a Ham Ss By WILLIAM C. UTLEY ITH a wave of infantile paralysis assuming serious proportions in the south cen- tral region of the United States, science may find its long- awaited opportunity to make mass tests of nose sprays as a | means of preventing the dread, crippling disease. Nasal sprays have proved nearly 100 per cent effective upon labora- tory monkeys, which respond to poli- omyelitis (infantile paralysis) in the same way humans do. But until an extensive oulbreak of the disease occurred there was no chance to conduct experiments upon humans, for the lives of large numbers of persons must not be endangered un- necessarily. I Now that outbreak may be at hand, for the south central regions are reporting an increase in “polio” cases far over the normal increase which comes with the summer months. Between May 9 and July 24 there were, according to the United States public health service, 486 cases reported from the west south central region, as compared with only 18 cases for the same pe- riod of 1936 and 65 cases for the same period of 1935. During these weeks the east south central region reported 317 cases as compared with 234 in 1936 and 57 in 1935. There was some indication of the spread of the disease eastward. Doctors hope that the nose spray will be proved definitely successful in its application to human beings, for it is more than a century since the first written account of poliomye- litis was made by a trained physi- cian, English Doctor Started Crusade. Even so, progress has been phe- nomenally rapid in the light of the age of the disease, for it is prob- ably as old as mankind. But it was only 102 years ago that Dr. John Badham, of Worksop, Eng- land, moved by the condition of four tiny patients, pleaded through the medium of medical journals for oth- er doctors to come to his aid with suggestions for the cure of a dis- ease nobody knew anything about. Dr. Badham’'s paper, telling of the plight of the four crippled young- sters doomed to pathetically unhap- py lives, launched one of the great- est crusades in medical history. Poorly equipped as they were, doc- tors of the Nineteenth century did not hesitate in responding to the pio- neering Badham's call for assist- ance. Get on Trail of Germ, Only five years later, Jacob von Heine, German orthopedic surgeon of Cannstaat, made public an im- portant study of infantile paralysis. His practice brought him in contact with many cases of deformed limbs in children. A shrewd observer, he noticed something about young par- alytics which other medical men had largely overlooked. He saw that paralysis was the result of some kind of acute disease which preced- ed the appearance of muscular weakness. The discovery was epochal for, in other words, Heine perceived that in children didn't just hap- pen—it had a definite antecedent cause. He won for himself a place of honor in ranks of those battling against the spread of infantile paral- ysis. It was a battle that widened to many more fronts as time wore on, and by 1885 the infectious na- ture of the disease was pretty gen- erally accepted. the for a germ. Then Land- steiner and Popper, in Paris, inject- ed portions of the brain and sj 1 chord, taken from a fatal h case of infantile paralysis, some monkeys. They succeeded in infecting the monkeys with the dis- ease, thus putting it on an experi- mental basis for the first time. Only a short time later several doctors almost simultaneously managed tc pass poliomyelitis from one monkey to another. They were Flexner and Lewis in New York, Leiner and Von Weisner in Vienna, and Landsteiner and Levaditi in Paris. The way was now cleared to studying the mechanism of the dis- ease. It was indicated how the germ was spreading, but scientists still had not banded in any united effort. It took a national tragedy to wake them up. In the summer of 1916 the great infantile paralysis epidemic hit the United States. It began in a small idly over the rest of New York City and Long Island, eventually cascad- ing over the entire country. It touched every state, and down more than 25,000 persons, most of them children. Health Officers at Loss. Panic swept the nation. In the mistaken belief that only those un- der sixteen were susceptible, rail road officials refused to let children ride on trains. Vigilante bands of citizens established unofficial mar- tial law in many places, and health certificates were required as ‘‘pass- community to another. Health officers made every con- ceivable effort to check the disease, but they still lacked a working knowledge of ways and means to combat its ravages. The epidemic died of itself, finally, and so did public terror. There have been less epidemics since then; 15,000 cases were reported in 1831, and 10,000 each in the years 1927 and 1935. Medical science recognized infan- tile paralysis as cone of its most challenging problems and redoubled its efforts to find an answer. Foun- dations, research laboratories both public and private, universities and individual physicians and research workers concentrated their atten tion upon it. But it remained for a layman, Col. Henry L. Doherty, to begin the most novel move in the battle, one which popularized the fight among all classes of Americans. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself a victim of infantile paralysis, in- spired the move. President Roose- velt’s previous interest in the cause of fellow sufferers had been repeat- edly manifested by activities on be- half of the Warm Springs, Ga., foun- dation where victims are treated. First President's Birthday Ball. Visiting Warm Springs in 1933, Colonel Doherty also became deep- ly interested, and acquired a first. hand knowledge of the research and widespread of effort. After discussing the mat- ter with the President, he conceived the idea of a gigantic series of parties which would enable millions of Americans to do their share in the war on polio. Under Colonel Doherty's direction the mammoth party-organizing task was started. A national headquar- ters was established in New York and civic-minded persons alled up g | first series { parties was held 1934, the President's bir were 1 to help ‘he ary 30, Funds Aid Experiment. So far more than $4,000,000 has Seventy per cent remains to fight infantile paralysis in the community where it was raised, while 30 per cent goes to the national fund, to be used for research or rehabilitation work. One important use to which the receipts from the parties was put was the development of the nasal spray preventive for poliomyelitis. How this spray came to be dis- covered is a dramatic episode in medical history. The subvisible mi- crobes have ever defied scientists to follow their meanderings. Yet, New York, Chicago, Stanford uni- versity and London at last found out that the nose was a doorway to the polio virus. States public health service, Charles cided that if he could find some means of blocking that doorway, he experimented with a whole drove of rhesus monkeys. Finally he found a weak solution of picric acid and of 25 monkeys exposed to a hot, ex- ceptionally dangerous infantile pa- ralysis virus! Confusion Hampers Test. his solution worked with monkeys it ought to be effective on humans. But he was forced to wait for an opportunity to make the test. It ap- parently arrived last summer, when an epidemic broke out in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Rush- ing to the scene, he won widespread support to his plan of spraying the solution into the children’s noses. He planned to have the doctors supervise the spraying and keep careful records. Unfortunately the experiment got out of hand: the doctors became swamped with de- mands upon their time and many parents used the easily procurable solution without bothering about sci- entific counsel on its use, After salvaging what records he could and making extensive rec- ords of his own, Armstrong decided that a more powerful solution was needed. Two California scientists, working on funds supplied by the President's Birthday Ball commis- sion, supplied it. They were E. W. Schultz and L. P. Gebhardt of Stanford university, and they of- fered a 1 per cent zinc te so- lution. Zinc sulphate had been used for years as an eyewash. They dis- covered it was virtually 100 per cent effective in preventing infantile paralysis when sprayed into the noses of monkeys. ® Western Newspaper Union HE trouble with Leo Caron the same. was that he had it too soft, in But it's a fact, just was in New Bedford, Mass. that a kid would be interested in. Some of the workers didn't mind. were chased out. But if the bosses saw them they mill owners a lot of money.” the trouble gone soft that it almost killed Leo. It came out That It was so dog- There was little work to do in and his it was needed intervals in the room below. A v » A good part o that big Its only occupant yd of three hundred pounds, room at certain in those had to do that 1't there at all. stuff, their knees before ti near edge wher near the nn ile of t might come back any and then ran as One day, when ne into the mill alone the el e¢ the cotton o t} minute ar It was jus partition Here was his « as not they'd sink in up to id floor. That was . got 1 the sol never bij r before closing time as and climbed onto the rred to hin jump a thought occu if on the top of position I was if I stayed there lor get out of that pile as soon But ge a bad ides ouldn't be muscle. his wriggling only served to put him deeper into the pile. That ering him. Says he: and it was I realized that my chances of In my frantic efforts In my childish horror Memo- Doggone few people ever that seemed to be lying on the reached over and grabbed it. It attached to something. side of the pile of cotton. He was a shoe and it seemed to be unconscious. he was completely again if it hadn't been for—a rat It was several days before he never would have breathed by British Fleet in 1776 Strangers who visit the Lake | Champlain area and take the trip | rises ebove the waters of the lake | several miles from Burlington. “It is Rock Dunder,” they are told, relates a Burlington, Vt., cor- respondent in the New York Times. Then this story, which is accepted by local residents as the origin of the name, is told: On October 12, 1776, a British fleet sailed up Lake Champlain on a close watch for American ships. The British encountered the little fleet under Benedict Arnold near Valcour island and a spirited battle ensued. The British ships were far superior to those of the Americans in size and carried heavier guns. The little American fleet was badly battered. After nightfall, and in a thick fog, the American ships slipped through the lines of the British and escaped. But at some time during the night a sentry on one of the British ships called out that he saw a ship through the fog. that no British ship lay in that position the British commander thought Arnold's fleet was trying to spring a surprise attack and ordered his guns to open fire. ' Throughout the night the British guns boomed intermittently. The strange ‘ship’ remained in the 4 position. As the shadows of the night were dispersed by the coming dawn so that it was possible to see more clearly the “ship” was disclosed as a huge rock rising from the surface of the lake. The crestfallen British command- er, in dismay, attempted to utter the exclamation “By thunder’ but was so excited that he said in- stead “By dunder!” And the rock has been known as Rock Dunder ever since. The rock rises 36 feet above the surface of the lake. Morgan Horse Dates to 1793 The line of the Morgan horse goes back to 1793 when the sire of the breed, Justin Morgan, named after a farmer who bore that name, was sired. Morgans are noted for their ruggedness, style, courage, intelli- For years they have been used as remount stallions by the army. In the United States many of the great trotters and saddle horses carry gif: A Crocheted Rug s a Lifetime Joy Pattern 5855 This rug that you can so easily joy. See if | ! Do the stunning i tely — they're vs—and * a rug the like, make each flower center a different col- ackground uni- andlewicking keep joining them or coins 8 pattern d pattern nun nber plainly. What You Seek ave you ever ught how » said ths n E lid not take over luding merchan- Ohio Farmer. HELP KIDNEYS To Get Rid of Acid and Poisonous Waste Your kidneys help to keep you. well by constantly filtering waste matter from the blood. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers