CANCER VIRUS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 53, 31 August 1925, Page 7

CANCER VIRUS

SCREEN DEMONSTRATION

SPECTACLE FOR SCIENTISTS

MR. BARNARD'S MICROSCOPY,

(DNITED PRESS A3SOCIATIOS— COPIMOHT.) (AUSTBAUAN-NEW ZEALAND C.48L8 ASSOCIATION.) LONDON, 29th. August. Scientists attending tho meeting of the British Association at Southampton gazed at a screen on •which lantern slides the viruses of cancer 'were shown by Mr. Barnard, tlie now famous microscopist, whose discovery, in conjunction with Dr. Gye, created a worldwide sensation last month."We believe," said Mr. Barnard,' "that we are really asking you to look . at the filter-passing virus associated with malignant human growths. It should be possible in the not distant future, not only to photograph these living organisms, but to give a eort of kinematograph representation of tho life cycle of the organism. Moreover, we are hoping to be able to use such a. short wayo-length that we shall be able to work in a vacuum microscope. That means that we we «hall be able to see smaller viruses." i Asked whether experiments were being made with scarlet fever, measles, smallpox, and other diseases, Mr. Barnard replied: -"There are almost more filter-passing viruses than known diseases, but we hope to catch the lot. It means slogging away for a long time. .Remember, these fellows have not got labels on their backs. They have to be identified." Mr. Barnard threw on the screen photographs o£ small 'bodies detaching ' themselves from tho parent virus. He said he wished to emphasise that there were limits to the miscroscope at present, but great possibilities in the future. Mr. Barnard explained that tho virus screened had the dimensions of .05 of a micron. "With the ultra-violet ray," said Mr. Barnard, "we can photograph down to one-tenth of a micron,' which is equivalent to one 250,000 th of an inch." It is little wonder, says the "Daily Chronicle," that the audience was thrilled, because it foresaw the day when the smallest organism will be tracked down. Mr. Barnard added that it j should be possible eventually to secure a magnification of three thousand times.