﻿570 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  practically 
  all 
  burns 
  are 
  potentially 
  infected. 
  The 
  word 
  potentially 
  

   is 
  used 
  because 
  frequently 
  bacteria 
  may 
  be 
  present 
  but 
  no 
  infection 
  

   will 
  develop 
  provided 
  the 
  bacteria 
  do 
  not 
  gain 
  the 
  upper 
  hand. 
  

  

  For 
  example, 
  in 
  the 
  Eevolutionary 
  and 
  Napoleonic 
  wars, 
  only 
  1 
  

   out 
  of 
  every 
  25 
  soldiers, 
  was 
  killed 
  in 
  battle 
  but 
  1 
  of 
  every 
  2 
  soldiers 
  — 
  

   50 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  army 
  — 
  died 
  of 
  infections 
  in 
  hospitals. 
  

  

  That 
  was 
  before 
  anything 
  was 
  known 
  about 
  bacteria. 
  Then 
  fol- 
  

   lowed 
  the 
  great 
  discoveries, 
  by 
  Pasteur, 
  Koch, 
  Welch, 
  and 
  many 
  

   others, 
  of 
  the 
  bacteria 
  that 
  cause 
  infectious 
  diseases. 
  Lord 
  Lister 
  

   then 
  developed 
  surgical 
  asepsis 
  — 
  which 
  means 
  simply 
  keeping 
  bac- 
  

   teria 
  from 
  getting 
  into 
  open 
  wounds. 
  

  

  These 
  great 
  advances 
  were 
  reflected 
  in 
  the 
  medical 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  

   last 
  war. 
  To 
  understand 
  the 
  present 
  tremendous 
  progress 
  let 
  us 
  com- 
  

   pare 
  some 
  results 
  from 
  the 
  last 
  war 
  with 
  similar 
  cases 
  as 
  described 
  

   by 
  Capt. 
  Keynolds 
  Hay 
  den 
  after 
  the 
  Pearl 
  Harbor 
  raid. 
  In 
  World 
  

   War 
  I, 
  gunshot 
  wounds 
  of 
  the 
  abdomen 
  resulted 
  in 
  60 
  to 
  80 
  percent 
  

   mortality; 
  at 
  Pearl 
  Harbor 
  the 
  mortality 
  from 
  these 
  cases 
  was 
  less 
  

   than 
  1 
  percent, 
  and 
  recent 
  reports 
  from 
  the 
  Solomon 
  Islands 
  place 
  

   the 
  mortality 
  from 
  these 
  cases 
  at 
  less 
  than 
  5 
  percent. 
  

  

  Medical 
  officers 
  from 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  treating 
  

   patients 
  under 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  circumstances 
  have 
  agreed 
  unanimously 
  

   that 
  the 
  sulfonamide 
  drugs 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  large 
  measure 
  responsible 
  for 
  

   this 
  great 
  improvement. 
  Now 
  what 
  are 
  these 
  drugs 
  and 
  how 
  do 
  they 
  

   help 
  accomplish 
  miracles 
  ? 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  interesting 
  that 
  the 
  first 
  reports 
  of 
  the 
  amazing 
  chemical 
  that 
  

   cured 
  bacterial 
  infections 
  came 
  from 
  Germany 
  in 
  1935. 
  Domagk, 
  

   of 
  the 
  notorious 
  German 
  chemical 
  and 
  dye 
  trust, 
  reported 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  

   discovered 
  a 
  red 
  powder 
  which 
  when 
  fed 
  to 
  mice 
  infected 
  with 
  virulent 
  

   hemolytic 
  streptococci 
  would 
  save 
  all 
  the 
  treated 
  animals 
  while 
  the 
  

   untreated 
  control 
  animals 
  died 
  in 
  one 
  day. 
  Furthermore, 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  

   picture 
  confusing, 
  he 
  stated 
  that 
  this 
  red 
  powder 
  had 
  no 
  effect 
  whatso- 
  

   ever 
  against 
  the 
  same 
  bacteria 
  in 
  the 
  test 
  tube. 
  This 
  made 
  everyone 
  

   very 
  skeptical 
  even 
  though 
  reports 
  of 
  miraculous 
  cures 
  of 
  patients 
  

   continued 
  to 
  come 
  out 
  of 
  Germany. 
  Some 
  English 
  and 
  French 
  research 
  

   workers 
  wanted 
  to 
  repeat 
  these 
  experiments 
  but 
  the 
  French 
  couldn't 
  

   get 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  red 
  powder 
  from 
  the 
  dye 
  trust. 
  Fortunately, 
  a 
  brilliant 
  

   French 
  organic 
  chemist 
  figured 
  out 
  what 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  red 
  powder 
  and 
  

   discovered 
  how 
  to 
  make 
  it. 
  

  

  Then 
  the 
  French 
  bacteriologists 
  made 
  an 
  amazing 
  discovery 
  — 
  most 
  

   of 
  the 
  big 
  red 
  molecule 
  wasn't 
  really 
  necessary 
  at 
  all 
  — 
  only 
  a 
  small 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  molecule, 
  the 
  sulfanilamide 
  part, 
  was 
  needed 
  to 
  save 
  the 
  

   infected 
  mice. 
  And 
  equally 
  amazing, 
  whereas 
  the 
  big 
  red 
  molecule 
  of 
  

   the 
  Germans 
  had 
  no 
  effect 
  on 
  bacteria 
  in 
  the 
  test 
  tube, 
  the 
  small 
  sulfa- 
  

   nilamide 
  part 
  could 
  stop 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  bacteria 
  in 
  the 
  test 
  tube 
  as 
  

  

  