The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-05-04

TT YhEN those sharp observers'
Ah/ Oliver Wendell Holmes and
Wv Prof. semmeiweis, OF Vienna,
emphasized years before the
science OF bacteriology was born that
child birth fever was an infectious dis
ease spread by the examining hands Of
doctors and mid-wives, many inedroI
men lifted up their supercilious eye
brows, shifted their finger tips against
zach other In q horrined attitude OF
moral endeavor. and continued for a
generation longer to spread death and
ruin in the same old mosquito-liiee way.
A repetition Of this story has occurred
many times in the history of the med
,cni arts and sciences. IL is being en-
acted right now. Prophets are among
us to-day, with warnings that cancer
and other deadly tumors are infectious.
spread perhaps. less rapidly. but none
the less surely. as tuberculosis and
ieprosy are disseminated.
Now and again you hear OF sur
geon, such as the late DR.. William Bull.
Of New York-who was much given to
treating cancers. succumbins himself TO
the dread scourge. Yet you fail to link
the two together.
You hear Of families. houses. and
neigh borhoods where cancers are more
prevalent than elsewhere. You are told
that cancer In or Il 10 not inherited.
You also are warned that condolences
are common and experience Is failacious'
Points To Remember.
furthermore. you are Informed that
one flock OF geese or one swallow do
not make n summer. nor are thousand
rccoveries from typhoid fever under .
given treatment proof Of the efficacy or
"cure" Of such treatment Geese and
swallows remain until late fall. ano
many thousands OF those III with typhoid
may recover at times under the. wrong
treatment or none at all
Yet signs are not wanting that can
Ger and similar malignant growths are
as infections and are spread In the way
that leprosy. tuberculosis ana other
maladies Of roundabout and slow IN
Righteousness are scattered.
/ It 10 safety FIRST" an erring on secure
grounds, to accept the infectiousness OF
cancer. even II you persist--as many
persons still do--in doubling the facts
OF the infectious nature OF cancer. 1t
may mean only hairbreadth escape
from It's ravages II you disregard these
plain lessons.
/ One OF these MALIGNANT tumors occur
plants. Still others invade the tissues
Of rats and most animals. inclusive Of
man.
Prof. Psyton Rous. while at work in
the experimental department OF the
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re-
search, discovered that these vicious
erowths In chicken tissues contain HID
den infectious stun which can be sepa-
rated from the material
Some Proofs.N
II this Uttered solution II then inocu-
lated into perfectly sound and healthfui
animals the same type Of malignant
''sarccma" win arise. Il Ii Identical
IN every way with the original deadly
tumor. and in due time causes the
death OF the invaded animal This 10
proc. positive OF the infectiousness Of
Dr. smith, of the United States De-
partment OF Agriculture. has In an In
aiogous way anticipated this discovery
Of the Rockefeller Institute savants. He
has repeatedly demonstrated the mi
crobic and Infectious nature OF various
plant cancers and gals of tree trunks.
Prof. FIberger, of Copenhagen, Dem
mark has presented evidence Of the in