Mansfield mirror., 1916-08-03

cultivated outside OF the body Is still an
undecided question.
The spinal cord OF paralyzed monkey
always contains the virus we are consid-
ering. II cainel's hair pencil or pledget
OF cotton Is covered with some OF the
broken UP tissue of such a cord and
painted upon the mucous membrane of
monkeys these animals win develop in due
time the paralysis and other symptoms
OF poliomyelitis. r~
The chief terror of the disease lies in
its appalling power to produce deformities.
When death does occur II Is not the re-
suit. as In many infections. Of a process
OF poisoning that robs the patient Of
strength and consciousness before it's Inn
minsnce. but Is caused solely by paralysis
Of the respiratory function. sometlmes
with merciful suddenness. but often with
painful slowness. without in any degree
obscuring the consciousness of the suffo-
eating victim until Just before the end II
reached, No more terrible tragedy can
be witnessed.
The employment for treatment Of the
immune serum. taken from monkeys or
from human beings. exercises definite II
not very strong protective action upon in
ocuiated monkeys. Either the disease is
prevented altogether. or Its evolution is
modified In such a manner as to diminish
its severity. When the virus used for in
oculation Is highly adapted to the monkey
and thus very virulent, It Is more difficult
to control the result than when 1t departs
less from the original type and Is less ac-
tive.
How II Acts.
The Immune serum has thus far acted
best when It was injected into the sub
dural space on several successive days.
This is in conformity with the fact that
however introduced into the body the
virus establishes itself in communication
with the cerebrospinal liquid where 1t
propagates for a time. Later the virus
localizes in the nervous tissue itself and
becomes accessible not from this liquid
only but. probably. from the general blood
also.
The serum introduced into the subdural
space soon escapes into the blood: and
thus double action Is secured: on tho
one hand It reaches the nervous tissue d.
rectly from the cerebrospinal liquid. and
on the other indirectly with the blood. An
immune horse serum at first gave disap-
pointing results. but latterly its employ
ment by intramuscular injection has given
more promise.
The point Of departure which We have
adopted Is the drug ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
(urotropin.) which possesses a degree or
antiseptic action In the body and Is known
to be secreted into the cerebrospinal
liquid. When the drug Is administrated
by mouth It can be detected by chemical
tests in the liquid in q short time. When
inoculation of virus and administration
Of the drug are begun together and the
administration continued, for some days
afterward. the development Of the para
lysis is sometimes but not always averted.
Hexamethylenaminl lends itself to mod!-
6cof}opo hv tho addition nf still other
antisertic groups to its molecuie. We have
tested large number of such modifica-
tions and have found certain ones to eS-
ceed the original compound in protective
power and others to promote the onset
Of paralysis. None Is wholly without some
degree of injurious action upon the sem
sitive and vital organs of the body. But
manipulative skill has already succeeded
In eliminating the Objectionable and I'M
proving the valuable features Of certain
drugs so that they exert action but little
upon the organs and severely upon the
parasite. when they become useful thera-
peutic agents.
Power May Return.
In the less severe cases of infnntfie
paralysis only group of muscles un-
dergo complete paralysis and atrophy.
and there is always hope of some re-
turn Of power in a parnlyzed limb. AS
ISOLATED with the withered condition OF
the, limb due to the muscular atrOphy
is an enfeebled circulation, rendering
the limb cold, blue and livid; the nu-
triton of the bones and other parts Is
involved. so that limb paralyzed In
early infancy does nor grow and Is
shorter than its fellow
In Scandinavian countries the d.
sease is prevalent and sometimes as
sumes an epidemic form, whereby one
Is led to believe that it is due to an
infective organism.
Beginning in 1907, or thereabout, a
pnndemic Of the disease arose. The
United States, Austria. Germany, and
latterly France have certainly had cpl
demic outbreaks. 1t is considered IL
matter of Significance that the original
foci of the epidemic disease In the
United States, occurring In the summer
nine years ago. were among the At
lantic seaboard states. and that the
two centers of population most seri-
ously affected were Greater New York
and Boston. The particular point of
Importance In this respect arises from
the fact that those two centers Of pop
ulnti0n receive first and In most con-
centrated way the Immigrant pOpula-
tions from northern and eastern Eu-
rope.