THE OREGON SUKDAY JOURKAI. rORTLANR SUKDAY nORTflKG. JANUARY .5. 1903, " .
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How the Missing
Link Has Stayed the
Scourge of Spotted
Fever
O CIENCE , utt conquered in another
i campaign against disease. After less
than two years of research and, experi
ment, Dr. Simon Flexner, director of the
Rockefeller Pathological Institute, of New
Ydrk, has discovered the serum ' which is a
i specific against the fatal terrible cerebro
spinal meningitis.
It has demonstrated its beneficent power
in the course of two Ohio epidemics, and, al
though still unavailing against cases of the
' swiftly overwhelming "fulminant" type, its
promise is one of almost complete control
over a disease in the fatal presence of which
; all human strength and knowledge has hith-
'erto stood ignorant, impotent, appalled.
i During the experiments the lower orders
of animal life have been utilized extensively,
and the greatest help has come from the em
ployment of monkeys. The resources of the
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research,
vast as they are, proved only barely adequate
for the procurement of animals in sufficient
numbers.
The difficulties of the investigation in
creased with every step of progress.l It was
only through the broadest co-operation by
I men of. science everywhere that the solution
fiSBlelnT'oJiaai "aiternatwe was
death in one of its most shocking forms, has
been achieved.
Out out are the Hants out fill
- And. over each quivering; form.
"i
The curtain, a funeral pan.
Cornea down with the rueh of a storm
, wnn me anxeis, ait pauia ana wan, -UprlBlnf.
unVellina. afflrm
That the play ii the tragedy, Man."
And. its hero the Conqueror Worm. Poe.
L"yv"AY8, in the end,' the poet's words come true.
Yet always, since the night that ended his tragio
visions, -man has been driving back the dread
conqueror, winning, from him ever new domln-
,. Ions Of health and life and happiness.
' The science of "bacteriology, scarcely born when Poe
f passed away, has laid Its restraining band, again and
again, upon the Imminent pall; again and again the
. curtain, that must close the tragedy, has been atftyed in
its downcoming. - And man's victories have only egun. '
. ' Corebro-spinal mehlngltis prevailed aa an eptdemlo In
New Tork city during the winter of 1904 and the spring
of 1905, The epidemlo embraced 4000 cases of the disease;
y the deaths numbered 8429.
j It waa worse than the plague. The number of cases
In 1505 was 2705: the number of deaths, 2026 73. 6 per cent.
t Many' other cities paid their human tolL Throughout
the country a universal terror spread. -
f The New Tork Board of Health, in the spring of 1905,'
appointed a commission of, distinguished sclentlflo men
to assist in studying the epidemlo under all Its aspects.
TdMT'' SCIENCE CONQUERS GERM , -
Dn Fiexner was assigned, to the study OfMhs patho-
genie properties of , the dlplococous Intracellularls, which
is the germ Of spotted fever, as. the disease la popularly ,
known; and he was to experiment up&n tha immunisa
tion of animals in order to obtAln an Immune serum. -:
The ultimate aim was to secure a serum ih which the
bacteria should be. fitted to'eope with the deadly forces
of th dlplococous intracellularls. It was scarcely hoped '.
that humanity' allies In the germ world could b found"
so soon, or that, when foundV they ' would prove , such
loyat partisans, si - J ' '
l" But Dr. Flexfjer has now reported Upon the use of
the saving eeruny he discovered, and Its effect upon hu ;
manlty proves that another Inveterate enemy to man, in'
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the world to him Invisible and throughout the ages al
ways his master, has been defeated by science.
No fewer than forty-seven cases of epidemic cerebro
spinal meningitis have already been treated. It la upon
the results obtained with those forty-seven cases that the
Impressive results of the antiserum become apparent.
Among all the patients, thirty-four recovered, amount
ing to 72.3 per cent an almost exact reversal of the pre
vious percentage of mortality, for, In New Tork, 73. per
cent, died in the epidemic of 1906.
Marvelous as were the results upon the bald, unmiti
gated showing of the recoveries and deaths, a still higher
efficacy of the remedy appears .when It Is known that
four of the thirteen cases which terminated fatally
either belonged to the "fulminant" type, causing death
within a day or a day and a half after the symptoms
first show themselves, or the condition of the patients
was so desperate already that the end came within only
a few hours after the serum Injection was made.
6a those unfortunates death's seal waa already set.
For the former, the possibility of recovery was probably
questionable from the very beginning; for the latter, the
disease had progressed too nearly to its fatal close.
Omitting those cases, and leaving the total of forty
three patients treated, with thirty-four cures and nine
failures, the recoveries amounted to 79.9 per cent and
the deaths to but 20.1 per cent.
Again, excluding the fulminant cases and considering
those Injected during the first three days of their Illness,
the percentage of cures rises to 88.9, and that of failures
falls to only 11.1; for, of the eighteen so promptly in
jected, 16 lived and but two died.
They were no "mild" attacks of cerebro-spfnal menln-
Tlbe Real
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STAfKH.SUGACTC J 7 b.
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WALNUT.
Compos on of O'y rd'
THAT tho constantly increasing consump
tion of nuts throughout the United States
augurs well for a better appreciation of
their food value is the- argument of M.
E. Jaffa, assistant professor of nutrition in the
University of California.
While a very concentrated food, nuts, he says,
when rationally used, are well assimila ted and
may form part of a well-balanced ration. How
ever, vegetarians and others who use aula in place
HE edible portion of nuts, Professor Jaffa states,
with few exceptions, is; very 'concentrated food,
containing little ''water and much fat
' In general, nuts are also rich in protein. Some
rank high in this nutriment, among them the pignolla, a
variety of pine, nut imported from Spain, with 3. per
cent; the peanut; with SS.8 per cent, and the butternut
rwlJh 27.9 per cent ; protein. In "this respect these nuts
exceed most ordinary animal or vegetable foods.
The almond, with per cent, and the beechnut,
With 21.8 per cent atand high; among-the nutritive nuts.
The Brazil nut contains 17.4 per . cent of protein, the
filbert 18.5 per cent, the walnut 18.8 per cent the hickory
nut 15.4 per cent, while the dried chestnut has but 10.7
. per cent. ...V- -.- . '
As protein is the nitrogenous material in an animal
' or vegetable substance, It presence In food stuffs is im
portant '
When one' look for fat be finds that the richest in
this composition is the pecan, with 70.7 per cent Seven
other Varieties1,., however, contain over W per cent They
are the Braxil nut walnut hickory nut; butternut can
dlenut filbert and plnenut. ,
. Between 60 and 0 per cent of fat may be found In.
the almond, cocoanut and pistachio, while-the beechnut
and peanut contain about 0 per cent .., v
' ' Considerable dlfferenc of composition is - found in
: comparing an filly nut Uke the walnut with a starchy
nut such es the chestnut.
" The walnut' for Instance, contains 80.7 Jer cent of
fat While tho dry chestnut haa only 7.8 per cent; the
chestnut has 70.
.1 per cent, of jiugar, starch, etc., while
13.7 per 'cent They are not so far apart
the walnut has
in protein, the walnufhaving I8.J pec cent and the chest
Leaving cheese and dried beans out of the question,
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or of
gltls that yielded to the magic of the Flexner serum; nor
did It prove Itself triumphant over a single epidemic only.
Twice In Ohio at Castalia and again In Akron the life
saving fluid fought Its fight with the dread dlplococci.
At Castalia, within the period of a few weeks, no
fewer than eighteen cases occurred; and out of the eight
een sought by death, twelve perishedinder the invasion
of the dlplococci, while only half a dozen lived. Three
among the sufferers received the saving serum; and those
three were among the six who lived.
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CHI8TNUT.
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of meat should not depend upon them as the
main food supply, but should supplement them
with more bulky foods with a low content of pro
tein and fat.
As a whole, Professor Jaffa thinks nuts may
be classed among the staple foods and not simply
as food accessories. Further, nut butters and
similar foods give a pleasant variety to the d;et
and they are relished by many who would not care
for the unprepared nuts.
no foodstuff, perhaps, has the reputation for indlgestl
blllty that has been fastened upon nuts.
Professor Jaffa, however, comes to the rescue of the
nut's fair name.
He declares that discomfort from them is largely due
to insufficient mastication, and also to the fact that nuts
are often eaten when not needed, as after a hearty meal
or late at night.
Still, he acknowledges that nut protein, as ordinarily
. eaten. Is not so easily or so completely digested as meat
protein. One reason for this, no doUbt, is the concentra
tion of nuts, with but 3 to 6 per cent water, as compared
with meats, containing from 60 to 70 per cent.1 water.
"If careful consideration were given this matter,"
the professor states, "and If attention were paid to the
, proper use of nuts and their correct place in the diet,
there would be less unfavorable comment on, .their di
gestibility. BULKINESS AIDS DIGESTION
"It must not be forgotten that a certain bulkineas of
diet is conducive to its normal assimilation, dnd that
too concentrated nutriment is often' the cause of diges
tive disturbances.
"It might be expected, then, that nuts could be most
advantageously used in connection with more bulky food,
suoh as fruits, vegetables, breads and crackers. They,
Should constitute an Integral part of the-menu rather
than supplement an already abundant meal. ....
"Since nut are SO Concentrated, eating a considerable
ouantltv out of hand at odd times will -Jhean an over
Bupp!y otiood U corresponding reduction is no made to
;other foodg v ; ; r ' y
The distress experienced when nuts are eaten la
undoubtedly 'often "due to Improper masticatio or .to
overindulgence." Investigations made at. the CallfornU.
At Akroa thri were.twantr outi In the epidemic,
and lra of tht tleUms dld Th cmm welvln .
' erum treatment numbered eleven, and eight aut of thoee
eleven Uved, where, from amon the nine -who did not re- .
telve the aerum, orjjy on eurvlvor remained to be the
exception from the epidemic' fatal power.
The observation kept upon all the caeee wae very
cloee, and the frulU of the atudy were remarkable. It
waa etrlklng to note, often, how the disease, attacking
with abrupt, appalling violence, waa conquered by the,
erum within two brief daya. and how, with the serum
Injected as early as twelve houre after aevere eyroptoma ;
commenced their onset, the whole advance of the disease
was Instantly checked. ' ''
There, with death reaching out bl grisly hand, lay ,
the living battleground the souKUled, animated,"" suffer
ing human being, with the very aeat of human strength,
tntelllgence and spirit thronged with the myriad legions
of the avid foe. ' ' ,
With a rapidity barely to be calculated by omniscient
science and to be reckoned by millions, the .tiny, deadly
enemies multiplied, the renewal of their purulent life be
ing the ever-accelerated death of the aleki mapi' whose
marrow was their food.
Suddenly flung upon them more avid", more powerful
the allies of humanity, the germ warriore for the de
fense of the higher animal life, which had been born and
reared by human eclence for this remorseless struggla,"
engaged In a conflict In which thousands of millions per
ished that one man might live. ' 1
For hours, or for days, or for weeks as the foes were
numerous and intrenched the strife went on until,' the
disease checked, "broken, ended, the scientist, that general
of modern science, could smile as he surveyed the living
battlefield of this latest Austerlits in the eternal war with
death. 1
The strategy of the war Is as bold as any rtf Pan
ned in humanity's own child's play at manslaughter. The
serum is Injected directly into the stronghold Of the tn.-
lmlcal host, the spinal canal. Months earlier the efficacy
and safety of such a daring venture had been demon
strated in the animal tests made at the Rockefeller In
Moltke of science, This War, with its triumph over the
affrighting dlplococci of cerebrospinal meningitis,- ha
been Bismarck and Von Moltke, plus Napoleon and Ku
rokl. ,
A ltd It has proved even that famous aphorism of Na-
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station Indicate clearly that considerable quantities of
nuts properly eaten do not cause distress.
"There is a popular belief that a little salt with nuts
prevents the digestive disturbance resulting from eating
them. To most persons salt undoubtedly adds to the
palatablllty of the nuts, but no investigations have been
found on record which demonstrates any actual Im
provement In the digestibility of nuts due to salt.
' - "Nuts may be used readily as staple articles of diet
as an ingredient in salada and soups, as a -stuffing for
poultry, in the making of desserts and In many other
ways. ,
"Wild turkey stuffed with pecan nuts is a. dish popu
lar with old Virginia, cooks. Just ns goose stuffed with
chestnuts is prized in Germany.
"In general, the nuts rich' in protein and fat should
be used In combination with carbohydrate foods, as
bread, fruit and green vegetables, while such nuts as
the chestnut, which do not contain much protein or fat,
but are rich in carbohydrates, may be combined properly
with meats., milk, eggs and other foods containing pro
tein and fat". " .
That more nuts are not used Is due partly to the high
price of many varieties, especially when shelled, and to
the difficulty of, cracking some varietieslike pecans,
black walnuts' and hickory nuts, at home apd extracting
the kernels. The consumption , of peanuts and English
walnuts is Increasing faster than that of most other. ,
kinds for this reason.
Within recent years the use of nut butter haa In- .
creased to a remarkable Extent With the addition of
sugar, pastes for candy-making are prepared from nut
by confectioners. Nut flours and meal are used eon.
slderably in some section ot the country. . '- .
" "Almond meal has been oa the. market a long time.
- ;. funfii9SSS:i along
;,"cheactt 'iaed extensively In Italy for mal
Chestnut flour is used extensively in liaiy ,
sort-ot bread or cant?., mo uimi i
acorn aa a staple food. Coffee made from peanut, and.
acorns is in common us in ome section. . ,
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poleon, "Victory lies with the heaviest battalions." Not
only did the generals of science strike where the foe waa
strongest, but they dared overwhelm him with numbers.
In one ease, that of a child ' only a year old, Tr.
Henry Hetman withdrew more than two cublo inches of
the diseased cerebro-splnat fluid, and Injected an equai
quantity of the serum. The child got well.' ; .'. . i
Nearly two years have passed since tha first, vaguel
groping began in the search for a serum which shoul 1
be the conqueror of the previously unconquerable dlplo
coccus intracellular.
Dr. Flexner, with the resources of the Rockefeller In-
stltute for Medical Research at hli command, nevertha
less called upon many other Institutions for required ala
as he. drew upon the results of the researches progress
ing at th time in Europe. ' . j
Indeed, the whole civilised world was co-operating li
the dark and difficult labor of obtaining reliable lnforma
tton as to the strength, the natural resources and thi
fighting capacity of the universal enemy. ' , ' ; :
Innumerable colonies of the dlplococci, made captlvq
to the culture fields of the laboratory,, were forced tea
live In that captivity, generation after generation, tha)
they might give up the last, intimate secrets of their fear
f ul energies to the microscope. ' li
From f hundred miles away, the Philadelphia IIospI
tal sent plate cultures of uninfected membrane in flfU!
.people; from Germany, thousands of miles away,' cam
all the fruit of knowledge won in experiments there) upon
horses, dogs, monkeys and goats. . V; 1 ' :
Dr. Flexner and his helpers of the Institute began
their experiments upon guinea pigs, and toon progressed
to the use of monkeys scores of thenv-for the monkey;
promised, through his resemblance to man, the mosj
Speedy knowledge, at a tune when speed In securing data)
meant the preservation' of many human lives, j The "po
slbllity of Injection Into tha spinal canal was ' demon-
atra ted again and again, both for Its freedom from daxw
ger of paralysis and for Its effectiveness in inoculation.
The entire course : of the disease ' waa observed; re
peatedly. The microscope gave ample evidence ot tho
manner in which the germs made their way to the rav
aged brain, ';v (;V'-.,''v .' : , '' .V, ''
; ' .; VALUABLE TESTS p 1
Ai last," the time' came when the testa, made wltH
normal monkey serum brought out two sets of facts. In
the first, place, simultaneous InJecUon of normal monkey)
serum and a quantity of culture which would cause
death in the control animal within -twenty-four, hours,
proved that the normal serum not only failed to save tha
Inoculated monkeys, but its injection with the culture!
might even hasten the fatal outcome. " " '. .."'
In the second place, where the value of the normal
serum was studied in monkeys In which the dose of the
culture was on the border line that i. 'of le such
that certain monkeys survived and . others.' succumbed
after a period greater than twenty-foUr hours It apn
peared that the injection of the mixture led. in certain
cases, to the survival of the monkey, after a period of
Illness, which was sometimes severe. And to the normal
serum, employed in such a manner, Dr. Flexner waa In
clined to attribute eome definite protective value.
He said that in March last.' The advance since then
has been rapid. The outcome of ail the experimentation,
all the long, eager groping In the dark of the fatal un
known, which, a ear ago. wae the blind borderland o:
science, la the drilled, disciplined cohort of humanity's
allies that won the battles la Castalia and in Akron,
Ohio..' . - '" ' " ' m V..':'":
Tet today. In the presence of the living witnesses or
stitute: numanuys saivauon was mere.y u A a ,u vtctorr. modest clenca, apeaklng by! the month o
out of he infallible plana made in the cabinet U a Von m " hM.lh. world of man be moder.
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ate in enthusiasm:
"The data warrant v wider .use of the serum, espe
dally as no other and better mean are at hand for com
bating tha disease. It would,1 however, 4 be calamitous
just at present to use the serum Indiscriminately an4
without proper bacteriological control op the casev"
Pneumonia Due to a G erm in
the Mouth t
WITH very good reason people, at thl season cl
the year, fear cough and colds, lest they rua
Into dreaded pneumonia. ' 1 A
Nearly twenty year ago It waa discovered that pnem
monla is due. in part, at least to a germ that exist ii
the mouth, t While the seed ot the disease are with ua
always, the soil is ordinarily not favorable for thelij
growth and development la such numbers, at ail ; events
as are necessary to produce the characteristic symptom
which doctors recognise as belonging to pneumonia.
The reason why the disease occur so much more fre
quently in cold weather than in warm is that -colit
lowers the vitality and in that waf" render the body less
Able ta resist the ggecto Jf-fluiside fondit'pn- r, fi.iix:
This .makes the system Uable to , be stormed by
microbes in exactly the same way aa a citadel, half olj
whose soldiers have been removed to another place,
would be Uable to be attacked and taken by an Invading
army which could be kept at bay were the original force)
in it place. - ( ,V ;
For this reason pneumonia invariably attacks person
whose vitality is lowered from some cause or other x-
cessive exertion, excessive worry, even, excessive grief
which is a very; potent factor In the lowering of vitality,
Sometimes even a neglected cold Will help to produce
the disease, and will the missing of a meal while on
is more or less run down through the strain. Of business
or other excitement ' '
It has been found by experience that while the harm-
ful microbe grow in the mouth, many other also havi
their habitation there whose office are to protect tu
body, as it were, from these mlcroscoplo toes.
"BENEFICENT MICROBES'
In the winter these "beneficent' microbes., as tl.
have been called, do not flourish to the same extent
they da in the warmer weather, o that the mouth,
through the mouth the rest of the body, la left with
its protector, and if the Individual doe not by care cm..
to the rescue of his body he render himself liable to I i
attacked not. the less seriously becaus his lues are i -visible.
- ' - I
While the ordinary ''"beneficent" microbe dnps n c
flourish in? cold weather so weU, the microbe of r"" n
monia does and grow actively at a temperature i
Is practically fatal to the other.
prudence, therefore, suggest that in cold weather f!
mouth should be kept especially clean tx frequont w :
ing, and persons should make a point of cleanmng it in
every -meal, so that no food should lode J3,,tw,"f'n i
teeth and, by decaying, produce soil for tue tiul"t ;,.
of disease-bearing gerin. .
As prevention 1 better than cure In all d!a.(-s, k
in this prevention is far less dlfHcult than cure,
who take much alcohol, or who ere known t liav iui -tion
ot the three principal organs of the biwly, fiioui.i r.
expose themselves unduly to col'l without pif pr-
tion, and should certainly not do so when tut-ir vis i
ts lowered by lack of food, overfatigue or ur.y :.
imllar reason. ' ; . , . .
' Similar precautions should b taken Iv thoe hf t
"had pneumonia, shouia. they recover, for, nti;i r .
other diseases, one attack does not render t,. ih --
Immune, but rather predispose him to m'iiT
- Fully one person, in evrry four ) .i !' i i
monia gets it again, and person hv- '"' "'
atta.cked three, four.'five. even elyht -i t-n t
there are. cases on record hi-r U.o i "-f
has beea run up to the asiiiU"'it -
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