THE MEDICINAL MICROBES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 55, 11 April 1914, Page 5

THE MEDICINAL MICROBES.

An interesting experiment in the field " of what may, perhaps, be called niicrobie therapeutics is being made "by a ' Minneapolis doctor. It is, as the doctor ; himself insists, only an experiment, and will require far wider test before airy safe general conclusions can be drawn. The experiment consists in the use of a* mould' in the treatment of diphtheria. This minute little organism, which oe-" curs in Nature as a parasite on the fly, is placed in the throat of the diphtheritic patient and allowed to grow these. According to Doctor Ten Broeck's experience its' growth causes the destruction of the diphtheria bacillus and thus brings about a cure of that disease. Its early use also helps to prevent a spread of the infection. „ He has treated a number of cases successfully with his mould achula muscaris, and without the use of antitoxin. He finds further thati the mould itself is quite. harmless, and can be readily removed from the patient's throat after it has done its work, by the use of an antiseptic gargle. It is, perhaps,. worth noting in this connection that some time ago pure cultures of a lactic acid-forming bacillus had quite a vogue for spraying into certain fonms of diseased throats —perhaps , they have yet—the theory being apparently that the lactic acid, germs acted in very much the same way as;' Dr Tpn, Broeck's mould, viz.: by killing out the disease germs. It within the bounds of probability 'that these medicinal microbes may eventually come to hold almost as important a place in therapeutics as do the so-called internal police of the body, the white blood cells or phagocytes. Attempts to make new applications of them are incidents of very general interest. ?