Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 March 1896 — CUBE FOR PHTHISIS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

CUBE FOR PHTHISIS.

■** ASEPTOLIN ** SAID TO BE A CERTAIN REMEDY. Dr. Edson Discovers a Beneficent Fora of Carbolic Acid-It Kill* Germs, bnt Does Not Harm the Human Tissue*. Encouraging Number of Recoveries. Dr. Cyrus Edson, ex-commissioner of health for the city and county of Xew York, announces that he has discovered * remedy for consumption. Already, he declares, many victims of the dread disease have been cured by it. In the last issue of the Medical Record, under the caption “A Rational Treatment for Phthisis Pulmonalis, Together With Some Xotes on a Xew Remedial Solution,” the doctor gives a description of his discovery. The name of the new remedy is “Aseptolin.” It is a benefieient form of the ordinarily dangerous earbolic add and is injected under the skin, by which operation it finds its way into the blood and to the seat of disease. Upon authority of Prof. Henry A. Mott, aseptolin is composed as follows: Water 97.2411 per cent Phenol 2.7401 per cent Pilocarpiu-pheny 1-hydrox-ide 0.188 per cent In order to understand Dr. Edson’s discovery it is necessary to remember that Pasteur and Koch discovered and established the fact that germ diseases had as rtheir ultimate cause the presence in the body of minute orguuisms, called germs, microbes and the like. It was not long before these germs were cultivated, as it was called. • Having these cultivated colonies, scientific men made many experiments. They found disinfectants would kill these germs. They found, for example, that if a mixture of’one part phenol or carbolic acid to three-thousand parts of water were floated over a colony of germs and left there for twenty-four hours all these germs diode It naturally occurred to them that if carbolic acid would kill germs outside the body it would kill them inside, and the conclusion that if they could kill all the germs in the body they could de-

stroy the cause of the disease and thus cure the latter was apparent. The experiment was promptly tried. The result was some of those in whom these injections were put developed abscesses at the point of injection. Far more, however, were poisoned by the acid and the ide.a had to be giyen up. It was too fascinating, though. Declat of Paris made a mixture of one part of the acid to one hundred of water and, putting in a little salt, continued.the injections, getting from them a larger percentage of cures. Aseptoliq la Produced. Dr. Edsou his attention directed to this subject in the early part of 1895, and after a long and tedious experiment produced a fluid which he called aseptolin. It is perfectly, colorless, looks like crystal, and smells strongly of carbolic acid. It contains 2.75 per cent of carbolic add. and to every ounce of it there is added one-hundredth of a grain of a new salt discovered by Dr. Edson during his work —a salt called pilocarpin-pheuyl-hydrox-ide. The aseptolin is injected under the skin and thus directly into the blood. The dose is 100 minims, or drops, injected with a hypodermic syringe once in twentyfour hours. Now, what happens after the injection? If the total amount of blood in the person be remembered it will be seen that aner the injection the blood becomes a liquid, having one part of carbolic acid to from 1,200 to 1,500 parts of blood. In other words, it is a liquid from 2 to 2J4 times as strong with the acid as was the one to 3,000 solution which killed the cultivated germs. The circulation of the blood applies this carbolic solution to every part of she body many times in an hour. Wherever there is disease and the germs which cause it that spot is being continually washed with this carbolic solution, in which no germ can live more than five hours. Tuberculosis—consumption—is a germ disease, being caused by what nre called tubercle bacilli. Dr. Edson discovered aseptolin In September, 1895. To date, according to the doctor’s statement, 217 persons having consumption have been treated with it. Of these, four showed no improvement, and of the four one died. The rest, 213! showed improvement. Of these, twentythree have been discharged cured, sixtyseven will, in the opinion of the physicians having the cases, be discharged cured, making ninety in all. In ninetyone cases the patients have been under treatment for too short a time to esable the attending physicians to Bay anything except, "The patients are better.” In thirty-two cases the improvement was only temporary, but this record means about 40 per cent of cures, and these cases have been those of patients with the disease In all stages.

DR. CYRUS EPSON.