Evening Star Newspaper, January 6, 1935, Page 69

P] S — THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 6, 1935. BY BRUCE CATTON. HE cobra may be the scourge of India, a super-deadly reptile that kills thou- sands and thousands of people en- nually and lives as a symbol of the dark masalignancy of nature—— But it has actually been enlisted in the great fight against cancer, and its poisonous venom, which can bring pgonizinz death, is being used to help the human body throw off the mysterious and incurable power of those deadly growths which have been so baffling to meodical science. The recearch connected with the use of cobra venom ‘in ca:e; of cancer is, of course, still to be comp’cted. But papers on the work done to date have been read before medical societies, and it has aiready been established that in cerlain cascs, at least, this venom is a weapon of th2 highest value. This work scems to have got under way some five years ego when Dr. Adolph Monae-Lesser visited the office of Dr. Raymond L. Ditmars, head of the fomous Bronx Zoo, and asked him for some of the poison of the Indian cobra. He explined this request by telling a little story. Years a30 k2 had served with the Red Cross in Cuba, duiing the Spanish-American War. One of his patients was - leper., The leper had been bilten by a tarantula—and shortly thcoreafter had shown a marked im- provement in his nervous condition and a lessening of his piin. Dr. Monae-Lesser had stored this odd fact away in his memory, Now he withed to conduct some experiments on the possibl» eflect of snake venom on ma- lignant g- R. DITMAL I; about this in his new book, “Confecsions of a Scientist,” ree cently published by the Macmillan Co. “As I underctood him,” he writes, “his ex- periments were guided by the theory that cer- tain malignant growihs were associated with abnormal condit s of the nerve centers. These nerve cent induced activity in certain cells, which cong ted and built up ab- normal or malignant ti-sue. “Now, we alrecdy kn:w that in its undi- luted form ccbra venom hos a terrific effect on the nerve centers. In fact, when a man is bit- ten by a cobra, death is largely produced by paralysis of the mus:les that control the breath- ing mechonirm, “My undersianding of Dr. Monae-Lesser’s theory was that if a person suffering from a malignant growth were given a diluted solution of venom there would b2 a comparatively mild shock to th> nerve con'ers and an activation of the affected con*~r3 ‘hat would be follswod e Dreapry CoBra PRy —c ) \:“;y ~ - L iy i ( E by a correction of the abnormality—a kind of rejuvenation.” Dr. Ditmars says that there are two kinds of snake venom—the neurotoxin, which strikes at the nerves, and the hemorrhagin, which attacks the blood. The cobra's is of the neurotoxin type, and it was that type, of course, which the physician wanted. Getting venom from a cobra isn't an easy task. Cobras are muscular and hard to handle. The reptile must be held by the neck, just back of the head, ard induced to chew on a glass slab. The poison adheres to the glass, and later can b2 dried, scraped off and dissolved in distilled water. “Even after the head is successfully re- strained,” Dr. Ditmars writes, “and the cobra grasped by the neck, there is a feeling as if one is holding a polished cable that could turn with= in one’s grasp, enabling the flexible jaws to be bent sideways and bringing the fangs into a po- sition to grip. If a cobra can imbed its fangs it chews, and in this way it differs from most venomous serpents.” However, the naturalist went to work and supplied Br. Monae-Lasser with the venom. The doctor began by using a highly diluted so- lution of the venom on a patient who was suf- fering from a cancer of the tonsil. “At the t{ime,” writes Dr. Ditmars, “he had no thought of markodly alleviating the cancer, as it was well advanced. His object was to relieve the pain produced by clearly indicated nerve pressure, “Nevertheless, he was agreeably surprised, for not only was his patient relieved of pain, but the tumor began to diminish. Before the treatment the patient could eat no solids and could not lie down without spasms of the throat; now he cou'd swallow without pain and sleep in a bed instead of on a chair.” HE experimonts were carried on in Paris, Dr. Morac-Lesser and his associates, en- couraged by the results in this case, proceeded to give similar treatments to 115 other cancer sufferers. In 1933 Prof. M. A. Gosset read a raper summarizing the work., “For their clinical work,” says Dr. Ditmars, “the doctors made no selection of cases. ‘They took serious cases, cases recently operated upon, cases operated upon long ago with or without relapse, inoperable cases, patients treated with X-ray or radium without success, visible cancer or abdominal or axic carcer.” The majority of these patients, they reported, had suffered so extensively from malnutrition and general ill health due to the cancer that they died, but in nearly all cases the venom > thom relic? from perin. In other cases Dr. Ditmars describes t amazing results of treating ) the dread malady with snake venom---and recounts the Yid thrills of being a naturalist HerLps Scrence [ — X the progress of the malady was clearly arrested; in still others the cancerous condition actually seemed to be cleared up. Being cautious, like all scientists, the doctors refused to use the word “cure.” But some of their patients who underwent the treatment five years ago have been relieved of their can- cerous trouble, and to date have had no return of the disease. . The doctors’ conclusion was: “We consider that the treatment by the venom of the cobra will give ease to all pains, andeparticularly to the pains of benign or malignant tumors, and that the latter are benefited by it.” It is emphesized that the venom cannot be looked on as a cure for cancer, and much research remains to be done. But the treat- ment is considered of sufficient importance to be tried in suitable cases, especially those that are not in the last stages. Incidentally, Dr. Monae-Lesser paid a high price for his research. Four years ago he acci- dentally inhaled the dust from some powdered cobra venom and his health failed from that day. Just now he is regaining his old-time vigor; but his lungs are still weak and he can- not be near such a mild irritant as tobacco smoke without suffering acutely. How does the venom operate in the human system to help the cancer sufferer? Dr. Ditmars summarizes a report read before the Essex County Medical Society at Windsor, Ontario, by Sir Henry Gray, a noted surgeon, on December 6, 1933, which seems to offer a partial explanation. SIR HENRY suggests that cancer may be due to some change in the control which the human nervous system normally exer- cises over the various cells, Normally, the different cells perform their functions hare moniocusly. When the body is wounded, for instance, some mysterious influence sets the repair cells to work rebuilding the destroyed tissue. and when the job is finished, and the new tissue is flush with the surface, they stop. But sometimes the cells get out of hand. They go on and produce tissue that is not needed, forming a malignant and painful mass. Certain microscopic studies of living cells by moving picture film, taken at the Rockefeller Institute, illustrate this. Dr. Ditmars witnessed a showing of this film, and reports: “There were ‘good’ cells and ‘bad’ cells. In some instances the good cells had everything in order. They seemed to be steadily house clean- inrg. Meandering cells that got in the way were pounced upon as vigorously as suspicious loafers in a police clean-up. “Then, again, I saw mobs of cells gone wild and congregating in masses. The loyal types were outnumbered and unable to cope with them. * * * Coming from all directions were numbers swelling the mob, seemingly intent upon fusirg their bodies into an abnormal mass, the beginning of malignant tissue. Thus, it seems, these minute forms can be sane or in- sane, sober or drunk, and those succumbing to the latter state may run wild and do crazy things “An old scar or chronic {rritation attracts them. They swarm about it. The mysterious irfluence which starts their multiplication when - R I its Q?z'g/zt CZga[nsf | CANCER. & wound is to be repaired is loosed, but now rages into a whirlwind of disorder resulting in the building of false tissue.” When this happens, a cancer results. DR. DITMARS asked a laboratory expert to give a simple explanation of what cobre venom may do to remedy such a situation, Here is the expert’s reply: “The maintenance of an animal body is fke the running of a city. It's complicated. Na« ture is sometimes caught napping, and cell dise cipline, which means a lot, may slip. If the cells gre inclined to be unruly, and the home atmosphere gets worse, they go on a tear, and still nature is inclined to be tolerant. “According to the snake poison theory you have a new line of attack to regain the normal or start nature to investigate, to call in reserve forces that have not been utilized, and set the patient on his or her feet.” When Dr. Ditmars asked him, “What forces?” he replied: “That’s beyond me; who can define electricity?” Then he explained that the cobra venom ap- parently puts the nerves to sleep, and nature —s0 to speak—calls in her family physician, whose treatment the mnerves undergo while in their slumber. “Each time they are put to sleep,” he said, “they receive further treatment, so they get well, stop their foolish ranting to the cells, and the party's over—much to the relief of the white cells, or leucocytes, which have had as hard a time as a handful of cops trying to control a mass of crazy rioters.” . Dr. Ditmars’ work with his cobras, of course, has oniy been a small part of his wide ex- perience with snakes during recent years, This experience has led to many discoveries— some of them of vast importance, like this about the cobra venom’s medicinal value, and others of little practical importance but of considerable popular interest. - There is, for example, the fact that sunlight will kill snakes. Once Dr. Ditmars went up into the Berke shires to catch some rattlesnakes. He climbed to an exposed rocky ledge, where he caught two. Putting the live snekes in a bag, whose mouth he tied shut, he went on after a third, Returning a little later, he picked up the bag— and found both snakes dead! The bag had lain in the hot sunlight, and the heat had killed them. s This discovery was borne out by investigae tions in the Southwest by a scientist of the Unie versity of California. He took desert mattlee snakes and placed -them in exposed positions in the sunlight. All died, in from 5 to 10 minutes, The reason is that snakes are cold-blooded, and take their body temperature from the tem- perature of the surrounding air. At 70 dee grees Fahrenheit, a snake is normally active, A drop to 50 makes it sluggish; a drop to the freezing point will generally kill it. ‘The snake seemi” able to stand a rise to 115 ‘degrees; -