The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-08-25

( the fighting line as they may b
o needed
In the regular army these sanI
b tnry units have been brought TO
b high degree of efficiency, ana IN IN
9 National Guard the doctors and sur
geonS are of high ability, hut nelthe
they nor their enlisted men have hn,
the special instruction or intensified
trimming which those Of the regular
army receive and In consequence, witt
all professional skin and good lnten
tion on their part, the same degre,
Of excellence cannot be expected from
them.
"No matter how efficient may bC
the sanitary companies Of the National
Guard, they can accomplish very little
If they are not provldei With medical
and surgical supplies enough 10 meet
any probable emergency. With n view
TO any emergency, as far as our means
will permit, we have been creating a
reserve Of medicines, bandages, dis.
infectantS, surgical appliances, water
filters and similar things.
This reserve has been created by
foretsoUgft and economy In past
years; and It is very fortunate, for,
ms Is we'll known, the prices Of all
/ drugs have advanced and some have
/ gone about out of sight
Reserve Of Surgeons.
but a reserve of even more I'm
portanc,. has been steadily growing,
which today Is one Of the comforts
to this office, as II should be to all
who have friends in the National
Guard. None ever called in vain on
the medical profession when help was
needed; and the army medical Of
ticerS, six years ago fOreseelng that a
time would come when the co-opera-
ton Of the medical fraternity would be
needed, began to prepare by calling
upon their brethren to enter a medical
reserve.
Nor did they call in vain, for, led
by some Of the foremost men in the
profession, doctors have submitted
'''' - l'N'ANhN anu llt Nt bttll EIdttQ
until over 1000 carefully selected have
been enrolled. Their work has been
assigned to them, and they await only
the order Of the surgeon general TO
take up their duties us surgeons wher-
ever needed presumably In the base
hospitals. These men, If called into
the service, would be engaged in the
humanitarian work Of treating the sick
and the wounded rather than In that
of prevention and sanitation,
Prevention work is twofold. By
means Of serums and vaccines the in
dividuals are made immune, even when
exposed to certain very fatal conta-
giOns, and by camp sanitation and per-
sonal hygiene certain diseases may be
kept from making their appearance
"The success Of the first will de- |
pend upon the skill of the specialized |
members Of the medical staff par
ticularly the bacteriologists; the lat |
ter, upon the sanitary companies in
the field the intelligence and efficiency
Of the line officers and the discipline
and obedience of the troops.
"The Oldest inoculation practiced
against contagion is vaccination TO pre-
vent smallpox. This is now in so gen
aral use that its importance Is hardly
"Ihe inOculatiOn most talked Of just
low is the prOphylaXis against ty-
)hoid, which in war has caused more
ieaths many times over than any hui
nan enemy can inflict. Anti-typhoid
)rophylaXis has eliminated the dis
ease.
Principle of Prevention.
THE principle Of the preventive is
simple enough. All contagious dis
'ases are caused by some organism,
Mostly Of the lower forms of vegetable
ife, which finds its way into the sys-
EN-, develops at prodigious rate and
ttacks various organs Of the body. |
these organisms, however, by some
enign provision Of nature not yet un-
erstood produce an antitOXin or anti
odies which destroy their own germs.
This may or may not be the prod
Ct of the death of some of the or
but a practical way has been
ound Of taking the living organism,
developing colonies Of many trlllions
# them, killing and sterllizng them,
nd making from them a prophylactic ,
which has the power to produce the :
ntitOXin, without the virulent proper ,
les of the living germ. If this be prop
rly made a person inOculated with 1t !
5 practically immune from typhoid for
t least three years.
I'm 1911 the use Of this prophylactic +
'as made compulsory in the regular a
rmy; ard typhoid in the army, like
ne little boys apple core, 'ain't going +
} be any core
Malaria and yellow fever, the latter
dreadful disease appearing in cpl r
emic form, are both carried by mos q
uitOes. The mosquito sucks blood "
'om a patient of either of the dis -
lses and then on thrusting his pro- /,
OScis into he veins of some sound f
ian inOculates him with the disease n
easily and effectively as few II
eeks before a sanitary officer may q
ave used his hypodermic syringe to
minister the protecting typhoid pro-
hylactic.
The only defense known against a
MS attack is to kill the mosquitoes, or r
reyent them from getting at the man n
the use Of mosquito bars. In h
reat undertaking, such as the Pan II