The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1912-07-11
Cleanse Wound With SteriIized
Screw and Cauterize With
Silver Nitrate Stick.


tetanus serum which the state and
city boards Of health have sent out as
a precaution against accidents. If ev.
cry one would only do this there
would not be single death from teta.
nus this year.
During every July and August there
should be one Of these twenty-five cent
sticks of silver nitrate in every home.
July and August are the two great tet-
anus months. In a given area in the
United States last year there were 200
cases Of tetanus during July and Au.
gust and only seven cases during all
the rest of the year.
1.-THE wearing Of Sneakers or tennis
shoes, while bathing in the ocean or
river would be wise precaution. In
all the cases we have had at Cornell
Medical school don't remember sin
gle one of a woman getting the disease
from cut while bathing. This, of
course, is because women wear slip
pers and stockings and the microbes
adhere to the cloth and don't get into
the wound.
"The disease Of tetanus is as old as
wounds themselves. The Greek ply
sicians Hippocrates and Galen describ-
ed it accurately 1900 years ago. Never
theless when certain historic Greek
general caught it once while repelling
the Persian invasion his physicians
didn't know what it was and thought
some one had been trying to poison
him. He died after having suffered
all the tortures of what his friends
thought was the result Of poisoned
food. 1t was only very few years
ago that Anders and Morgan, from the
histories of 1901 cases, showed the
medical world conclusively that tetanus
was caused by microbe entering an
open wound.
The Microbe Discovered.
1T was in 1885 that Nicolaier through
microscope actually saw the rod
shaped, blue staining microbe with
the clublike head. In 1898 Kitasato
of the Royal college at Tokyo first
created culture of the tetanus germs
by isolating a colony Of them on arga
and gelatin, thus leading the way to
the discovery Of the tentanus serum
which now, if used in time, will cure
100 per cent Of the tetanus cases.
"The New York state board of health
during the last few years has been do
Ing a work which few people know
anything about. They have been ana
lying the soils all over the state for
the presence of tetanus germs. They
have found that the germs are especial
~ prevalent in the neighborhood of
New York city along the north and
south shores of Long Island and the
borders of the Hudson. The germs
have also been found in great numbers
along the borders of the Mississippi
and the shores of the great lakes.
Great quantities have been, found in
the refuse and sweepings Of our city
streets. The soil Of this city and it's
suburbs contains IS per cent more tet-
anus germs than the soil of the middle
OF the state. We don't know why this
should be so. The tastes Of the germ
seem simply to be urban and suburban
rather than pastoral and rural.
A Nervous Disease.
Ietanus is essentially disease of
the nervous system. The germ gets on
the hand or foot with other dirt. When
a wound is made by a clam shell or q
powder explosion in goes the waiting
germ. 1t sets up poisonous activity,
which travels up the nerve sheaths
and overstimulates the nerve centers.
1t ultimately makes the nerves abso-
lutely rigid, just as the overstimulation
of shock Of electricity would do.
This accounts for the symptoms of
stiffness and commissions which every
one is familiar with in tetanus cases.
And it could all be prevented by lit
tie timely use of the board of health
serum and the twenty-five cent silver
nitrate stick. Since the discovery Of
the serum in 1904 there have been only
% per cent as many deaths from teta-
nus In New York city as before the
discovery Of the serum. In 1903 there
were 415 deaths from tetanus. In
1905 there were only 104, In 1907 only
1O2, in 1909 only 107 and in 1911 only
1O3. Why the deaths of recent years
should remain so close to the 100 mark
I'm sure don't know. There seem to
be about hundred people in this city
every year too ignorant or too foolish
to go to doctor for the serum treat
ment. 49,.
1.-THE state board of health has sent
out an ample stock Of the serum to all
physicians and town health boards who
have asked for it. There has been
enough of this serum sent all over the
state so that there is no reason for any
one dying Of tetanus for want Of it in
this state" .. ~ IT,.
Tube For Turkey. IT,
The Turkish council Of state is study
ing project for an Underground line
to connect STEAMBOAT with Pera under
the Golden Horn. This plan is consid-
cred to have advantages over the enc
r. . q