SPAHLINGER SERUM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19221, 9 January 1926, Page 12

SPAHLINGER SERUM.

FAVOUFIABLE TESTIMONIES. MEDICAL INVESTIGATORS. MEETING IN LANCASHIRE.. [from our own correspondent.] LONDON, Doc. l. A bout 250 representatives of insurance committees, health authorities, approved societies, etc., along with medical officers of health, tuberculosis officers and others interested, drawn from nearly every town and district in Lancashire, attended a meeting at Preston, called by the Lanca shire Insurance Committee, to hear addresses from medical men who havo investigated the Spahlinger treatment for tuberculosis. In a letter expressing regret at his inability to be present, Sir Alfred Mond wrote: "I am heartily in support of the campaign you are making to raise funds to purchase the Spahlinger InstituteThe amount of money is not large, and it. is a remarkable thing to ire as » business man that we should spend a million pounds a year on sanatoria and hesitate to spend a twentieth of this amount in order to see whether we cannot make that million pounds a year unnecessary. When you are dealing with the terrible ravages of tuberculus.s it seems almost criminal that there is any hesitation on the facts before us to embark on an expenditure of £50,000 or even £100,000." Dr. Watts said he went to Geneva in a measure prepared to scoff, but after investigation loft there absolutely convinced that Spahlinger was a genius, and had something totally different and very much more important than anything ever offered to mankind before for the relief and cure of this terrible disease. It had been said that Spahlinger was a crank, charlatan and a money-grabber. ( He was nothing of the sort. If he had wished to make money he could have been rich to-day beyond the dreams of avarice. He had steadily refused money. He had spent the whole of a considerable private fortune in furthering this work, and at the present moment had got to the end of his tether, and unless something was done quickly there was a great danger of the whole thing falling through. They were not dealing with an ordinary individual, but with a genius, and a genius was a very difficult man with whom to carry through a business transaction. Eighty Per Oent. of Recoveries. He and his colleagues who went to Geneva traced a definite 80 per cent, absolute recoveries, which was very different from 14 per 1000 in this country, and the cost would be something like onefiftieth the cost of our sanatoria treatment. If the Spahlinger Institution was seized by mortgagees and sold' it would bo a tragedy to the whole human race. Ho himself had seen a score or more people who would certainly have been in the grave two or three years ago had it. not been for the Spahlinger treatment. A remarkable fact was that those results were being obtained with partial sera. The sera were 22 in number and only eight were available. Jf they had the complote sera ho thought they could get 100 per cent, cures. Dr. Davies said the cases the deputation saw at Geneva were well supplied in every way with medical history and records sufficient to satisfy any medical man. After investigations the commission came to the conclusion that the results they had seen could only be described as marvellous, while if the records produced were genuine then the cases could only be described as miraculous. They had no hesitation in saying that if those cases,had been in England they would every one have died. On the afternoon when they were leaving Geneva I they went to see two cases, a man and woman, very seriously ill indeed, and came to the conclusion that even after seeing the marvellous results in other cases; these t\yx> could not be cured. It now transpired that both wore recovering very satisfactorily, Dr. Salter made a very careful examination of the Spahlingor laboratory and reported that everything was carried on in a thoroughly scientific manner. The con- ! trivances were wonderfully ingenious, and ! ho had no hesitation in saying that it was j tho most up-to-date laboratory he had | ever seen. The commission was satisfied that Spahlinger had effected 80 per cent, cures in advanced cases, such as in England were virtually bound to die, and they knew of no treatment on earth which would produce tho results Spahlinger was producing to-day. A Loss to the World. Dr. Leonard Williams said if Spahlinger could not go on and finish his work something of the, utmost value would be lost to tho world. Nobody would ever be able to do what Spahlinger could do now. Spahlinger could prevent tuberculosis—could so vaccinate people that thev could not take tuberculosis. He looked forward to the time when children would bo vaccinated for tuberculosis just as they were now vaccinated for smallpox. Sir Bruce Bruce-Porter said it could not be said that Spahlinger's remedy was secret, when some 326 doctors from all parts of tho world had visited his laboratory in the last four years, and if there had been any reasonable idea in the minds of those people that Spahlinger was a charlatan and not working on scientific lines they would have ample evidence of it in the medical, if not in the lay, press. The public were to be blamed for the attitude the medical profession took, because th.ey expected something like infallibility from doctors, who could, therefore, not admit defeat in illness. Dr. Jones said a meeting of 83 doctors in his division had decided in favour of Spahlinger. No motions were submitted to the conference. Mr. Spahlinger's elusiveness was again demonstrated last month. He was to have come to England to inoculate the calves selected for the Crewe bovine test, but the month has passed and he has not put in an appearance. Sir . James Allen, who is trying to find out what has happened, believes that the scientist has been diverted from his work on the bovine serums, and has gone back to the preparation of human serums,' Unfortunately, this is a very natural thing to happen. Spahlinger would be easily diverted from the work of establishing his financial independence to turn to the I relief of one human being who is in dire i need. Tn the meantime, however, the rest of the world waits.