Evening star., 1947-12-28
Navy Research Leads
To Grating Of Nerves
And Blood Vessels
By q stoff Correspondent Of The stor

And Blood Vessels
By stoa Correspondent OF The Stor
CHICAGO, Dec. 27.-Some of the
most remarkable developments Of
this generation in the field of
surgery have come about in the last
few months through projects A.
nanced by the Office of Medical
Research of the Navy Department.
These include grating of large
sections of blood vessels, grating
of bone with a new plastic, and
grating nerves by a new process of
stretching. These accomplishments
were described to the American
Association for the Advancement Of
Science here today by Capt. c. w.
Shilling, head of the medical re-
search division.
The grating processes were de-
veloped at the Yale Medical
School. Hitherto, Capt. Shilling said,
when a long section of an artery
or vein was torn away there was
nothing a surgeon could do to keep
up an adequate flow Of blood
through that part of the body.
Metal tube connections generally
proved failures and it usually was
necessary to clamp off both sides
Of the artery or the patient would
bleed to death.
Blood Vessels TranspIanted.
1t has now been found that blood
vessels from animals or other
humans which have been treated
with formalin and slightly stiffened
can be stitched to both severed ends
and a normal flow will continue.
In a matter of months the grated
section will disappear as the ends
grow along it towards each other.
This makes possible for the first
time removal of sections of blood
vessels where there are clots threat
ening the life of the patient.
The new plastic bones, Capt.
Shilling said, apparently serve all
the purposes of real bones and ex-
periments now are in progress to
make artificial joints from them
When used for grating the real
bone usually grows around them
and they are absorbed by the body
Suturing of severed nerves has
been one of surgery's most difficult
problems in the past. 1t has been
the practice to stretch both ends
until they meet and then sew them
together. Usually the operation has
been a failure with the stretched
nerve quickly degererating Now,
Capt. Shilling said, it has been
found that if only one end-that
nearest the spinal cord, is stretched
this degeneration does not take
place. 1t apparently can be stretched
to degree that would have seemed
fantastic to surgeons in the past.
Antiseptic Animals Produced.
One of the Nays major medical
research activities is the production
of absolutely antiSeptic animals
and eggs at the Notre Dame Univer-
sity. The rats and mice live all
their lives in an absolutely germ
free environment. They will be used
in a great number of experiments
designed to study the behavior of
single germs.
Another significant development,
DR.. Shilling said, is an improvement
in standard tests for syphilis, which
enormously reduces the chance Of
false findings. Other tests are be-
ing carried out on the use of some
If the new radioactive isotopes on
pone diseases.
Birth of the solar system out Of
great cosmic dust cloud about
three trillion miles in radius over
a period of tens of millions of years
was postulated by DR.. Fred L.
Whipple of Harvard University.
May Have Produced Sun.
DR.. Whipple pictured such a
cloud, the like of which still can be
found in remote sections of the
milky way galaxy, as containing
masses of cosmic dust of different
densities. and moving at different
speeds. They would constantly be
humping into each other or cross
ing each others lines of movement.
The result through many millions
of years, he said, would be a gradual
condensation and thickening of the
cloud with an eventual sudden COL
lapse into star like the sun.
Some of the dust masses would
be left out of this collapse and
continue to revolve as planets
around the new star. Such planets
would be born, DR.. Whipple pointed
out, in a great baptism of fire which
would leave them as molten masses
for short time.
The mathematical considerations
Of this theory, he said, fit quite well
the observed masses and rotations
within the solar system. The gen.
orally accepted theory in the past
has been that the solar system re-
suited from a near collision of the
sun with some other star.