THE GERMS OF CANCER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19072, 17 July 1925, Page 10

THE GERMS OF CANCER.

VIEWS OF LOCAL DOCTORS.

AWAITING FULL INFORMATION

The announcement of the discovery by Dr. Gye and Mr. Barnard of the germ of cancer has created considerable interest among members of the medical profession in Now Zealand. Auckland doctors among others are awaiting the publication of further details to enable them to appraise fully the value of the researches. A number of doctors were questioned about the discovery yesterday, but the general opinion was that they were not yet in possession of sufficient data to form a judgment on the achievement of the scientists. They were all agreed as to the repute of the two men concerned in the discovery, and on this they based the conclusion that there was possibly much to hope from it. A well-known Auckland pathologist said ho also found it very difficult to arrive at any satisfactory opinion with the meagre details in his possession. Dr. Gye was a very well-known research worker and a man whose work was likely to bo very careful and exact, and one who would not publish anything that had not been thoroughly thought out. One fact that impressed him was that the researches and the subsequent public statement were made under the auspices of the Medical Research Council which controlled the laboratory at Moynt Vernon in Hampshire. This establishment was a fairly new one, having, he thought, passed to the control of the council after tho close of the war. Coming out of this laboratory tho announcement of the discovery would no doubt bear the imprimatur of the Medical Research Council, and that fact alone made him rather hopeful. The expert said it would be difficult to add anything to the statement on the discovery made by Dr. Hercus, professor of bacteriology, and Dr. Drennan, professor of clinical pathology, both of the Medical School of Otago University, until at least copies of the technical journals containing fuller details of tho discovery came to hand.