il cure or preven-
tive for the disease. But the cause has
been unknown and not much success
has attended the efforts of the physi-
clans to work out any preventive
measure or cure. The discovery of DR..
Dixon is of great Importance to the
Kansas men who are fighting the dis
ease and they are watching the expert
lneuts being made at the Pennsylvania.
laboratories.
DIR. DiXOns Letter.
In his letter DR.. Dixon says:
In examining the blood from acute
cases of poliomyelitis in the human De-
fngs and also in monkeys II which the
disease was produced eXperimentally an
organism was found, different in NOR
pholOgic characteristics from any here
tofore described which may or may not
on further investigation, prove to be
the Geological factor in the causation
of the disease Blood smears being
fixed in methyl alcohol for one minute
and stained with carbol- thionin, the or
ganiSm appears as a family stained
blue rod with regular cell wall about
TO microns long and about 8 microns
in width. curved at an angle of 60 to 75
degrees at one end. occasionally at both
ends. At times. the curved end is bulb
Gus. Some of the organisms appear to
have q very finely granular protoplasm
when the highest amplification is en-
ployed. They may be discerned by
means of a 4 m. m. dry objective but
their characteristics are much more
satisfactorily delineated under the lip
oil immersion lens. They are found
free in the serum as we'll as within the
body of the red blood cell. The organ
1sms do not retain the violet color when
stained by the method of Gram but as
sumo the color of the counter stain
which. as generally used in this labora-
tory. is a very dilute solution of carbol
fuchsin.
1.-The bloods examined were from ten
different cases of acute poliomyelitis in
children and were taken during the