The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1915-09-17
MEDICAL DISCOVERIES NOT AC-
CIDENTAL.
Correlated Investigations Conquer Dis
ease.


The victories which medical science
has won over disease have IN very lew
instances, if ever, been decided by a
lucky chance. Only by utilizing the
accumulated knowledge Of centuries,
and all the information available from
his contemporaries, has the lnVestl-
gator been enabled to make slgnlhcar'
discoveries leading to the cure or pre-
venton of disease.
Contributions to the medical science
of today come from the most diverse
sources. The physical chemist deter
mines one fact, the pathologist anoth-
err. the economist and a host OF otnef
SPECIALISTS, make and record their OBJ
servations and the interpretations
which they place upon them. These
discoveries must stand trial at the
hands of contemporary workers along
the same lines. If they stand the
test, they become Incorporated INTO !;
working hypothesis to be applied
practically until new discoveries snow
it to be false in fact or interpreta'
ton, or place it in a new light where
it's application may be different.
Thus in the case of the disease
which we know as malaria (meanm&
"bad air") the original observations
that the disease prevailed" in swamp!
regions, and tended to die out whel
: the region was cultivated and improv
ed, have stood the test OF time AM
. still stand as facts. The interpreta
f tion. however, that the disease wa
: due to poisonous air arising from tn
: swamps, has been totally disproyec
The fact is now well established tina
= malaria is carried by certain mosqul
: foes which breed in the sWamps. Pre-
+ ventive measures based on this fac
5 are. therefore, definite and purposlyt
5, and are being widely and successful
+ employed. &C., ,...
Il The literature in which observation
2, bearing on medical subjects are II
" ported and thrashed out is OF sue
enormous volume that no one mn
l. can compass it. Even with the a
of periodicals which attempt to co
lect and classify this literature IN II
t. form of abstracts, the worker IN OF
single little branch of medical sp
ciaitv is hard pushed to keep abrea
II of his subject. 1t Is like a tuSlla'
Sc of bullets directed against our cor
5 mon enemy, Disease" II many
err bullet misses the mark, it is neverth
es less true that now and then, some
a hit it sJuarely. Disease IS slowly b
to surely being pushed back from treA
Sc to trench. and ultimate victory Is o
IN Nv matter of time, perseverance a
r. concerted action.
IS, In Hvgienic Laboratory Bullet
MS No. 1Ol the U. S. Public Health s.
N vice publishes an article entitl
ar "Complement Fixation In Tubercu
n sis" which neither in title nor in tt
Is can he expected to be ineligible
bly, the Iayman. 1t is summary
ne what has been done up to the preS'
NJ time in developing test OF the DC
at serum of persons and ANIMALS anne
The with tuberculosis, and it IS bele'
ars thai it will be Of value to hlSpltai =
Of laboratory workers in tuberculc
The who may not have time or opportu
n tv to investigate the status OF
in subiect for themselves. The me
Pc DDS of applying the tests have var
w. much with different workers, and
results have consequently not been
tirelv in harmony, although a str'
nm tendency toward agreement III lun
- mentals is noted in the more rec
2m- articles. The tests are found to
in highly specific, that is not to re
ws: with healthy and Neutrality-suspicious.
du- sons, and to be comparatively
cad from the objection to some other te
me- that they react with persons who
lnie some time have had tuberculosis
liar have recovered from it. This arr
pus will have fulfilled its purpose |
the shall assist in directing some Of
ton, bullets of the campaign against
ease toward the spot where they
do the most good.-W. S. P'
Health Service.