disease in civil life. Every man and woman under 45 



should make use of this simple and efficient safeguard. 



Another method of controlling immunity is by the use of 



antitoxins, or antitoxic sera, as they are _,, n - 



often called, of which diphtheria antitoxin . ... . 

 . , . . Antitoxic Sera 



is the best example. 



Diphtheria antitoxin was introduced into the United States 

 by the New York City Department of Health in 1894, and 

 it has reduced the death rate from diphtheria in that city 

 from 155 deaths for every hundred thousand of the popula- 

 tion, to 24. The antitoxin is of comparatively little value 

 when the attack has gone on for a long while and the body 

 has become severely poisoned, but if it is used as soon as the 

 disease begins, it is a practically certain cure. 



Antitoxic sera are also used in the treatment of tetanus, 

 meningitis and more recently in certain forms of pneumonia. 



From a military standpoint some of the most important 

 applications of the principles of vaccine and r tr 1 f 



serum therapy are those which have been w « 



worked out in connection with the treat- t f ti 



ment of wound infections. The surgeon in 

 his operating room relies on antiseptic and aseptic methods 

 to keep out the germs of suppuration. Wounds received in 

 battle are generally already infected and the destruction of 

 germ life is impossible without serious injury to the tissues 

 themselves. The military surgeon must therefore rely 

 largely on the stimulation of the defensive machinery of the 

 body (except in the case of tetanus, for which a specific and 

 powerful antitoxin is at his disposal). The newer solutions 

 used in the treatment of wounds, such as Dakin's chloramine, 

 are specially adapted to check bacterial growth without 

 harming the soldier cells of the blood; and the use of a strong 

 salt solution for the treatment of an infected wound pro- 

 duces an increased flow of lymph from the tissues into the 

 wound, thus relieving the inflamed tissues of congestion and 

 setting up a flow of fluid from within outwards, which tends 



41 



