Evening Star Newspaper, September 11, 1927, Page 77

MAGAZINE SECTION ILLUSTRATED FICTION AND FEATURES Part 5—8 Pages Men of Courage in Federal Service Make W SECRETS OF POISONOUS Y MERELY TOUCHING THESE RABBITS ONE MAY CONTRACT TULAREMTA. ¥ ‘campaigns—a aguinst invisible germs m and kill ‘men is belng conducted close to the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial from a high-erowned setting which erlooks the ac. Thousands of “motorists who pass that way daily lttle know that dramhs designed to sidetrack death and shunt the grim reaper: intb the background are being enacted only a short dis- tance from the, paved pathways over which roll their modern automobiles. The United States Hygienic Labo- ratory, a tributary of the Public Health Service, is little knowr. to the average Washingtonian, for it is a F i wige and hence publicity-shy voice of assured conceit has never re- sounded from its halls. It never trum- pets its consummations for public re- view and plaudits. In its reserved, retiring, conservative way it continues its wonderful work of battling an i visible empire—a monarchy of mi: erobes which attack mankind and uni- versally spead suffering and <orrow. The sort of folks you read about but seldom see——soldiers of #cience who bravé daily dangers as perilous as any bred by battlefield—compose the corps of 125 dodtors, medical aides, hac- teriologists, chemists and_laboratory assistants at the Hygienic Laborato: Hazards' as great as mountain elimbers venture, risks such as big- game hunters run, jeopardies known to explorers and dangers which our national defenders sometimes greet are found at the United States Hygi- enic Laboratory in strange scientific form. You see there innocent-looking “bun- nies” chewing clover contentedly. Merely touch one of these rabbits and you will develdp tularaemia, known in Utah as deer fiy fever, a disease which will incapacitate vou .in the hospital for anywhere from three weeks to three months or longer. Perhaps you spy a little guinea pig that hae ecaped from his cage. With- put thinking, you might, as did a cer- 1ain laboratory assistant, chase and capture the little animal. In resent ing such familiarity, the “pig” might eip you on the finger, And by this patural act of self-defense the labo. satory animal might transmit to you nfectious germs of rabies which pro- Juce dreaded hydrophobia. In & harmlesslooking test tube, porked with cotton, you see hrownish black appearing material, It is a cul ture of the Mediterranean fever germs, smported from far-away Tunis, in Africa. All you have to do is poke around with that scientific specimen & bit in ler to contract recurrent Mediterran fever, against which] there is no known preventive. In another laboratory are samples of Montana woodticks. ~Let them bite you and these Capt. Kidds of an im- portant disease will inoculate you with Encky Mountain spotted fever. * x ¥ ¥ §F 29 yovet sarlgns sickness in di- versified form, vou can find it at the Government hygienic “lab,” where the germs tetanus, ty- phoid fever tuberculosis, potulism and leprosy are near feigh- bore, protected by overcoats of glass or cages of wire Federal scientisis daily rub elbows with these “wreckers of health and happiness” without fear or trembling. Working with deadly germs is just a yegular part of their routine work. They employ precautions and use pre- yentives, but occasionally they be- come infected with diseases which cause severe sickness, and even death. Uncle Sam ourceful army of medical sclentists seek to safeguard our national health and to make the which diphtherin cause MONKEYS ARE USED IN The Sundy Staf WASHINGTON, TYPHUS EXPERIMENTS. are visible only when greatly magni- fied. Anthrax; as you may know, is a dangerous disease to sheep and horses which is communicable o man. It known - generally as ‘‘wool-sortel disease, being spread by minute g which cause abscesses that frequently result in death. Anthrax is common in Burope and the Orient, wh dis eased folks spread the infestion. It is uncommon in the United States, and whenever an outbreak occurs our Government does ifs best (5 stanip | out the attack after ascertaining its| causes. The last small epidemic of anthrax broke out in a city far removed from the contaminating influences of dis- eased sheep or horses. The cause of the outbreak was listed locally as a medical mystery. Public Health Se: ice was requested to play Sherlock Holmes and ferret out the scientific facts about the remarkable case. The United States Hyglenic Laboratory accepted the charge, and discovered after detailed investigation that the| antbrax was spread by shaving| brighes imported from the Orient Resistant spores of anthrax on these bristles had survived the ordinary disinfection acéorded such _importa- tions. Americans who lathered their faces with these hrushes in some cases contracted anthrax. The costly experiente was useful to posterity, in that it led to the enactment of a more rigid Federal law about the man. ufacture and sterilization of such es- sential brushes. Shavers from Salt Lake City to Florida are now pro- tected against anthrax-spreading brushes, for U'ncle Sam has seen 10 it that history will not repeat itself in such a way. For more than years Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which fis transmitted by diseased wood ticks, has collected heavy annual tribute in human lives and caused desperate sick- ness inour Northwestern States and lower British Columbia. cle Sam, has attempted the eradication of the pestiferous ticks with everything ex- cept English bloodhounds. Mammoth land areas were burned over in at- tempts to exterminate the wood ticki Hundreds of thousands of domesticated animals were assembled in corrals and dipped with chemical poisons. This was effective in a measure, but it was T'nited States a more secure and sat- jefactory home in which to reside. This is one of the biggest contiacts ever undertaken. It means incesvant fevife trom mow inti) millennium’s last @inset against foes so small that they impossible to collect and similarly treat the wild animals and predatory crea- idea was to use the sheep as ‘“tick traps.”” The insects were supposed to gather in the wool of the living sheep. Subsequently science hoped to kill these ticks by dipping the mutton- makers. X * ok ok K 'HE Government spent great sums in striving to control the ravages of Racky Mountain spotted fever, but its stratagems were only temporary in effect. The disease -germs. con- tinued to muitiply and hegan to decl- mate certain districts of the range and ranch country. Approximately 5 per cent of. the thousands of eggs de- posited by the female ticks carried the infection from parent to progeny. Eventually the problem of control- ling Rocky Mountain spotted fever was turned over to the Hygienic Labora- tory in Washington. Dr. R. R. Spen- cer, after three of his Government associates had lost their lives in simi- lar research, finally perfected a vac- cine ‘which gave prot against the death-dealing disease. This vac: cine was extraordinary in that it was made directly from the groynd-up ticks. whose bite causes the discase. It was something quite new and dif- ferent in such materials. Neither its ginator nor his associates had any idea how it would affect man. It might kil or it might cure—nobody knew how it would act. m Spencer courageously volun- teered to vaccinate himself with the new vaccine, It was a daring deed, such as only a modern soldier of science would attempt. Fortunately, no deleterious effects resulted. Other Government, specialists then volun- teered for vaccination. In the course of time the vaccine was distributed to the mountain country where the ticks spread the fever. Recently thousands of persons In Montana, Idaho, Wyom- and other Western States have béen vaccinated against Rocky Moun- tain spotted fever. Not a single death has occurred among those vaccinated. After a stern and a long chase, it looks as though Uncle Sam has con- quered a disease which long baffled modern science, The general public does not know that typhus, which is a disease of great importance in Europe, has ap- peared spasmodically along the At- lantio seaboard during the last few years. The American typhus appar- ently is a_mild form of the European tures, which also distributed the dis- ease. Mighty tured in tiekdhfested territory. 4 of sheep weére pas- The disease. Unless the contagion is con- tralled, it is liahle to spread and cause serious country-wide epidemics, Hence the United States Government is do- D. €, BUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 11, 1927. DR.G.W. M<COY, PREPARING CULTURES OF 250 SPECIES OF DESTRUCTIVE GERMS. ing all possible to unravel the secrets of this disease. . In foreign countries typhus is car ried from one person to another by body lice. have discovered definitely that the louse is not.the conveyor of the dis- ease in the United States. On the other hand, the ravaging rat in some mysterious manner appears to be the spreader of the affiiction. Hunters in New Orleans have been cammissioned to trap many thousand rats, which - are being sent to the United States Hygienic Laboratory. An expert laboratory assistant, work- ing under the direction of Dr. K. F. Maxey, in charge of the typhus re- search, chloroforms these rodents and then carefully combs their coat in order to collect specimens of all the germs and insects which inhabit the rat’s hairy covering. Thus far Dr. Maxey has found no distinctive germs which might spread typhus. He has ascertained, however, thaf one of of the Southern rodents is infected with typhus, although the disease Is not fatal to the rats. By some extraordinary reservoir.now un- known to medical research the rat: transmit the typhus to man—to hu man beings of cleanly habits who live In sanitary surroundings and who have a high standard of living. Dr. Maxey will continue his studies until | he solves the complete riddle and per haps is fortunate enough to develop a control or cure for the American typhus. EE R OVERNMENT specialists who work for Public Health Service are striving to find out what role oxygen plays in the ‘development and promul gation of dangerous diseases. These cxperiments are being conducted on the assumption that the changes which occur in the human body in time of sickness are usually chemical changes. In a neighboring laho:ntory to that where the exygen research is in progress Federal slenths of medical science are trying to bare the secrets of new biologic truths which may produce important effects on human existence. - Uncle Sam is attempting to perfect chemical treatments which will check and control tuberculosis, the white plague of the human race, A new serum has recently been de- veloped which probably will measur- ably decrease the annual mortality from pneumonia. Tularaemia, one of the most infec- tious diseases registered on the physi- clan's roster, stringe to tell, passes from wild jack rabbits or tottontafl 3 Uncle Sam's investigations | The carrier of this minute that it can into the body through | unbroken skin. All one has to do is to come in contact with a diseased rabbit, and shortly he will be I in bed, sick with “rabhit fever. - laraemia is a fatal malady of rabbits, squirrels, mice and guinea pigs, but it only causes severe and extended sickness among human beings. "Bhe discase was first identified in this country in Utah as deer fly fever. The first six Government specialists who studied the- disease all became in- fected, despite every precaution known to science in warding off infection. It was then thought that a blood-suck- ing fly was the sole dispenser of the disease. Detailed ex | rabbits to man. infection is so worm_its way disclosed that germs visible only der the most powerful microscopes really spread the disease. Uncle Sam | also found out that tularaemia, which | was thought ¢o be a localized disease, is widespread over the United States wherever rabbits are handled and marketed. During the last year the United States Hygienic Laboratory has been experimenting with sleeping sickness, seeking to produce a serum which might check the economic ravages of that mysterious disease. Not o long go a zealous writer, misinterpreting information supplied by Uncle Sam, | published a story stating that the Government had found a cure for sleeping sickness. The Public Health Service has been deluged with re- quests from all parts of the country for this panacea, as the article was ) recopied -in_all sections. Pathetic | tales of family suffering have filtered | to our National Capital from Tolk | | Wwho had hoped to end their suffering { with the new specific. 1t was a heart- | rending the joh of reply those letters and of informing invalids and their relatives that the report was | false, that sleeping sickness had not| et yielded up its secrets. After 28 hours of indefatigable vigil a woman bacteriologist of the United States Hyglenic - Laboratory leaned back in her chair and almost immedi- ately fell asleep. She had been en- ‘gaged in the development of a new serum which was designed to remove some of the deadly sting from the acts and actions of pneumonia germs. Suc- cess apparently had rewarded her ef- forts. And in the glorying tonviction | night, forgetting rest, food and com- fort in her: scientific ardor to con- tribute something. worth while to the forward march of medical science. * K Kk 04 SCASIONALLY science gets tle against germs. cate measles to monkeys. In sisted the disease, menters did not. but the experi: Wwrong. a laugh out of its important and in- teresting works in its determined bat- In one case the joke was on the Government doctors. Several of them were striving to de- termine if it was possible to communi- the course of .the tests the monkeys re- Several Federal ex-| perts were away from their desks on sick leave for a couple of weeks as a result of this researtéh which- went HUMOR ar on Deadly Germs OXIDATION TESTS AID IN STUDIES OF HUMAN EXISTANCE. cal science nowadays is to run no risks whatsoever where rabies infec- tion is concerned. An ounce of pre- vention is worth more than an ocean of regret in suspicious cases. The common cold, so called because of its prevalence, is one of the baf- fling mysteries which, like the secret of how the honeybee makes honey, has resisted all overtures of. science to answer its riddles. Today medical science has demonstrated that an ordi- ¢ cold_ is contagious, and is prob- spread by invisible germs. But eanch specialists have failed in {den- titying this particular germ or groups of germs. Furthermore, ~o success- ful system of controlling Solds has been developed. Chlorine gas treat- ments, vaccines and other scientific expedients have failed in effecting standardized - cures. Doctors and health officers make sensible recom. mendations, warning people against such conditions as exposure to cold and wet, crowded halls, buildings and street cars, foul air and other con- tributing causes of contagious colds. Science, however, does not know the germs that produce colds nor how to battle .them successfully. The indica- tions “are that the ordinary cold will continue as one of our great economic menaces, as there are no present in- dications of the early solution of it mysteries. * ok Xk % 'OR the last 25 years the United States Hygienic Laboratory, au- A laboratory assistant one day. found! thorized by special act of Congress, a guinea pig running loose on the floor. He- captured the little animal and returned .it to.a cage, but not; viruses and other biologic materials! be cured? before the “pig" ‘had bitten Lim. The| which circulate in ocmmerce. | has supervised the production of com- mercial serums, vgccines, anti-toxins, investigator - promptly- forgot - about| sponsibilities of - this inspection are the ‘matter, and it. was mot until a|tremendous, week later ‘that’he happened to. men- | tion it to a: supericr. ‘Gdod - gracious, man,” cried scientist, “thal guinea pig has sinc died of hydrophobia! Hurry! We'll give ‘you the Pasteur treatment at|is anxious to impress upon-his people 2 | the difference between a serum and a once."” The bitten aseistant 'was vaccinated | It blood -of an animal which has devel- and no injurious effects ensued. was only by one of fortune's queer quirks, however, that he escaped ‘rabies ‘infection, as the inoculated guinea pig was a ready. carrier-of the infection. g Another extraordinary —experience along somewhat similar lines once oc- curred. A District' policeman was called to a suburban section to shoot a mad deg. The bullet cravhed { through the head of the'rabid do; | continued on its parabolia:dourse, ‘ane | finally, as it was about spent, it struck a little girl about ‘two 'blocks away. The leaden missile produced a. flesh wound ‘and_caused considerable’ flow of bloed. - Doctors were summoned, and immediately the remarkable ques- ‘tion arose, ‘‘Could the bullet which penetrated ‘the brain of the dog af- flicted with rabies carry the infection to thechild?” 4 The conundrum was passed along to Uncle Sam for solution,* Government authorities could not answer the ques- tion: definitely. For precaution’s sake, the child was given the Pasteur treat- that she had finally found a new method of checking the death rate of ian old disease thijs woman scientist atuck to her experiments by day and’ ment agdinst hydrophobla.” The youngster soon recovered -from- the, flesh wound ‘and .no serious after re- sults obtained. “The attitude of medi- | Americans, or.99 per cent of our pop- | ulation, as about 116,000,000 benefit from these materials form or another in combating For general education, Uncle Sam vaccine. A serum is made from the oped immunity or complete resistance against certain disease germs. In the manufacture of vaccines, on the other hand, living germs are used instead of: the blood of an anjmal that has been made immune to-that particular disease. These germs are grown. in special laboratories on such materials as broth,-egg white or gelatin. They are collected at the proper period, killed by heat.or steam, and are then prepared conveniently in vaccine form for the doctors’ use. Vaccine against hydrophobia. is made by inoculating a The re- | { prolonged by | which can be administered only by | aualified physicians. _Between 3,500 | and 4,000 specimens of serums, vac- | cine, anti-toxins and similar material ave ~tested annually at the United States Hygienic Laboratory, and it is a rarity nowadays for our national sleuths to find anything wrong with any of these materials. The Govern. ment has also fostered the standardi- zation of such products as diphtheria anti-toxin and tetanus anti-toxin, as well as arsphenamine. It was not so long ago that Mister Bacillus Botulinus, a small germ with a fancy name, was raising all sorts of rumpus all over the country. This germ mastered methods of spuggling into canned goods and there excreting powerful poisons, which subsequently made the families which consumed such contaminated food frightfully ick. In many cases fatalities resulted, and in _some instances whole families died from eating such poisoned food. Uncle Sam went to work on the cri ical problem, and finally perfected an. efficient anti-toxin- which, when ad- ministered in time, now prevents death from botulism. The Govern- ment has recently gone yet further by establishing a definite standard by { which commercial manufacturers can | measure the quality of this anti-toxin { which they produce, I Science has-mastered some of the magic of medicine and disease control, {but there still remains much to do. { For example, nobody knows what causes cancer, while sclence eannot tell why arteries harden in some indi- viduals at 50 and not until the age of 80 in others. How can tuberculosis Will the time arrive when the life of the average person can ve science to 100 years? * K % x O mystery murder in police records or in _fiction is more complicated than the research now in progress at the . United States Hygienic Labora- tory, which seeks to expose all there is to know abhout the germs of tuber- culosis. These germs in the body of a person suffering with the white plague are enfolded in waxy protec- tive coverings. Thus far research has failed in finding a medicine which would kill these armored germs with- out also injuring the tuberculosis patient. The more science studies:the tuber- cle baccilus, the less it seems to know abeut this elusive wrecker of hom and happiness and destroyer of human life. The goal-—the uitimate control of tuberculosis—appiars as remote as Mars and as unfathomable as conun- rabbit ‘with rabies.. Eight days later the rabbit is killed. its spinal cord is removed and is then specially treated and eventually distributed among phy- sicians as a ntive of hydrophobia. ‘Before Federal inspection of serum and vaccine production was legalized by Congress persons who were vacci- nated - frequently suffered from sore arms, developed by unclean vaccines. These materials were contaminated with - fovejgn germs. Such experi- ences are now nothing ' more than ancient history. Public Health Serv- ice regularly inspects the 35 American plants® which - now: the more than 100 ‘different biol products drums of the fourth dimension. Not- withstanding the seeming hapelessness of the research efforts, science enthus- iastically continues its quest and re- search. ; It will be satisfied only when the- “‘con” of consumption is ‘linked permanently to the quest resulting in conquest—the solution and control of rnl’l of man’s deadliest foes, tubercu- osis Unele Sam also tests out ‘the nos trums and cure-alls of fakers and quacks, in order to warn the genperal publio against such “moonshine medi- cine If possible, the Government prosecutes the producers of such (Continugd on Fourth Pageg ! >