DR. SPAHLINGER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19785, 8 March 1927, Page 11

DR. SPAHLINGER

ms HONESTY OF PURPOSE. An article issued on the Spahlinger treatment of tuberculosis, signed by Mr. Henry Thomas Barton (president), and Mr. A. Corsar Sturrock (hon. secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire branch of the British Mtdical Association), refers to a controversy which has arisen, and suggests that a demand be made for a complete experiment as early as possible. The article says: — “Inquiry from Spahlinger’s friend and supporter (Mr. R. G. Lovell) has elicited the reply that all the 37 cases reported on by Treschel as recovered or greatly improved are still doing well. “There must be some reason for the constancy and adhesion of M. Spahlinger’s friends and supporters. Spahlinger’s lines of research are parallel to those of workers in. all countries, a search for vaccines derived from the tubercle bacillus itself. “What we must demand, medical men as well as laymen, is a complete and full experiment as early as possible. Many would gladly welcome a purely clinical investigation, and that would perhaps be sufficient to begin with, as a long period must elapse before Mr. Spahlinger is able to produce the full range of his toxins, “He has, however, just promised, in a communication to the Press, to carry out a demonstration of his protective methods for bovine tuberculosis in this country. If this should materialise then it is obvious that an opportunity will then rise for carrying out a considerable part of the laboratory tests necessary to meet the serological desiderata laid down by the Science Committee of the B.M.A.

‘ ‘ Those who have met Mr. Spahlinger and Mr. Lovell, who has been his chief supporter all through his years of struggle and who is a man of fine humanitarian impulse, eminent in his own profession, have no doubt of their honesty of purpose. Were Spahlinger and Lovell out for money they could have sold their wares to the big pharmaceutical companies of the world, to be exploited for conscienceless profit without regard for the great scientific facts which may underlie Spahlinger’s theories regarding fractional toxins and partial and complete sera.”