Evening star., 1932-12-17
FINDS S|zEL|M|T {
OF ULTRA-V|RUSES
Carnegie Research Reveals
Particles Beyond Range of
Finest Microscopes.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Determination of the size limit al
utra-virus particles-perhaps the smallt
est living things in nature and the most
deadly enemies of human life-is an.
by the Carnegie Institution of
AT least 100000 of them could find
room along line an inch long. or more
than $4,000. .ooo. 900 900 could be crowded
INTO square inch, it has been deter
mined experimentally by Mrs. M. r.
LEWIS i ana her co-workers, according to
the Carnegie report of the work.
Thus it is shown that these particles
are well beyond the range of the finest
now in existence and
Whetner they belong over the border Of
the kingdom Of life or are some strange
form of non-living matter cannot be de-
termined.
The -viruses are known to be the
cauSatiVe agents of many of the most
dreaded human, animal and plant dis
eases, including such maladies as in
1antlle paralysis. Each of these dis
eases caused by distinct variety of
virus. The varieties can be separated
clearly from che another BY noting their
eHects on experimental animals. All
the diseases due to these minute par
ticleS have one character in common
the active agent which causes them is
SO flne that 1t will pass through the
pores OF extremely fine filters. That1s
about all that is known about the Vi
Iuses
Investigators have not been able to
agree whether they are minute living
organisms, possibly a more primitive
form of life than any now known or
Whether they are inanimate and, per-
maps. products of ceullar perversion
capable of producing similar perversions
in other cells.
Pure Form Elusive.
The great difficulty in determining
their size has been the previous inpos-
sibility Of getting the disease e-producing
material in pure form. 1t has come
through the extremely fine filters mixed
with other organic materials such as
proteins, fats, carbohydrates, salts and
engines.
Mrs. Lewis used a filter Of coIlodion. a
material produced in the form Of thin
him when the ether evaporates from a
solution of gun-cotton in ether and al
cohol. The size of the pores in this
material could be calculated by phvsic-
approximately so milllmicrons. A
mlllimicron is a millionth OF a rnilli-
meter. 4 millimeter is less than one
twenty-ffth Of an inch.
This was small enough to prevent the
OF the various organic particles,
especially the proteins. Yet with what
came through this extremely fine filter
Mrs. Lewis vas able to produce tumors
in chickens, known to be caused by a
specific filterable virus. Thus the size
of the particle is proved to be at least
less than the size of the pores of the
collodlon membrane. This is the upper
limit OF size. There is no way of de-
termining the lower limit.
She also was able TO produce a type
Of tunor in rabbits, known to be due to
a flterable virus, with filtrate from
which all protein material had been re-
moved chemically by the use of char
coal. 1t is not claimed that the mate
rial was pure virus. but that it consti-
tuted lcng step forward toward puri-
ication of this mysterious material
Further experiments showed that both
the chicken and rabbit tumor viruses
could be rendered inactive by the use of
various biological dyes. This might
have had an important bearing on the
cancer problem but. unfortunately, the
dyes, to be effective, had to be en-
ployed in much greater concentrations
than could be used in the living body.
Hay Fever Experiments.
In other experiments In the same
Carnegie laboratory Mrs Lewis and
DR.. A. R. Rich approached close to an
explanation of the fundamental me-
chanics of allergy. This is well known
from the common and closely analogous
condition. hay fever
When foreign protein is introduced
into the tissues of the animal body, cer-
tain changes take place that result in a
greatly heightened sensitivity if that
same protein is introduced again In
hay fever this heightened sensitivity
takes the form of spasmodic contrac-
tions of the bronchial and vascular
muscle fibers. In other cases it is man.
ifested by tissue damage and inflama-
tion. Just what takes place in the body
mechanism to bring about such effects
has remained mystery to medical sci
ence. and this ignorance has DELAYED
the development of remedial treatment.
The two Carnegie biologists studied
the effect Of the introduction of foreign
proteins into a culture of free cells By
this means, it is reported. they proved
conclusively that the heightened sensi-
tivity is property of the cells them
selves and has nothing TO DO with the
medium in which they circulate.
Wnat apparently happens, the two
investigators report is that the presence
OF the foreign protein results in the
immediate creation. by some Of the cells
detailed for that work. of antibodies to
protect the cell colony. These anti
bodies are carried by the blood stream
to different cells through the body and
become attached to them. Thus when
the same protein is introduced again
the cells are provided with antibody
guardians for an immediate defense re-
action. They showed that the anti
bodies themselves have nothing to do
with the pathological effects unless they
are attached to cells.