Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891
Various
Science -- Periodicals
Tuberculous guinea pigs, on the other hand, are killed by the
injection of very small quantities of such diluted cultivations. In
fact, within six to forty-eight hours, according to the strength of
the dose, an injection which is not sufficient to produce the death of
the animal may cause extended necrosis to the skin in the vicinity of
the place of injection. If the dilution is still further diluted until
it is scarcely visibly clouded, the animals inoculated remain alive
and a noticeable improvement in their condition soon supervenes. If
the injections are continued at intervals of from one to two days, the
ulcerating inoculation wound becomes smaller and finally scars over,
which otherwise it never does; the size of the swollen lymphatic
glands is reduced, the body becomes better nourished, and the morbid
process ceases, unless it has gone too far, in which case the animal
perishes from exhaustion. By this means the basis of a curative
process against tuberculosis was established.
Against the practical application of such dilutions of dead tubercle
bacilli there presented itself the fact that the tubercle bacilli are
not absorbed at the inoculation points, nor do they disappear in
another way, but for a long time remain unchanged, and engender
greater or smaller suppurative foci. Anything, therefore, intended to
exercise a healing effect on the tuberculous process must be a soluble
substance which would be liberated to a certain extent by the fluids
of the body floating around the tubercle bacilli, and be transferred
in a fairly rapid manner to the juices of the body; while the
substance producing suppuration apparently remains behind in the
tubercular bacilli, or dissolves but very slowly. The only important
point was, therefore, to induce outside the body the process going on
inside, if possible, and to extract from the tubercular bacilli alone
the curative substance. This demanded time and toil, until I finally
succeeded, with the aid of a forty to fifty per cent. solution of
glycerine, in obtaining an effective substance from the tubercular
bacilli. With the fluid so obtained I made further experiments on
animals, and finally on human beings. These fluids were given to other
physicians to enable them to repeat the experiments.
The remedy which is used in the new treatment consists of a glycerine
extract, derived from the pure cultivation of tubercle bacilli. Into
the simple extract there naturally passes from the tubercular bacilli,
besides the effective substance, all the other matter soluble in fifty
per cent. glycerine.
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