304 The Philippine Journal of Science wis 



In every case splenic pain was relieved, and the engorged 

 spleen reduced. The temperature fell and did not usually rise 

 again; when it did rise, further treatment of the same nature 

 brought it down permanently. Recovery, they reported, was 

 not attended by the anaemia usually present in cases treated with 

 quinine. In no case did the authors fall back upon quinine in 

 cases treated by the Roentgen rays, while they successfully 

 treated cases that had shown no cure on the administration 

 of quinine. 



Medical history repeats itself. The work of Skinner and 

 Carson seems to have been practically forgotten for several years, 

 for a search of the literature available to me has resulted in 

 the discovery of no further work along this line until the papers 

 of Pais and of Deutsch published last year, which I have recently 

 seen in abstract. 



Pais (23) has reported on fifty patients treated by spleen irra- 

 diation. His success seems to have been not quite so brilliant 

 as that of Skinner and Carson, but he seems to have been 

 successful in arresting the disease in nearly all cases, and to 

 have brought about a reduction of the spleen to its normal out- 

 lines. He states that small doses in a first attack attenuate the 

 disease; larger doses appear to change the cycle of the fever. 

 In his experience new generations of parasites appear to dis- 

 play exalted virulence under the influence of the rays. In con- 

 nection with chronic cases that have failed to improve under 

 quinine, he states there may be complete recovery under the 

 influence of the Roentgen rays, or at least the infection may 

 be so modified that quinine will work a cure. 



Deutsch (7) employed deep irradiation of the spleen in 27 

 cases. Of these 17 were malignant, and the other 10 benign, 

 tertian fever. In almost all there was speedy reduction of the 

 spleen, irrespective of other results. Of the 10 benign tertian 

 cases, 7 were reported as free from fever and gametocytes for 

 a period of six months and were therefore regarded as cured. 



The effect of the treatment became apparent, as a rule, after 

 the first application of the rays, when the relapse next due 

 failed to appear. Of the 3 cases that were not benefited, 2 were 

 used in the preliminary experiments and were given treatment 

 with a lower dosage; the other had failed to yield to quinine 

 treatment. 



Of the 17 subtertian cases 9 were apparently uninfluenced by 

 the treatment; in 4 others the attacks ceased for a month, and 

 in the other 4 parasites were absent from the blood and there 



