The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-01-01

past few years we have beep using
that discovery in this country and
other countries, but there have
been no recent German contribu-
tons to medicine. In that land
which has contributed so much to
science, the universities are near
" all closed, some OF their best
physicians are refugees in other
lands, research seems to be dead.
In my university where am in
close touch with the library, we
have received no medical journals
from Germany, France or Italy
since April. And this, We are told,
is not because of the mails but be-
cause they are not being printed.
From Scandinavia where so much
brilliant work has originated in
other years, only few irregular
issues have reached US. English
journals keep up but the quality
shows a race group that tempo
rarily, for science at least, is dead.
Contributions of Last War
We hear something's that war,
horrible as it is, still has the ad-
vantage that it stimulates medical
discovery. | have before me an
article published this fall by It,
Col. J. r. Darnall, which lists the
medical contributions which came
out Of the last war. The list seems
TO me pitifully weak.
Col. Darnall lists medical or
ganization advances. | hope that
these advances have been real and
will be remembered, in the organi-
cation of our new conscript army.
Surgery learned something that
is useful in war, but only few
things that can be applied to civil
practice.
II any medical advance Of any
consequence has come directly
from the modern war, the news
has not reached the writer Of this
column.
In the ordinary practice of med
icine during the last year, the ad-
vances have been in the extension
and application of methods and
facts already available. Here also,
no medical discovery Of moment
has been recorded.
Efficiency of Sulfanilamide
The astonishing efficiency Of the
sulfanilamide compounds, espe-
cially the new sulfathiazole and
sulfapyridine, in treating all kinds
of infections, is still holding up
and being recorded. But in ear in
lection, joint infection, blood poi
soning, erysipelas, scarlet fever
and many other contagious they
are keeping up to the hopes orig
inally held out.
A somewhat technical field but
one that promises much is the con-
centrated interest during the past
year that centers on a part Of the
nervous system called the hypo-
thslamus, part of the brain that,
according to one prominent neu-
rologist, seems to be in command
Of vital rhythm.
Discouraging as the world may
look on this New Years day, we
should perhaps recall Wallace IT.
wins rhyme:
Suppose this here vessel" says
the skipper with a groan,
"Should lose her bearings, run
away and bump upon a stone,
Suppose she'd shiver and go down
when save ourselves we
couldn't"
The mate replies, ooh, blow me
eyes,
Suppose again she shouldn't"
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
F. NOD What is the cause
Of a fatty tumor on the elbow?
(2) Is there any cure or home
treatment? 81 Are they danger.
Gus if not attended to-"
Answer-(D Nobody knows the
cause of the growth of fatty
tumors, or lipomata. They may
occur in thin people, as we'll as
obese ones. (2) There is no home
treatment. The only method Of
removal is surgical. (3) They are