Evening star., 1940-04-23
Soil May Provide Ways to Fight
Worst Diseases, Tests Show
Extraction Of Germ Killing Substances
Described to Academy Of Sciences
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Out of the grave may come elixirs
of life.
One Of the strangest and poten-
TALLY most significant developments
in modern medical experimentation,
the extraction of germ-killing sub
stances from the soil, was described
before the National Academy of Sci
ences, meeting here today, by Drs
Selman A. Wakeman and H. Boyd
Woodruff of the New Jersey Agri-
cultural Experiment Station.
Every spadeful of soil contains
countless millions of almost infini-
tesimally minute living things. They
are. the earth's ultimate scavengers.
There are vast number of varieties
of them, many still unidentified by
scientists. Different varieties have
highly specific jobs, the New jersey
scientists have found.
When a dead animal, or human
being, is placed in the earth the
body rapidly disintegrates. Death
may have been due to virulent germs
which are still living and have been
considered a serious source of fur
ther infection. But in a short time.
according to the experiments de-
scribed today, some one of the soil
micro-organisms encounters and de-
YOURS them. This may be true for
all germs, each with its own specific
antagonist planted by nature in
mother earth.
Groups of bacteria responsible for
specific diseases were placed in
samples Of garden soil. Repeated
tests showed that they were declin-
ing rapidly in numbers while certain
specific micro-organisms present in
the soil were increasing just as rap
idly. They were eating the in
vaders, their favorite food and wax
ing fat and prosperous.
Tested for Two Types.
BY introducing in soil sample q
specific disease producing bacteria
it is possible to identify its par
ticular. antagonist as the micro
organism whose numbers increase
in proportion to the decline in
numbers of the organism being
tested. This has been tested, it was
explained, for two types of disease
bacteria. AS result the expert
menters have isolated from the soil
two other bacteria and several
micro-organisms of the family
known as actinomycetes which are
their particular antagonists.
A specific soil bacterium is able te
fight and kill a specific disease bac-
terium because it is peculiarly
equipped by nature to do so, just as
termites are especially equipped tc
eat wood or cows to eat grass. The,
have substances of some sort ir
their almost infinitesimally minute
bodies which inhibit the growth anc
activity of the particular bacteria
on which Nature intended them te
feed.
Two active substances already
have been obtained. They ar,
chemically unidentified. One OF
them, in concentrations of one par
to 100 in solution, inhibited tn,
growth Of certain bacteria almos
completely and showed a marked
effect on the growth of others. A
second was effective againt one
family of bacteria in concentration.
of one part of 250,0OO. There is 8
possibility that other substance.
will be found even more effectiv.
against other disease-producint
bacteria.
The significance of these discov
cries, it was stressed by Nationa
Academy members who discussed
the papers, is that the door ma,
have been opened to an armory O,
entirely new weapons against som.
of the deadliest foes of mankind
How these medicines brewed in tn,
grave may be used to combat dis.
eases in the human body remains tt
be determined by medical expert.
mentation.
A hair balance at the base of the
brain regulates breathing even when
person is breathless. 1t deter
mines how much air can be gotten
into ones lungs by policemen or
f1re rescue squads when they try to
resuscitate a supposedly drowned
individual. There is apparently
nothing to be done, DR.. Yandell
Henderson of Yale University told
the academy, to alter this inexor-
able control by the brain breathing
center.
Normal breathing, he explained
IS controlled mainly by the carbon
dioxide produced in the body. The
brain center maintains an auto
matte, unconscious balance, so that
the volume of air allowed to enter
the lungs is exactly 20 times the VOL
ume OF carbon dioxide which the
blood brings to the lungs. A man
walking slowly produces twice as
much carbon dioxide as a man Sit
ting still, and automatically breathes
eWlSC dS iI1uCil dlI. Wlcn ne eXer-
cises violently enough to produce
three times as much carbon dioxide
as he does at rest, he cannot help
breathing in three times as much
air.
But when a person is supposedly
drowned, DR.. Henderson explained,
air must be pumped into the lungs
by an external apparatus which has
no connections with the brain. He
carried out an extensive series of
experiments to determine whether
more air might not be pumped in
by some other method than that now
taught in all first-aid classes.
There Is nothing to be done about
it, he concluded. The brain center
still controls the elesaticity of the
muscles of the chest, and this elas-
ticity in turn determines how much
air can be pushed into the lungs.
Hence, he said, the present revival
method probably is the best that
ever will be invented.
Effect of Heat and Cold.
Both heat and cold affect women
more than men. Finding of a def.