Evening star., 1936-03-28
GERM OPERATES
OWNLABORAT0RY
IN HUMAN BODY
ITO Chemicals Manufac-
tured by TubercIe Bacil-
Ius, Says Doctor.
DISCOVERIES TOLD
BY YALE AUTHORITY
Biological Chemists Given Hope
of Smothering More Vicious
Organisms Found.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Isolation of ITO different chemicals
manufactured in the body by the
tubercle bacillus, the germ" Of tuber-
culosis, was reported before the Amer
ican Society of Biological Chemists
meeting here yesterday.
Probably about as many again re-
main to be isolated, said DR.. r. j.
Anderson OF Yale University, leader
of the group Of chemists working on
this problem under auspices of the
Research Committee of the National
tuberculosis Association.
-Four of the chemicals displayed
here yesterday are believed to be of
special significance. Three are viru-
lent poisons whose secretion into the
body is partly responsible for the de-
vastating effects of tuberculosis. A
fourth is necessary for the breathing
processes of the germ, and If way
can be found Of combating it, the
organisms themselves may be smoth-
cred to death. About one-third Of
the substances chemicals previously
unknown in any form.
Germ Has Laboratory.
Once the tubercle bacillus gets
foothold in the body it sets up a
regular chemical laboratory of its own
and proceeds to synthesize these sub
stances out of a simple mixture of
glycerin, water and a few chemical
salts. Then it secretes them into the
blood stream and through the body
tissues. The majority of them. it was
pointed out, apparently are harmless.
The poisonous action is concentrated
in a few. knowledge of these and
of how they act is essential before
there can be any rational treatment
Of the white plague.
Acuity Increase Notable.
The acuity of hearing in dogs is
notably increased by application of
X-rays to the auditory tract, it was
demonstrated yesterday by DR.. Elmer
Cutler of the University of Illinois.
This finding was made possible by the
conditioned response technique" in
which dogs were taught to raise one
leg at the sound of buzzer to escape
an electric shock which followed in
q few seconds. The minimum sound
at which the dog would raise his leg,
1t was concluded, was the minimum
sound it could hear.
Cumulative growth effects extending
over generations through the manipu-
lation of two obscure glands, were re-
ported to the American Physiological
Society today.
Hitherto unproven, these effects may
have constituted an important factor
in the differentiation Of races in the
course of evolution.
First is the thymus gland, high in
the chest. 1t has been called the
gland of youth" 1t is largest in early
infancy, normally begins to shrink dur
at adolescence. 1t secretes something
which never has been isolated-that
apparently is essential to growth and
development in early childhood. Alb
normally, it sometimes persists into
adult life. In such cases there Is re-
tanned child-Iike appearance. It is
believed sometimes to cause sudden
death in adults.
Second is the pineal gland at the
base of the brain. 1t once was believed
to be the seat of the soul" In some
reptiles it constitutes third eye on
top of the head. 1t may have started
as an eye which has retreated in
ward. The secretion of this gland
also is most notable in early child
hood. It seems to act as check-rein
on maturity. 1t restraints growth and
physiological development until the
time is ripe for them.
Experiment on Rats.
The experiments were reported to-
day by Drs. l.. G. Roundtree, j. H.
Clark, Arthur Steinberg, N. H. Elm
horn and A. M. Hanson of the Mayo
Clinic and the Philadelphia Institute
for Medical Research. They found
that an extract of the thymus gland,
administered to parent rats through
IL successive generations resulted in
an ACQUIRING acceleration in the rate of
growth and development of each gen.
Grafton of young.
On the other hand, removal of the
thymus gland in five successive gen.
erations Of parents has resulted in
marked retardation in the rate of
growth and mild retardation in the
rate of development of the young
This, they reported, can be entirely
overcome by injection Of thymus, or
by implants of fresh thymus glands in
the parents.
Administration of pineal gland ex-
tract in six generations of parents has
resulted in almost contrary phenom-
enon-accruing retardation in the rate
OF growth and accruing acceleration
in the rate of development of the
ported. to precocious dwarfism. The
baby rats acted like adults, while they
did not grow as fast as ordinary babies
Back-breaking labors to find a way
to synthesize cortin, the wonder drug,
were described before the American
Society of Biological Chemists.
Addison's Disease Remedy.
1t is the hormone secreted by the |
cortex Of the adrenal gland. Admins
shown, doubles and even triples the en-
durance Of healthy animals 1t is the
only known remedy for the hitherto
inevitably fatal Addison's disease.
At present it is extremely expensive |
The adrenal cortices of more than q |
half million cattle are required from |
which to extract single pound Of the
potent chemical in the purest state
in which 1t yet has been obtained.
Even then, probably only minute
fraction of that pound Is actually
cortin itsef-the rest consisting Of |
impurities. The chemical formula de-
fies discovery.
Notable progress Is unraveling the
chemical complex, however, was re-
ported to the bio-chemists by Drs.
Edward c. Kendall, Harold L. Mason,