Evening star., 1924-09-07

to members of the human
race After the President,
cabinet member, a famous authoress
and others had been benefited by
the treatment. it was decided that 1t
could be tried on dogs, cats and other
animals.
At any rate, SO thought DR.. RI. \.
Locke of Fourteenth and Kenyon
streets. former president of the Vet
Urinary Medical Association of George
Washington University. and for seven
wears assistant professor of materia
medica and therapeutics of the Col
lege of Veterinary Medicine at George
Wa ashington.
DR.. Locke fitted up an air-tight
chamber and constructed the neces-
sary gas-administering apparatus, in
order that Pup and Puss, as well as
President, might cease to Snume ana
sneezc.
Since then many canine and refine
patients, pedigreed and otherwlse'
| suffering from dfstemper ana acute
respiratory conditions, have. in emu
lation of their masters. sat WITHIN
the air-tight chamber that is charged
with chlorine gas.
The animals, according to DR.. Locke
sit for an hour at time, anu loui
such treatments. in most cases, are
sufficient TO effect a cure. An electric
fan. installed in the chamber, 1nsures
the proper circulation of the gas.
Five four-legged patients are con-
veniently accommodated at one tI.ne'
and Dr. Locke says that While tne
treatment is in progress, his clients
do not. as is customary with human
subjects. peruse the magazine or the
daily paper, but prefer to demon
strate their indifference by promptly
| falling asleep. ~
Distemper. it is well known, is the
dread disease of the canine Worlo.
Dr Locke. who is a specialist in cat
and dog ailments and may De quoteu
as an authority on the subject. says
eve are safe in stating that 90 TO
| IS per cent of dogs have distemper
at some time, and the number Oh uoss
that die from the disease may be
| reckoned as anywhere from 81 to
| 20 per cent"
THE rate of mortality from dis
l. temper is, according to Dr.
Locke, far greater among the urban
/ canine population than among dogs
| that live in rural districts. He estl5
mates that between 1900 ana lt'Voo
dogs in the District alone Will De
glad to know that an effective means
| of combating this great Scourse HAS
/ at last been found
! Laboratory experiments to deter
mine the means and the efficacy OF
the treatment have been completed
! by DR.. Locke.
| "It was found" says DR.. Locke,
"yhen cultures, taken from the
| nasal cavities of two dogs infected
with typical cases of distemper, were
plated on artificial media in a bac-
| teriological laboratory and then ex-
posed in the gas chamber, that re-
suits were as follows: Plates A and
| B exposed for one hour at a con-
centration ordinarily used in human
medicine and considered efficacious in
! the treatment of respiratory condi-
tions such as colds, rhinitis, coryza
and whooping cough, were not no.
ticeably affected.
"The concentration Of the gas
| continued DR.. Locke, was then in
creased SO per cent and it was found
that, after proper exposure. plate
was entirely free of organisms and
plate B contained very sparse
growth.
"In the third test, the strength oi
the gas, or the number of pulsations
| was increased until a concentration
double that used in the first test was
obtained and the results were prac.
tically the same as in the second test
viz, plate A was entirely free OF
growth and plate 3 contained
very sparse growth.
'In checking the plates exposed ir
the gas chamber with those known
as controls which had not been ex'
posed ,but which had been incubateG
for "a hours, it was observed that tht
latter plates all contained elaborate
srowths from both clinical cases.
"It was noted, however" continued
DR.. Locke, "and wish to emphasize
this point-that of the two case!
ltested, case B, which did not respond
entirely to the treatment, was a case