Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-02-07
SEEING SNAKES
STILL A MYSTERY
TO MEDICAL MEN AND TRUTH Is
YET UNDISCOVERED
BY THEM
MANY THEORIES ARE ADVANCED
Some Believe Poison Accumulates In
Brain and Delirium Tremens
Result.

Result
Kew York-That delirium tremens
is the direct result of over indulgence
in alcohol is well understood. But how
does such over indulgence actY And
why should some hard drinkers never
"see snakes,' while other and much
milder victims visualize them to such
q degree that loss of life followsY
Theories of delirium tremens are
not wanting; but they are SO many as
to indicate that the truth is yet undis-
covered in its completeness. There
appears to be an interesting, though
disQuieting reason for revival OF re-
search in the subject now. Since the
Harrison narcotic law went into eff
feet many drug habitues, having ex-
hausted their supply and failing to OBJ
tain more, have turned to alcohol as
a substitute. In some who had been
drinking for years the sudden and
marked increase in the amount OF liq-
NOR consumed has led to the frequent
occurrence Of delirium tremens. After
noting that chronic alcoholic poison
ing produces some well known changes
IN the central and peripheral nervous
system" writer in the journal OF the
American Medical Association says,
In substance:
"As yet, however, no changes have
been found in the brain which explain
why a man who has been drinking for
years suddenly develops delirium
which runs a definite course of from
three to five days or even longer.
"It has been thought that delirium
tremens is an acute infection occur
ring in chronic alcoholics. Neverthe-
less many cases run their entire
course without fever, and Nome
found blood cultures negative in Is
consecutive cases examined by him.
Doellken believes that continued
drinking of alcohol results in the. pro-
duction of a poisonous substance in
the brain itself, and that an accumu
lation OF concentration of this sub
stance produces delirium tremens.
jacobson explains the delirium as
an administration, the kidney, or the
Intestinal tract, and acting on brain
which has been poisoned over long
period of time by alcohol. The view of
Hertz differs from this in that the sup
posed poison which precipitates the
delirium comes from an insufficiency
ON the part of the kidney.
According to Bonhoeffer, chronic
alteration in the intestinal tract is re-
sponsible for the elaboration of poison
which is normally excreted through
the lungs. Wagner Won Jauregg be-
lieves that the liver, rather than the
lungs is the organ which fails to elimi
nate the poison, and he thinks that
this failure is due 10 the changes &C.
curing in the liver in chronic alco-
holism.
Kaufman has asserted that this
roison Is a carbon derivate acting on
a medulla altered as result of chron-
ic alcoholism. He believes that the
delirium will persist until the produc-
tion of this carbon derivate stops"
All of these theories presuppose a
poisoned central nervous system. 1t
has been objected, however, that many
chronic drinkers never suffer deliriulu
It has been suggested that different
poisons may result from excessive
drink and that only one of these may
cause delirium tremens. There are,
however, still other theories:
1.-THE possibility that delirium is due
to an increase in the pressure and
amount Of the spinal fluid has recent
ly been considered. Jauregg of Vienna
assumes that the body of the chronic
alcoholic protects itself by the produc-
ton of an antialcohol which is of the
nature of an antitoxin. When a hard
drinker suddenly stops taking alcohol
this antialcoholic substance, having
no alcohol to which to affix itself,
acts on the body in such a manner as
to produce delirium tremens. Hare
maintains that the development of de-
lirium is due to sudden fall in the
amount of alcohol circulating in the
blood of alcoholics. His evidence IS
drawn from a study of rs cases, in
nearly all of which there was i grea,
reduction in the amount of ale biol alb
sorbed prior to the onset Of deliriun.
Numerous objections have been
raised to each of these theories. The
views concerning poisons ami autoin-
toxications have been vigorously at
tackled because there is as yet no def
mite proof that poison is elaborated
There are already adversaries to the
recent notions concerning an increas-
ed pressure Of the spinal fluid and the
fall of alcohol ia the circulating blood,
all OF which indicates that much work
remains to be done before The final
answer to the problem Is reached"
Raised His Ideals
Ioahua-"SiIa has awful hiqh ideals