446 HUMAN BIOLOGY 



(Jinn's discovery in 1905 of the Treponema pallidum, the 

 cause of syphilis, rendered it possible to make a certain 

 and early diagnosis of this enemy of human hfe and efficiency. 

 By treatment with Ehrlich's (1854-19 15) organic arsenical 

 preparations (salvarsan, arsphenamine, "606") and by 

 drugs of an analogous nature, the infective power of the 

 primary sore is rapidly abohshed, and thus the spread 

 is prevented of a disease which otherwise damages or 

 destroys the individuals who have contracted it and also their 

 unborn offspring. Not only is the propagation of the disease 

 prevented but a well-marked curative effect obtained in the 

 individual. 



The ideal of EhrHch's chemotherapy is that by means of 

 a drug the virus of a disease should be destroyed in the body 

 of a patient without doing any harm to the patient. Although 

 the second essential has not been entirely achieved, the out- 

 standing success of organic arsenic preparations in protozoan 

 infections of man is a great tribute to Ehrlich's labors; thus 

 the treatment of syphilis by arsenobenzol preparations 

 (arsphenamine), of trypanosomiasis by analogous drugs, 

 and of amebic dysentery by emetine has revolutionized the 

 aspect of these killing diseases. 



* Acute rheumatism or rheumatic fever has long been recog- 

 nized as a most serious cause of crippling heart disease, 

 especially in children, and of early death. Campaigns to 

 educate the public and so to diminish its effects are actively 

 maintained; the objects are to remove its causes, such as bad 

 teeth and infected tonsils, which may be summed up as focal 

 sepsis, to obviate the disposing environmental circumstances, 

 such as damp dwellings, and to bring rheumatic children 

 under medical observation at an early stage. Experience has 

 shown that the cardiac damage due to acute rheumatism in 

 children may be minimized by prolonged rest in bed. Before 

 the introduction of treatment by salicylates in 1877 rheumatic 

 fever tortured its victims for six weeks; now the fever and 

 pain can be banished in a few days, but salicylates cannot be 

 relied upon to prevent the heart complications. 



Chronic arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis), fibrositis, and 

 chronic rheumatism exact an enormous toll of disability and 

 economic loss mainly from adults, though the heart is not 



