PARIS
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951 PARIS (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Anti-leprous Serum. AT a recent meeting of the Academy of Medicine M. Hallopeau read a communication upon the treatment of leprosy by hypodermic injections of the serum prepared after the manner of Dr. Carrasquilla. M. Hallopeau’s conclusions are not altogether favourable. He points out that the therapeutics of leprosy are in need of much further elucidation, for it is well known that this disease advances ty successive exacerbations which are followed by periods often lasting for a considerable time of spontaneous amelioration and retrogression of the disease so marked as to simulate care. If any drug is given during the time of exacerbation the cessation of acute symptoms which ’follows is very likely to be attributed to this drug, although the same result would have followed without the interven- tion of anything at all, and if, on the other hand, treatment is begun during a period of retrogression it is very easy, although quite wrong, to attribute the continuance of the amelioration which follows to the influence of the treatment rather than to ,the fact that such periods of amelioration almost always follow and continue for some time after an acute stage. A method of treatment which was really curative would be marked by the appearance of the retrogressive stages at shorter intervals, by making these more complete, and by preventing the occurrence of the crises. The anti-leprous serum prepared and reported on by Dr. Canasquilla does not satisfy these requirements. It is made by injecting horses with serum from the blood obtained by bleeding a leper. To take this ,point first, there is no proof that this human serum contains the specific leprosy microbe, and, again, the blood not being taken from the horses with strict antiseptic precautions always contains a multitude of organisms unconnected with leprosy. Nevertheless, it is generally well borne and seldom provokes any but slight reactions both local and general. As to its action on leprosy this appears to be but slight, the tubercular manifestations persist even after its use for a long time, and despite the assertions of ts introducer it does not prevent new crises appearing. The periods of retrogression which appeared in lepers treated by this method in the hospital of St. Louis did not in any way exceed those which occur spontaneously after a crisis. An anti-leprous serum could more probably be prepared by injecting into some animal the lepra bacillus. It is proposed to continue investigations into the serum therapeutics of leprosy despite the many difficulties which surround the subject, not the least of which is the fact that leprosy cannot be cultivated in animals. The Action against a Medical Man. Dr. Laporte has been set at liberty conditionally owing to the persistent representations of the Syndicate of Medical men of the Department of the Seine. The judge has - expressed a wish to be supplied with the full report of the experts who consider the matter to be a case of "homicide by imprudence, but attended with hardly any’ responsi- bility." The syndicate has given bail for 2000 francs, and Dr. Laporte has gone to stay at the house of his brother- in-law, where he will be out of the way of the reporters, who have on this account become much less sympathetic. The trial will take place in about three weeks. At the commencement of the legal proceedings, which took origin in an information laid by the resident medical officers at ’the Tenon Hospital, where the patient was taken after the operation by Dr. Laporte and where she died two days later, the committee of the syndicate sent a letter to the President of the Surgical Society and to the President of the Society of Hospital Medical Officers. In this letter, which was couched in very moderate though definite terms, the committee begged the " Chef de Service " to point out to the resident medical officers that in the interest of the profession ,great prudence was necessary with regard to the terms in which they referred to the treatment adopted by the outside ’practitioners in the case of patients before their admission to the hospital. The opinion of the resident medical officers was said to be almost always unfair because ’they ignore the surroundings of the patients previously to admission, and such opinion has the most deplorable effect, not only on the patient, but also on outsiders, i for they induce the relatives of the patient to make ; representations which the magistrates are only too glad to listen to, and the scandal affects the entire profession. All the men in private practice approve of the terms of this letter, which is intended to bring about a remedy for a really crying abuse. On the other hand, a municipal councillor is going to demand that every police station shall provide a case containing all the instruments necessary for operations of urgency, and in particular those which have to do with obstetric operations. The councillor is going to ask for a vote of 25,000 francs. As there are eighty police stations in Paris it is very unlikely that for this sum either enough instruments will be provided or that those which are will be of the best quality. Anniversary of the Death of Pasteur. An impressive celebration was held in the Pasteur Institute in the Rue Dutot at 3 P.M. on Oct. 3rd, the occasion being the second anniversary of the death of M. Louis Pasteur. The entire staff of the institute and of the establishment at Garches assembled at the tomb in the crypt of the institute and laid on it a wreath of flowers from the gardens at Garches, where the horses used for the production of anti- toxin serum are stabled. In the morning the Pasteur family, who are at present in the Jura, attended Divine service in the Church of Arbois. the native place of the lamented deceased. M. Duclaux and Dr. Roux, who are also at Arbois, will return to Paris this week, and a meeting of the committee for the Pasteur monument will then be held. The amount on the subscription liat. which will thereupon be closed, is at present upwards of 300,000 francs ( £12,000). The late Professor Verneuil. A bust of Professor Verneuil, provided by those interested in the seaside homes for phthisical patients and executed by M. Spheres, was unveiled on Oct. 3rd at La Baule (Loire Inferieure), the small town where Professor Verneuil was born. He was one of the first to recommend the treatment of chronic tuberculosis, and especially of sur- gical tuberculosis, by removing the patients from the general hospitals, which he rightly considered to be incubators for the cultivation of Koch’s bacillus, and dispersing them in special sanatoria near the sea. He was the founder of this system of seaside hospitals, to which it should be mentioned that the medical profession very liberally subscribed, and the whole of the latter part of his career was devoted solely to its organisation. Professor Le Dentu presided at the unveiling of the bust and delivered an admirable address on Professor Verneuil’s life and work, the proceedings terminating with a banquet at the Hopital Mauspha. Oct. 4th. ROME. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) A Poet’s Advice to Medical Students. AT a time when so much wise counsel is being given to the brave young British soul " (as Carlyle called him) on the threshold of nature-study and its application to the healing art it may not be superfluous to add the advice of one of Italy’s humanest and strongest poets, whose lyric faculty has won for him the name of the " Italian Heine." Not book-learning, he warns the student, will make a man of him, although it enriches him intellectually. He must interview nature face to face, he must keep in touch with living reality, if he is to act as well as speculate and to leave his personal imprint for good on the contemporary world. The mere " arm-chair scholar," for all his wealth of knowledge and facility of discourse, is but a poor performer when he comes out into the open to give practical effect to what he knows-nowhere poorer or more "ineffectual" " (to use Carlyle’s favourite word) than in grappling with disease at the bedside. But let us hear Giuseppe Giusti:- " Bevi lo scibile Tomo per tomo, Sarai chiarissimo Senza esser uomo. Se in casa eserciti Soltanto il passo, Quand’ esci sdruccioli Sul primo sasso. Dal fare al dire Oh ! v’e che ire ! " (You may drink in the knowable from volume after volume ; you will gain the height of celebrity without being a man.
Transcript of PARIS
951
PARIS
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Anti-leprous Serum.AT a recent meeting of the Academy of Medicine M.
Hallopeau read a communication upon the treatment of
leprosy by hypodermic injections of the serum preparedafter the manner of Dr. Carrasquilla. M. Hallopeau’sconclusions are not altogether favourable. He points outthat the therapeutics of leprosy are in need of much furtherelucidation, for it is well known that this disease advancesty successive exacerbations which are followed by periodsoften lasting for a considerable time of spontaneousamelioration and retrogression of the disease so markedas to simulate care. If any drug is given during the timeof exacerbation the cessation of acute symptoms which’follows is very likely to be attributed to this drug, althoughthe same result would have followed without the interven-tion of anything at all, and if, on the other hand, treatment isbegun during a period of retrogression it is very easy, althoughquite wrong, to attribute the continuance of the ameliorationwhich follows to the influence of the treatment rather than to,the fact that such periods of amelioration almost always followand continue for some time after an acute stage. A methodof treatment which was really curative would be marked bythe appearance of the retrogressive stages at shorter intervals,by making these more complete, and by preventing theoccurrence of the crises. The anti-leprous serum preparedand reported on by Dr. Canasquilla does not satisfy theserequirements. It is made by injecting horses with serumfrom the blood obtained by bleeding a leper. To take this
,point first, there is no proof that this human serum containsthe specific leprosy microbe, and, again, the blood not beingtaken from the horses with strict antiseptic precautionsalways contains a multitude of organisms unconnected withleprosy. Nevertheless, it is generally well borne and seldomprovokes any but slight reactions both local and general.As to its action on leprosy this appears to be but
slight, the tubercular manifestations persist even afterits use for a long time, and despite the assertions ofts introducer it does not prevent new crises appearing.The periods of retrogression which appeared in lepers treatedby this method in the hospital of St. Louis did not in anyway exceed those which occur spontaneously after a crisis.An anti-leprous serum could more probably be prepared byinjecting into some animal the lepra bacillus. It is proposedto continue investigations into the serum therapeutics ofleprosy despite the many difficulties which surround thesubject, not the least of which is the fact that leprosycannot be cultivated in animals.
The Action against a Medical Man.Dr. Laporte has been set at liberty conditionally owing to
the persistent representations of the Syndicate of Medicalmen of the Department of the Seine. The judge has- expressed a wish to be supplied with the full report of theexperts who consider the matter to be a case of "homicideby imprudence, but attended with hardly any’ responsi-bility." The syndicate has given bail for 2000 francs, andDr. Laporte has gone to stay at the house of his brother-in-law, where he will be out of the way of the reporters,who have on this account become much less sympathetic.The trial will take place in about three weeks. At thecommencement of the legal proceedings, which took originin an information laid by the resident medical officers at’the Tenon Hospital, where the patient was taken afterthe operation by Dr. Laporte and where she died two dayslater, the committee of the syndicate sent a letter to thePresident of the Surgical Society and to the President of theSociety of Hospital Medical Officers. In this letter, whichwas couched in very moderate though definite terms, thecommittee begged the " Chef de Service " to point out to theresident medical officers that in the interest of the profession,great prudence was necessary with regard to the terms inwhich they referred to the treatment adopted by the outside’practitioners in the case of patients before their admissionto the hospital. The opinion of the resident medicalofficers was said to be almost always unfair because’they ignore the surroundings of the patients previouslyto admission, and such opinion has the most deplorableeffect, not only on the patient, but also on outsiders, ifor they induce the relatives of the patient to make ;
representations which the magistrates are only too gladto listen to, and the scandal affects the entire profession.All the men in private practice approve of the terms ofthis letter, which is intended to bring about a remedy fora really crying abuse. On the other hand, a municipalcouncillor is going to demand that every police station shallprovide a case containing all the instruments necessary foroperations of urgency, and in particular those which have todo with obstetric operations. The councillor is going to askfor a vote of 25,000 francs. As there are eighty policestations in Paris it is very unlikely that for this sum eitherenough instruments will be provided or that those which arewill be of the best quality.
Anniversary of the Death of Pasteur.An impressive celebration was held in the Pasteur Institute
in the Rue Dutot at 3 P.M. on Oct. 3rd, the occasion beingthe second anniversary of the death of M. Louis Pasteur.The entire staff of the institute and of the establishment atGarches assembled at the tomb in the crypt of the instituteand laid on it a wreath of flowers from the gardens atGarches, where the horses used for the production of anti-toxin serum are stabled. In the morning the Pasteur family,who are at present in the Jura, attended Divine service in theChurch of Arbois. the native place of the lamented deceased.M. Duclaux and Dr. Roux, who are also at Arbois, will returnto Paris this week, and a meeting of the committee for thePasteur monument will then be held. The amount on the
subscription liat. which will thereupon be closed, is at presentupwards of 300,000 francs ( £12,000).
The late Professor Verneuil.A bust of Professor Verneuil, provided by those interested
in the seaside homes for phthisical patients and executedby M. Spheres, was unveiled on Oct. 3rd at La Baule(Loire Inferieure), the small town where Professor Verneuilwas born. He was one of the first to recommend thetreatment of chronic tuberculosis, and especially of sur-gical tuberculosis, by removing the patients from thegeneral hospitals, which he rightly considered to beincubators for the cultivation of Koch’s bacillus, anddispersing them in special sanatoria near the sea. He wasthe founder of this system of seaside hospitals, to which itshould be mentioned that the medical profession veryliberally subscribed, and the whole of the latter part of hiscareer was devoted solely to its organisation. ProfessorLe Dentu presided at the unveiling of the bust and deliveredan admirable address on Professor Verneuil’s life and work,the proceedings terminating with a banquet at the HopitalMauspha.
Oct. 4th.
ROME.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
A Poet’s Advice to Medical Students.AT a time when so much wise counsel is being given to
the brave young British soul " (as Carlyle called him) onthe threshold of nature-study and its application to thehealing art it may not be superfluous to add the advice ofone of Italy’s humanest and strongest poets, whose lyricfaculty has won for him the name of the " Italian Heine."Not book-learning, he warns the student, will make a manof him, although it enriches him intellectually. He mustinterview nature face to face, he must keep in touch withliving reality, if he is to act as well as speculate and to leavehis personal imprint for good on the contemporary world.The mere " arm-chair scholar," for all his wealth of knowledgeand facility of discourse, is but a poor performer when hecomes out into the open to give practical effect to whathe knows-nowhere poorer or more "ineffectual" " (to useCarlyle’s favourite word) than in grappling with disease atthe bedside. But let us hear Giuseppe Giusti:-
" Bevi lo scibileTomo per tomo,Sarai chiarissimoSenza esser uomo.Se in casa esercitiSoltanto il passo,Quand’ esci sdruccioliSul primo sasso.Dal fare al direOh ! v’e che ire ! "
(You may drink in the knowable from volume after volume ;you will gain the height of celebrity without being a man.
