Evening star., 1923-10-29

opaqueness; that for medicine went
to Emil Won Behring. who invented.
or developed. therapeutic serum.
Later prizes Tin medicine) went to
Prof. Pierre Curie and his wife. Marie
8. Curie. discoverers of radium. In
1912 the prize in medicine came TO DR..
. Alexiz Carrel of the Rockefeller In
stitute. New York. for surgery on
blood, vessels.
Three Americans have won the
peace prize: President Theodore
Roosevelt, in 1906, for his work in
the peace settlement Of the Russo
Japanese war; Elihu Root, in 1912,
received 1t for his success In arrang-
ing immigration restriction Of Japa-
| apan and his establishing of the
ean-American Union. while he was
Secretary of State under President
Taft. dissipatinE the misunderstand-
attitude of the United States with
! Its Monroe doctrine. President
" oodrow Wilson received II In 1913
ior his services in the peace confer
| ence of Versailles.
Now comes the fifth award to the
western continent-that to DR.. Bant-
| ing, aged thirty-two-th the youngest
| winner since the prizes have been Of
fered, and perhaps one Of the great
est benefactors OF mankind. through
| mis- discovery of insulin. The other
four prizes for this year have not yet
Jeen announced.
The head OF the Rockefeller Foun-
dation, DR.. Flexner, speaks OF DR..
Dantlngs discovery in words OIL Ln-
| limited appreciation as to its impor-
Fo k.Nk .NSxta kn nrs
| OF the discoverer by saying that 1t
came about entirely by accident,
| while he said I've experienced phy-
sicians who had SO much material
| and 80 much scientific background
| iailed."
What is insulin and how does IT
| work? 1t comes from the pancreatic
juice Of all animals. In the human
victim OF diabetes mellitus the pan
creatic juice, through disease, oe-
comes unbalanced with its proper
tunction-which is to burn UP the
excess sugar in the blood.
When pancreatic juice is examined
| tnrougL a microscope there are found
IN 1t many nuclei, called islands OF
Langerhans' (named for their dis
coverer). From these Islands" is
excreted substance. differing from
substance Is found to pass directly
| INTO the blood. and not Dy way Of
lhe bowel to the blood. the Latin
| name OF an island is 'fnsula," so |. e
| substance derived from an island"
"a tne pancreas is named ''insulin."
DR.. Banting and his assuc.aLe dis
covered that since insuiin passed d.
rectly into the blood, it was possible
20 introduce into the blood OF human
patients, by subcutaneous insertions,
healthy animals. BY thus fortifying
.ne blood with an abundance Oh the
| substance which neutraIizes or burns
up the excess sugar, the symptoms
OF the disease disappear, as II by mir
acie. and nature is given Its oppor-
eased pancreas and the other parts OF
the system weakened by incidental
diseases which follow in the wake
of diabetes mellitus.
y +
The first announcement of the dis
covery is only about fifteen months
old. yet medical men of the highest
standing, usually ultraconservative,
welcome and acclaim the remedy as
worthy OF full acceptance and Of
marvellous Importance.
DR.. Banting, In his generosity and
modesty. expresses himself as hurt"
because the Nobel prize comes to him
alone, instead Of being shared with
his fellow worker. DR.. Charles H.
Best. He says he will share the
honor always with DR.. Best. II is
understood that the prize carries with
it about $4,000.
The province Of Ontario, Canada,
has voted DR.. Banting a life annuity
Of $500 and s2.500 yearly for ex-
penses in further scientific research.
The Medical School has patented
the method of making "insulin. but
! only for the purpose OF protecting
! its purity. Manufacturers of medi-
cine will be given free license to
make 1t, provided they maintain its
purity. under the direction of DIR.
hospitals have been furnished a sup
ply Of 1t, for use on poor patients.
Copyright. 1928, BY Paul v. Collins.)