DEATH RISKED

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 203, 20 April 1932, Page 2

DEATH RISKED

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTERS USE THEID OWN BODIES. TUBERCULOSIS AND LEPROSY. Professor Deycke, accused of having caxxsed the death of 76 bahies at Lubeelc, through negligence in administering Calmette T.B. vaccine, is reported to have dosed himself with the preparations prove 'its harmlessness (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph). The Calmette vaccine is not inoculated, but swallowed. Deycke was charged with giving virulent T.B. germs in erfor when he thought he was giving the vaccine. His action is simply a spectaeular way of proving to parents that Calmette vaccine, 6r "B.G.G." (which has been given without ill-effects to over 100,000 infants as an immunising agent against T.B.) is harmless. By taking it Deycke runs no risk whatever. Other experimenters, however, have risked death to test their theories. To prove leprons matter is not inoculable, Professor Profeta inoculated himself and nine of his assistants. None developed leprosy. Similar self-inoculations were carried out by Drs. Danielsen, Halst, Hansen and Bergilli. To prove human cancer non-infec-tious, Professor Kurzahn inoculated himself with matter from a cancer of the breast. He did not contraet the disease. To study the effects of a contagious disease, the famous anatomist, John Hunter, deliberately nocnlated himself with the disease, causing his early death from diseased arteries. Practically every discoverer of a new anaesthetic has tried the drug on himself first. Simpson nearly killed himself with chloroform. Fournier gave himself stovaine, and Koller self-inflicted cocaine. To prove pellagro a diet disease, the wife of Dr. Goldberg had herself injeeted with the blood of a sufferer. Nothing happened. ■ To 'prove cat-mange transferable to human beings, Dr. Clunies Ross, of Sydney, inoculated himself with infectious matter, and suffered severely hefore his condition was cured. To ascertain the effect of tick-poi-son on adults, Dr. Selkirk, of Killara, applied ticks to his body till he became partially paralysed. The roll of medical martyrs must include thousands to date, including those who died to prove that yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes. The majority of the experimenters went to their deaths after being voluntarxly bitten.