Evening star., 1916-07-23

will want to do what he can for the
children. but when the epidemic Is
over and a new mercantile submarine
is in port, or an international aero
nautical express system Is running,
few but the parents will think of the
little distorted bodies.
Even parents may suspect that the
doctors are doing no good, for progress
almost imperceptible. The treatment
must be varied to meet the particular
case-for one, electricity; for another.
gentle ma ssage; for Others surgical
operations by which a paralyzed set of
muscles may be made to resume their
normal function, and in each case a
shifting of the treatment will no doubt
be necessary.
For the relief of those cases care.
skill, patience and knowledge are re-
quired, and the charlatan must be
stunned as a pestilence. One of the
first charities one could give In these
days would be an endowment for the
treatment of the survivors of this
epidemic, for 1t might mean the COM
parative restoration of hundreds Of lit
tie people.
"By far the greatest percentage Of
those stricken by the disease are be-
low the age of five years. The numbers
vary, but probably so per cent of the
cases are those of children under that
age. Nearly all are under fifteen years.
and but few adults are its victims.
For no discovered cause poltomyelitiS
has attacked about a third more boys
than girls. the relative number of males
affected increasing after they are past
five years.
the organism which causes the disease
and no one knows just how it acts. 1t
is so very small that it will pass
through a dense porcelain strainer, and
it may be ultra microscopic-that 1s.
too small for the most powerful glass
to find
I'VE know, however, that it repro
duces it's kind in great numbers, for in
one experiment a monkey, inoculated
by a very small injection of virus from
the spinal cord of patient. became in
fected, and from him in turn the IN.
fection passed through series OF
twenty-five monkeys. all Of which be-
came infected. We know that of the
infection had not been caused by a
rapidly multiplying organism the guam
tity of the original virus to reacn the
been SO infinitely small that it could
not have infected him. From one mon
key inoculated with small quantity
of virus enough virus can pe OBTAINED
to inoculate several hundred monkeys
Some day this organism will be
found, but whether successful serum
can be made. either as preventive OF
the disease or Tor the relleI Oh tne pa
tient after the first stages have set in,
cannot be forecast.
The organisms come from the
throat, nasal passages or the intestinal
tracts of the child affected, but by ex-
actly what means they are transferred
is not positively known.
stable flies, which bite while house
flies cannot, may carry it. A monkey
inoculated with this infection was.
when at the most acute stage. allowed
to be bitten by these flies, and another
monkey not infected was then exposed
to the flies. The second monkey, in a
few days. came down with the disease
and was mercifully chloroformed. The
experiment seems to show that the in
fection may be transferred by the
stable fly, but many cases have
broken out where it is known that the
child could not have been bitten by a
stable fly that the inference is certain
that there are at least other carriers.
"One of these may be the ordinary
house fly. These pests gorging on