New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 4, 1930, Page 3

7 LI Z Z2 oy, "w/"/”’ o A Section of the Nervous System. Under the Stimulus of Drugs Or an Impact of a Blow, the Cells of the Nerves Coagulate. HAT happens when a drug ad- \ dict takes a shot of cocaine or a toper slings down a slug of raw, burning liquor? And what hap- pens when a Jack Dempsey drives a straight left to nis opponent’s “but- ton” and stretches him out on the can- vas for the count? The same thing in every case—the nerve cells coagulate. In this simple statement is indicated one of the most important discoveries in recent years, a complete understand- ing of anesthesia and narcosis. Credit must be given to Dr. Wilder D. Ban- croft and Dr. G. H. Richter, who have been conducting research work along these lines at Cornell University for the past year. Dr. Ban- croft is one of the world’s greatest colloid chemists and a member of the Cornell faculty, while Dr. Richter is a national research fellow, who has been devoting his entire time to a com- plete understanding of the effect and action of drugs on the cell - cure. Their findings w presented by Dr. Richter before the Eighth Celloid Symposium of Chemists, recently held at Cornell In’ order to understand the theory which has been propounded by Dr. Richter, it is necessary to A Drug Addict Taking a “ose of Morphine by the Medicine Dropper ethod. His Nerve Cell- wnd the Nerve Cells of the Drunkard, in the 3ackground, Become Coagulated as the Narcosis Sets In. 7 ' <urious New Hcientitic Lis “And the Queer Things That Happen “K O” /, to the Nerve Cells of a Fighter, Dope 1 3e\Je L Addict or Drunkard When He’s “Out.” understand the constitution of a nerve cell. A cell is an ova branous sac ‘tontaining collofds suspended in fluid. The cell might be compared to a room full of men keeping hundreds of tennis balls flying about, but never landing. The colloids are the tennis balls and they are kept in a constant state of suspen ion by molecular action. In reality colloids are various elements of or- ganic matter and the quantity and type of colloids differ with the dif- ferent cells. When Dr. Richter firs menting with dr and cells, he used veast cells as his complete organism. They have all the characteristics of the human cell and the great advantage of being easily procured by any scientist who wishes to trace Dr. Richter’s ex- perimentation step by step. The normal yeast cell, photographed under the microscope (as shown on this page) is a practically transparent or- ganism. But when Dr. Richter treated the yeast cells with drugs and photo- graphed them again, the ultra-micro- soope showed the cells filled with coag- ulated colloids! When the drug was removed, the cell again became trans- parent. Although the experiments with yeast were quite conclusive, Dr. Richter felt that he could not let his theory sta on that one basis. Accordingly, he cured cells from the human spinal cord and repeated his tests and again he found the same result. As in the case of the yeast cells when the drug was removed the cell returned to its normal condition. How- ever, when certain powerful drugs were applied, the coagulation became so hard and complete that it was irre versible and the cell could not return to normal before it had died. This same sort of coagulation, this metamorphosis of the cell into a organ- ism which looked like a very small ver- sion of a soft-boiled egg, was also found to be produced by mechanical means. If the cells were placed be- tween the thin pieces of glass which are used in a microscope study of a small organism and the glass tapped, it was found that the ‘cells had coagu- lated. The gentle tap on the glass was, in effect, the same as a knockout punch by a heavyweight pugi In the case of this form of me- chanical narcosis, the cells were dis- torted and a state of unbalance be- tween the colloids in the cells and the began experi- ] L \\ d & N Yeast Cells With Which Dr. Richter Experimented. At the Right_Are Normal Cells W Those Above Have Been Treated With Drugs. Yeast the Ci Human cells Have all the acteristics of the Dr. Wilder D. Bancroft (Left) and Dr. G. H. Richter Whose Joint Researches at Cornell University Resulted in a Complete Understanding >f the Action of Druas, Alcohol and Impact on the Nerve Cells. fluid surrounding them was produced. Sxactly the same coagulation as produced by drugs and a blow may be caused by electri In this case, the ions within the cell are affected, an unbalance results and there is coag- 1lation. Producing na s by means of a blow dates back to the Ptolemic Dy nasty. In those anctent days when an Egyptian surgeon had to perform a painful operation he had an assistant who held the patient on the operating » and ad- ministered a tap on the head with a little wooden mallet. These ‘“‘anaesthetizers” knew just where to tap and just how heavy a blow would be needed If the patient showed signs of reviving be- fore the operation was com- plete, he received another gentle tap! The danger of this sys- tem, of course, lay in the Out for the Count! When Jack Dempsey Knocked Out Firpo, as Shown Above, the Nerve Cells of the Bull of the Pampas Became Coagulated in ixactly the Same Manner They Would Have Had He Taken Drugs or Become Intoxicated. The Normal Way of Administering Most Drugs. Hypodermic *Sk and the Nerve Cells C Here Are Shown Exclusive Photographs of the Cells Under Various muli. These Pictures Were Obtained by Means of the Ultra-Microscope. Nerve Cell With Easily Distinguishable. 1—Normal the Colloids 2—Nerve Cells Coagulated by an Applicatic of Ethyl Alcohol. 3—When Narcosis Is Brought About by Means of Water, as Is Fre- quently Done in Dental Surgery the Cells Coagulate as Shown Here. 4—The Result of a Blow, the Nerve Cells Knocked Out of Shape and C Under the Same as agulated luence of a Drug. 4 Cells Extrem Cells C: Normal Condition. Brought Its Death. About Coagulation That the uld Not Resume Their Irreversible Coagulation of the Cell Means 6—A Cell Coagu- lated by Magnesium Sulfate. According to old tests, for exam- ple, sium the fact that coagulation of narco: On this page are own exclusive photographs of the spinal cells, both normal and coagulated. As reproduced, they are magnified several thousands of times. The human cells with* which Dr. Richter experimented were very care- fully procured. Mechanical damage through cutting or handling was avoided by the most painstaking care. The cells were kept in their normal serum and temperature; in short, they were live, healthy cells when Dr. Richter carried out his experiments. 1f isolated cells acted as these experi- mental cells acted, there can be no question but that cells in the body act in exactly the same manner. produce the A Doctor ls Giving a to a Patient. The Drug Will Soon Coagulate the Nerve Cells Bring About Narcosis. As the Drugs Leave the Cells Through the Purifying Action of the Blood. the Coagulation Will Disappear and the Cells Will Resume Their Normal Appearance. ty of damaging the br using blood clots. Lik after-effects were sometimes quite ven water can be used as a nar- of the sense water is injected by a hypodermic needle, it surrounds the cells of the nerves an u; a coagulation—nar- Bl ears this form of anae been used in some c. s icularly dental work. The tearing and swelling and injury to the flesh tis- sue which is incidental to this water injection makes it practicable only in certain work. Previous to Dr. Richter’s work, there were various tests for drugs, various ways of determining the power of a drug. However, these rules were arbi- trary, based on laws of physics and filled with loopholes. The cell reaction test of Dr. Richter is positive and sure. Newspaper Feature Service, 1930, The effects of Dr. Richter’s findings are bound to be revolutionary in their extent and significance. Heretofore the chemists and pharmacologists of the world have worked on the most meagre information. They have known that certain drugs produce certain effects, that they produce a state of complete nervous narcosis, for mple, or that dull certain senses and percep- cohol, in beverage form, has al- been known to produce drunken- if taken in excess and it is known, and always has been known, that one of the advanced stages of drunkenness is stupor, complete narcosis. But be- vond this there was no basis of proven theory. In all such studies the scien- tists have had to depend only on expe- rience—past experience. The same thing has been true in the development of new drugs and anaes- According 1o All Previous Tests Magnesium Sulfate Is Not a Narcotic, but Dr. Richter's Tests Prove That Is It. thetics. The compound has been blended by the organic chemist or pharmacologist and then it has had to be tested. Rats and guinea pigs and finally monkeys have been used and if the effects have been all that was claimed, the drug has been used on humans. Then it has been a case of slowly and carefully determining the proper dosage. With the information they now have, these same scient will be able to de- termine well in advance exactly what effect a certain drug or compound will have on the cells of the nervous sys- tem. This will mean that they will be able to avoid many of the disappoint- ments and much of the useless en- deavor that have necessarily accom- panied some of their efforts heretofore. There are still further possibilities. If the medical profession realizes that it can isolate a cell from any given part of the human body and determine the effects of various drugs on this cell, it will be possible to administer drugs in a much more certain and scientific manner. Since the colloid content of various cells differ, a drug which will act quickly upon one cell may act very slowly upon another. Accordingly, a previous knowledge of drug effect will be invaluable, By the same token, the profession will be able to experiment with impunity, since all that is at stake is a single cell, There is the possibility that in view of their ability to predetermine cell re- action to various stimuli it will be pos- sible to administer drugs with an eye to retarding the development of certain parts of the body—some of the glands, for example. The work which Dr. Richter has done has proved another point; that the ef- fect of dri s the same both “‘going effect of a drug further applicati sing a drop to a state of i Naturally, if still more 1 cause death, for the cells will be- come so coagulated that they cannot peptize, as the disappearance of coagu- lation is technically known. If the drug is applied only until insensibility is reached, the recovery will carry the patient back along the same path, through the period of excitation to 1 s indicated by the effect of al- cohol. Small applications will cause stimulation or excitation and then fur- s will bring about complete cosis. As the person recovers from inebr he passes through the period of excitation again (indicated, dizziness and some of the other es of the “hangover”). The reason ond period of excitation differs from the first lies in the fact that as the drug passes from certain cells it affects other cells which cause a differ- al reaction (the well-known s out, it is for ion and not the chemists to make use of this new-found information. The chemists have pointed the way, shown the possibilit Now ors must adopt this knowledzxe | to their own profession. Z AL DRI L e \ Z AN, T | ommmmmm— N P Yot (77 Yy i) 4, 2 24 Z >