Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1913-09-20
DR.. ABEL'S INVENTION
ACTS LIKE HUMAN ORGAN
COntrivance Of Great Value in
Poisoning Cases.
A "KIDNEY" INVENTED.
Appliance Which Consists Of Serias Of
Coils and Tubes and Submerged in
Saline Solution.

Science is making wonderful strides
day by day. By means of an ap-
pliance which was recently invente d
by Prof. w. w. Abel head of the
department of pharmscology of the
Johns Hopkins University, and one
of the foremost experimental sur
geons in this department in the
world, it has been made possible to
determine beyond the shadow of a
doubt whether persons thought to
be suffering from the effects of poi
sons are really under the influence of
drugs, and to be able to discover al
most Immediately the poison they
have taken.
The value of this invention to the
medical world, and to humanity, as a
whole, cannot be estimated. BY it's
use it will be possible to determine
the form of drug which has pt en-
taken, or to allay all doubt in the
minds of the physician as to whether
the patient has taken poison Had this
invention been discovered sooner it
is possible that the lives of many per-
sons who have fingered for days in
hospitals suffering from bichloride
OF mercury poisoning and finally died
may have been saved.
According to DR.. Leonard K.
Hirschb srg, the action of the inven-
tion is the same as the kidney, and in
fact, 50 much does the work it per.
forms resemble that of the organ that
has been called an s"artificial kid
ney 1t in no way resembles the
organ, however, for the artificial kid
ney is nothing but series of small
glass tubes ard coils of various
shapes and sizes connected byA trans
parent, mica-like substance which is
slightly polo lous. The whole series of
tubes and coils are submerged in a
tank which contains a saline solu-
tion. of the same temperate and
consistency as the lymph of the hu-
man blood.
In making the test for poison it
is necessary to have the blood stream
flow through the tubes. This is
done by connecting the tubes with
the jugular vein and the carotid ar
terry The blood stream of the en-
tire body passes through the tubes,
which are then immersed in the pan
containing the warm saline solution.
BY means of the porous substance
connecting the glass tubes the for
eign and poisonous substances in the
blood filter through into the saline
solution. The solution being of the
same temperature and consistency as
the lympth in the blood, none of the
natural ingredients which make up
the blood are taken up by the solu-
tion of salt.
After allowing the blood to flow
through the tubes for a given time,
specimen of the saline solution is
taken and then it is but a simple mat
ter of chemical analysis to find what
poison or foreign substance is pres
ent in the system of the patient.
Then it is matter of treatment by
the physician, who, being sure of his
ground, and what he has to deal with
knows exactly ia what manner to
p oceed.
Up to this time the test has been
applied only to animals. The exper-
ments of DR.. Abe have all been made
in the laboratories of the John Hop
kIns University, where they have
been attended with great success.
For the past year he and his assist
ants have been perfecting the appli-
ance and now they are confident that
they have brought it to stage where
it may soon be tried on the human
body.
DR.. Abel, during the past few
months, has demonstrated his inven-
tion before number of clinics
abroad and he is expected to return
to Baltimore in the near future.
Clinics at which the instrument in
operation will be demonstrated will
probably be held at the Johns Hop
kins University.