Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1913-01-17

The great need of the day in ex-
perimental medicine and surgery is a
supply of live human beings to ex-
pertinent upon. l have no doubt that
with plenty of human material to ex-
pertinent upon wizards like Carrel
and Flexner would within the mex.
TWO years solve almost all the prob
lens which are yet battling the medi-
cal profession"
Thus spoke DR.. George G. Ram
baud, director of the Pasteur Insti-
tute. 81 hold no brief to speak in
behalf of those scientists, and it may
be that they would even disapprove
of my suggestion, but I can't help
feeling that rabbits, sheep or even
gorillas are very poor substitutes
for human beings when it come to
testing the remedies to be applied
to human beings.
LET me give you a personal ex-
ample of the difficulties we encounter
in our experimentation. Take hydro
probia. The period of incubation
is rather indefinite, though never
shorter than three weeks. have
known people to be attacked by hy-
drophoba as long as year after be-
ing bitten.
'"At the present day there is nc
cure for hydrophobia. We can pre-
vent it, but can not cure it. And
even our preventive medication is not
perfect. We give the patient one in
lection daily for eighteen days. Four
teen days afterward immunity is as.
sured. Eighteen and fourteen days
make thirty-two days from the time
the patient is bitten until the pre-.
ventive cure takes effect.
I'VE may make successful a dan.
gerous experiment on the whole ami
NAL series from the guinea pig to the
gorilla. But then it takes a prett,
nervy man, / would almost say 4;
ccnscienceless daredevil, to jum1
from gorilla to man. You are justi
fed in experimenting on a man who
is in a hopeless condition If a pa
tient is doomed and daring opera
tion might either save his life or xii
him, you might take the risk. Bu
when subject is otherwise stron.
and healthy what can we do?
81 once saved mans life by in
jecting tetanus serum directly into
his brain, an operation never per
formed before in this country.
might have never dared to do il
however, if the other surgeons hadn'
declared the patient beyond thei
help. If the man had had even tn,
slimmest fighting chance woult
not have submitted him to an un
tried experiment of whose techniqu
I was practically ignorant. AS
matter of fact, intracerebral injec
tions are not the least bit dangerous
but at the time they were considere,
as bound to result fatally.
The cure for exophthalmic goitre
or Graves disease, was found in tn
same way. A physicians wife wa
suffering terribly from the diseas
and losing ground very rapidly. Il
fact, a brother physician had declare,
to her husband that how long sh
would live was only question @
hours.
MY proposition may sound dread
full to some sentimental and ignoran
souls. Still every man engaged il
surgical or psychological researc
could recite cases of people who hav
volunteered to take the place @
rabbits or guinea pigs in laboratorie.
Everybody has read about the poiso
squad--how easy it was to find
group of healthy young men read
tc submit themselves to the actio
Of certain poisons under the super
vision Of scientist There was n
material inducement; not even fam
was promised them.
"Dr. Carrel Of the Rockefeller In
stitute once received letter from
boy who offered himself for expert