Evening star., 1941-05-22
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henru.

By Thomas r. Henry.
A new kind of "fiu" has just been
found by United States Public Health
Service doctors.
1t is essentially indistinguishable from
ordinary influenza but Is caused by
filterable virus which sometimes causes
a disease clinically similar to the dreaded
cerebro-spinal meningitis, although far
less fatal.
Perhaps as much as II per cent of
the population has had the disease, with
out knowing it. Recent studies have
shown that it is especially prevalent in
rat-infested houses. This kind of "fiu"
has been suspected in the past, but there
has been no proven case
About seven years ago DR.. Charles
Armstrong. Public Health Service
surgeon, described a condition which
he called "chorio- meningitis" Victims
showed most of the symptoms of spinal
meningitis-a disease caused by bac-
terra somewhat similar to the organism
responsible for pneumonia. None of
these bacteria could be found in DR..
Armstrong; cases. Instead a virus was
isolated which caused the same symp-
toms in experimental animals.
Immune bodies formed in the blood
stream to combat this virus were found
quite generally distributed through the
population. They were especially preva-
lent in the blood of inmates of various
institutions. There were no fatalities,
although the victims were extremely Ill
with symptoms of serious involvement
of the nervous system such as would be
expected from Inflammation of the men,
inges, or Innings of the brain and spinal
cord.
The lack of deaths was surprising in
the days before the sulfanilamide group
of drugs which have rendered meningitis,
formerly one of the most dreaded Of all
killers, much less serious.
The discovery was one Of the out
standing medical events of the decade.
In Europe the malady, which DR.. Arm
strong called "chorio-meningitis," now is
known as Armstrong; disease.
DR.. Armstrong found that about IL
per cent of the general adult population
had immune bodies in their bloodstreams.
This meant that they must have had
the malady at some time, but most Of
those examined denied experiencing any
symptoms similar to those which he de-
scribed for chorio-meningltis. He de-
cided at the time that the malady prob
ably occurred in a mild form which the
average doctor would diagnose as FLU"
nd in, u,hio thora would he
no nervous system involvement.
Ever since Dr. Armstrong has been
seeking a case which could be proved.
The only way to do so was to locate
some person who developed immune
bodies after a mild case of supposed
influenza. and who did not have them
before. This was harder than finding
needle in a haystack. Most persons are
treated only by their family physicians,
who would have no reason to suspect
Armstrong; disease in what would ap-
pear to be an ordinary flu case.
The break came last March when
physician in DR.. Armstrong; own labora-
tory was taken sick Of supposed influenza
while actually working with the chorio-
meningitis virus. 1t had been demon
strated previously that he had no i'm
mune bodies. He ran a high tempera-
ture and suffered from the backache
characteristic of influenza.
Fortunately, he himself was on the
lookout for any obscure attack Of
"chorio." So was the Public Health
Service physician, Dr.. j. w. Hornibrook,
who attended him. and his wife, trained
nurse who had followed the research.
He was given the customary treatments
for influenza but during his convalesc-
ence both neutralizing antibodies and
strain of the virus which caused the
disease in animals were isolated from
his blood.
The finding renders much more COM
plicated the diagnosis of influenza.
Not all sharks are dangerous.
This is stressed in bulletin on this
family of fishes by DR.. Henry w. Fowler
of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences,
lust issued by the Smithsonian Institu-
ton.
Some of the largest, he says, probably
are Notwithstanding the so-called
basking sharks which usually inspire
terror.
When encountered, he says, they
rarely, If ever, make any defense, but
try to escape by swimming slowly away.
Stories that the animal dives when har-
pooned and sometimes will drag a small
boat with its crew to the bottom are now
discredited Occasionally it may upset
a boat. While it reigns as a monster
among sharks, 1t is actually not as
formidable as a common dogfish shark.
Perhaps the most dangerous are the
so-called "carcharodons," found in all
the warm seas, although nowhere in
abundance They are among the
strongest and most voracious of all fishes,
but still far less frightful than their
fossil ancestors.
Some of the latter are known from
teeth five or more inches long. They
were surely, DR.. Fowler says, "the largest
of all fishes, having been estimated over
twice the length of the largest living
basking sharks or whale sharks. Their
total length must have been upward of
88 feet Such monsters must have rem
dered incessant the butchery of the