El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-02-16

M While other maladies q
which human flesh is he'll
are steadily losing their killing pow
er-tuberculosis IN particular, reduc-
ing its death rate by something like
? percent per annum. according to o
s census figures-the most dreaded
disease Of all, cancer. is gaining RICH;
along from year TO year, and rapidly
For every three people who died OF
cancer in the United States 20 year,
ago. four now succumb to the disease
in a given length % time.
The most appalling thing about can
Ger is the mystery of it. Nobody
knows what the cause Of it is. II
only that could be ascertained, there
would be hope Of dealing with It sue
cessfully.
The scientists of today are all at
odds about cancer. In every capital
OF Europe there is a cancer laboratory,
with staff Of experts devoted to the
business Of finding out new facts in
regard to this frightful disease. All
the resources of human knowledge,
with money practically unlimited. are
at their disposal; yet they seem to
learn nothing that is Of any practical
usefulness
Is Spreading Rapidly.
Meanwhile cancer is rapidly spread
ing and increasing in every civilized
country. and, unless some means can
be found to check its progress, It viii
before very long, according to the
opinion Of the foremost experts, kill
more people IN The United States than
consumption and typhoid fever com
binedi
10 show that this is not a mere
causeless alarm, it may be mentioned
that, according to reliable figures
collected by the government nearly
ten times as many people, proportion
ately TO population. die OF cancer IN
the city Of san Francisco as sue
cumbed to that disease 80 years ago.
Taking the whole OF the United States.
the increase of cancer mortality, per
5000. in the last 20 years has been
about 25 percent. In every country OF
Europe it has been gaining at about
the same rate, Notwithstanding re-
marl1able progress Of surgery and
hygiene.
Has heredity anything TO DO with
4 tendency to contract cancerZ There
seems to be excellent reason for be-
Iieving that it has a great deal TO do
with it. The history Of some families
shows an exceptional high mortality
from the disease through series OF
generations. On the other hand. there
are many families in which the mala-
dv Is unknown The members of such
families are seemingly -immunes-
The mere fact that no germ has yet
been Identified as the cause Of cancer
is no proof that such q microbe does
not exist. It is positively known that
the cause OF yellow fever is a germ Of
some kind. which is carried By a
mosquito; but nobody ever saw II.
even with the aid Of a microscope, be-
cause IT is too small Quite possibly
the cancer microbe is too minute to be
discovered even by the most power
ful glass II so, may it not be carried
from a sick person to healthy indi-
viduaI by an insect Of some sort2
BedbuE Is Suspected
This insect theory is one OF many
on which the scientists have been
working But they have been able to
prove nothing The bedbug in par
tiCular has been suspected to be car
rier. II however, the bedbug were the
agent of transmission, cancer would
certainly be far more common among
the very poor Of the slums. who live
in bug infested places, than among
the well to do. Is this the case2 The an
sWer is no. Strangely enough. people
who enjoy all the sanitary advantages
which wealth can supply are appar-
emily as subject TO the malady as the
most poverty stricken
Cancer. viii have killed more people
during the year 1913 than in any pre-
rious u months and greater num-
Der OF persons viii die OF It in 1873
han during the present year, proper
tionately to population.
There are several reasons, and fair
" satisfactory ones, for believing that
the cause Of cancer is a specific germ
One OF these is that the disease is
much more prevalent in low lying 10
cslities than at high attitudes. An
other and more striking, is the fact
that cancer has way Of attacking
number Of people in the same house
even different sets OF people who may
successfully occupy the dwelling as
tenants Such dwellings are called
cancer houses" and much pains has
been taken 70 study them in a num-
Der Of instances. though without def
mite results.
Cancer Districts.
Again. there are certain circum-