YEAR OF MEDICAL DISCOVERIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 35, 6 March 1909, Page 4

YEAR OF MEDICAL DISCOVERIES.

.SEW WEAPONS TO WIELD AC AIM ST DISEASE. The year I'JUS will always be memorable lor epoch-making discoveries in the practice and science of medicine and surgery. The Lancet, in its cuiient issue, publishes an exhaustive review" of the work that has been accomplished! and the research that has placed in the hands of medical men mightier weapons to wield against disease. Pride of place is given to tile investigations which have iTt-on made concerning tuberculosis. "More attention has probably been paid to this than to any other condition," the Lancet says. "Dr. Overland concluded from a scries of experiments that tuberculosis in men and tuberculosis in cattle have a certain^ relation to each other, as reaction in cattle on farms where human tuberculosis "as. been traceable occurs nearly three tunes* as frequently as on farms where this disease is not found." i Strange to say, however, cattle are more frequently infected by man thaa the reverse. , The Lancet refers to the experiments, in "graduated labor'' carried on at the' I'Timlcy Sanatorium, and adds that this promises to be the most succcssfi'l therapeutic measure yet introduced when dealing with early cases of consumption. THE DAXGEROL'S FLY.

I Previous experiments in cases of | typhoid fever were made in New York, I where Dr. Daniel 1). Jackson directed : his attention to the possible diffusion ! oi di>ease by the house-fly. He caught flies by means nf traps in all parts of Manhattan and other infected districts,' and he maintained that he had cstab-j lisheu a cio«e and apparently constant', connection between these insects andl the number and severity of cases of till, disease. I

Experimental feeding of goats 011 the Island of Malta, has shown the possibility of inoculation with Mediterranean fpver from goats' milk, and the suggestion is under consideration that all the goats in the island should be registered. Trypanosomiasis—a tropical disease cannot be cured permanently by any one known drug. A combination of two drugs will, however, produce successful results. 1

The question of heredity in cancel' has been thoroughly discussed, and the conclusion arrivedi at is that heredity is not so potent a factor as it has hitherto been thought to be. "The question of flie time of operation for appendicitis is not finally settled.'' says the Lancet. "'lt is certain 1 that foreign bodies play a much less iniportant part than was thought at ouej time, but in most cases it is impossible'' to give any reason for the disease. I There is little doubt that appendicitis ] is mucli more common than it was.'** One of the most important inventions of the year is the "astroscope—an instrument devised by Professor Thorkild llovsing, of Copenhagen, to permit an examination of the stomach.

The practice of using rubber gloves in operations is on the increase. "It is now the rule rather than the exception;' declares the Lancet. The reasons for this, briefly, arc facility of sterilisation and the consequent decrease in the risk of septic infection.

Mirrors have been devised which permit a largo number of persons to witness operations. New remedies arc numerous, while in dental 1 surgery steady progress has been made.

HOW INDIAN SNAKE-CHARMERS WORK. ' ' The main contention of the .snake-, charmer, whether lie be Indian or Bed I Indian, is that he is absolutely immune I from the bites of -the moat poisonous snakes, and the manner iu which he allows himself to be bitten by a cobra or adder never fails to impress, not only] the native, but also the white man uu- ! acquainted with the tricks of these humbugs. For humbug* they really arc, although it must be confessed that they provide n very interesting and fascinating entertainment.

i As a matter of fact, snake-charmers, almost without exception, play either with snakes whose fangs and poisonous glands have been removed or use cionvenoiuous reptiles which they pass oil as dangerous varieties. And when they have attempted to charm snakes without removiug t'he poison their exhibition has invariably,come to a tragic end, in spite of their skill and dexterity in handling and the supposed magical antidotes which they carry with them. THE S.VAKE STONE.

Often this is dimply a piece of tree root, for which great medicinal qualities are claimed when applied to the wound. Some astonishing and inexplicable cures, however, have really been brought about by what is known as the snake stone. This is about the size of a threepenny bit. dark iu color, and is said to be taken from th'' palate of a snake's month, although only one snake iu a thousand has it. When wetted and applied to a l wound it iippear* to have some suetional property by which it takes a iiirm hold |of the -skin, and its removal requires | some force. It N .said to draw the poiI sou out ol the wound almost instan-

tancously. Till-: .KWLKirtS THICKS. There are really two kinds, of snakeviz., the jugglers, who profess to hypnotise snakes by the musical pipe and other means and make them perform all sorts of tricks while in that condition, aud the professional snakeJinder, who guarantees to rid a house of any reptiles with which it may be infested. The farmer. who is generally to be found al 'native bazaars, carries about

with liini as his stock-in-trade (says the "Field'') a tann» cobra or two whose fangs and poison glands have heen removed. The performer will squat crosslegged on the ground, playing a wild piping tune on liis reed-like instrument, with the snake iu his coil two icet in front of him. swaying the erect portion of his body in slow accompaniment to the music. From lime to time the ma» will stop playing and pass his hand, with a gentle, quivering motion, backwards and forwards a few inches from the cobra, who strikes at it and misses, the hand having been withdrawn with marvellous quickness.

SMKLLIXO OUT SNAKES. The snake-linder works by smell as well as by music, or at least he asserts that lie has an educated sense of smell which enables him to discover the proximity of concealed snakes; which is simply another piece of blulV, for the arrangements made by the snakc-lind'.'r easily permit of trickery.

When a native in Jndia thinks there are snakes in lliis house, he sends for the "charmer" to remove them. He arrives with an assistant, a crowd of natives from the neighborhood is collected, and the show begins. The audience are ranged in a semicircle round the entrance to the dwelling, and within this ring tlic two performers move slowly about, playing their primitive pipe*. witUi. the object of luring the .snake from his concealment.

A (JOOI) TKK'K. Then one of the two men will enter the cautiously peer this way and that, while the onlookers watch care fully I'm- the capture. Darting into a dark corner, he will make a grab. and. amid tlie cries of the delighted audience, emerge with a tine cobra held tightly bv the neck.

A close examination of the snake'numth. however, would reveal the fact that it was quite harmless. The. snake is. in fact. a pet animal, carefully concealed in the first instance in the loose folds of the clothing of the "charmer." and is smartly produced at the psychological moment. The house-owner is. however, thoroughly satisfied that his house, is rid of the scourge, pays the snake-charmer his fee, and the latter then makes oJf in search of froh fields and pastures new, where he is sure of finding other dupes.