472 Biology in America 



to different cells. Respecting this theory, it may be said that 

 while there undoubtedly is abnormality of cell division in 

 cancer, it may more likely be its result rather than its cause. 

 Still another hypothesis attributes cancer to some parasitic 

 organism presumably bacterial, of which many have been de- 

 scribed by entliusiastic investigators, but none proven. 



Finally we have the explanation of cancer as due to chronic 

 irritation of some part of the body, stimulating abnormal cell 

 growth of that region. There is much more evidence for this 

 than for any of the preceding theories. One of the most fre- 

 quent locations of cancer is the mid^ gland, an organ which 

 IS apt to be under continual irritation from an ill-ntting or 

 tightly laced corset, in sniokeis the tongue and lip are fre- 

 quent sites of cancer, regions apt to be irritated by the pipe 

 stem or cigar. Cancer or the abdomen is prevalent among tlie 

 natives oi i\ashniir who carry snmll earthen jars, surrounded 

 by basket work and containing a charcoal nre, under their 

 robes next to the skin as a means of warmth. 



That cancer is ndierited in mice has been recently claimed 

 by ^liss Slye of the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute 

 of Chicago, as the result of an extensive series of breeding 

 tests ; and her results have been apparently accepted by some 

 members of the medi.'al profession. They lack substantia 

 tion liowever and it would be well to travel slowly over a path 

 so newly blazed into the unknown, lest we stumble and fall 

 into error on our way. 



The past twenty years have witnessed remarkable devel- 

 opments in the study of cancer in both xVmerica and Europe. 

 This study has been conducted both in the clinic and the lab- 

 oratory. At present its net result is a negative one. It h.i ; 

 .served to explode many promising theories of cancer, and to 

 reveal our ignorance, but as yet we are still fighting blind- 

 fold one of the most terrible enemies of man. 



In America this work was instituted in 1898 when the 

 State of New York made a small appropriation for cancer re- 

 search at the University of Butfalo. Since 1901 the laboratory 

 at Buffalo has been known as the Cancer Laboratory of the 

 New York State Board of Health. The following year saw 

 the inauguration of the Cancer Commission of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, whose work is conducted jointly in the laboratories 

 of Harvard University and in the CoUis P. Huntington ]\Ie- 

 morial Hospital of the same institution. 



These initial undertakings have been followed by many 

 others, such as the Research Department of the New York 

 Skin and Cancer Hospital, the George Crocker Special Re- 

 search Fund of Columbia University, the Barnard Free Skin 

 and Cancer Hospital of St. Louis, and the Research Hos- 



