Medical News SALVARSAN SILVER JUBILEE _Colonel Chopra took the chair and after thanking Lieutenant-Colonel and all those he On 10th December, 1935, a special meeting was held Chatterji present, delivered an on as in the auditorium of the All-India Institute of address Paul Ehrlich and his work, Hygiene follows:? and Public Health to celebrate the twenty-fifth anni- versary of the first introduction of salvarsan into The preparation and application of organic arsenicaig therapeutics. in medicine, for which Paul Ehrlich was primarily The room was well filled and the gathering was a responsible, were doubtless the result of a long and representative one. Dr. A. C. Brocke, d.sc., opened the persistent search for substances which have specific proceedings in the following words:? action against disease. The advent of these compounds into the realm of medicine a new era in the Ladies and Gentlemen, marked On behalf of the Scientific Department of Bayer- history of rational development of therapeutics and Meister Lucius, the organizers of this meeting at which the modern science of chemotherapy. At once, it this distinguished gathering of medical men anil opened up a new vista, pregnant with infinite possi- towards the one of medical scientists have come together to celebrate the silver bilities, goal science, viz, of human Not was jubilee of the discovery of salvarsan and to do honour the amelioration suffering. only this a forward in the of medical to its inventor Paul Ehrlich, I have the great honour definite step path research, but it was a new indeed a new acquisition to to welcome you here to-day. departure, the armamentarium in our struggle against disease. We have been particularly fortunate in having as our The diseases which exacted a toll of human speakers to-day such distinguished scientists as heavy lives, that towns and villages, and told adversely Brevet-Colonel R. N. Chopra, c.i.e., k.h.p., m.a., m.d., ravaged the culture and civilization of ages, and m.r.c.p., i.M.S., and Lieutenant-Colonel K. K. Chatter- upon bygone were in looked as visitations Ji, f.r.c.s.i., i.t.f. It would be incongruous if I were which consequence upon from due to sins of are no looked to introduce either of these speakers as both are already Heaven, man, longer with awe and but with the of so well known to you all and their research work has upon dismay, spirit on account of this work. These gained them a reputation not only in this country but in triumph and victory monumental contributions of Ehrlich deserve a the medical world at large. I feel that this is a good rightly foremost in the of the of man opportunity for thanking, on behalf of the medical and place history fight against disease. chemical research workers of our scientific department Paul was born in March 1854 in Silesia in of which I am the humble representative in Calcutta, Ehrlich where the art of flourished as an old not only the two speakers but the many other workers Germany dyeing He familiar from his in Calcutta for their co-operation with us in the search handicraft. was, therefore, boy- hood with and a is told that when for new drugs to use in our fight against disease. The dyes story attending laboratories in Elberfeld and Frankfurt can work out the microscopical courses as a young student in his teacher Professor to his and prepare drugs and test them on animals just as Strasburg, Waldaryer found, Ehrlich's in the covered Ehrlich did 25 years ago, but they are dependent on surprise, place laboratory by a patchwork of stains of many colours, and asked him those workers in the field with a scientific outlook to ' what he was The answer was I am staining', give the necessary clinical trials under carefully- doing. ' controlled conditions before they can issue them for whereon the teacher could only reply Well go on by use to the general medical profession. all means '. The disease which Paul Ehrlich was fighting is an In his early life as a medical student Ehrlich was universal one and therefore he could carry out the very much impressed with Heubel's work on lead him the basis initial trials in our own country. However to continue poisoning. This work probably first gave for his research it was to look to workers in this the idea that chemical agents have great influence necessary ' country for guidance in certain aspects, such as in the up.on living bodies in general and that the ways and suitable dosage to be recommended to doctors whose means by which the drugs are distributed in the body patients are mainly Indians who will not stand the full must be of greatest importance' in therapeutics. This doses recommended for Europeans, and in such matters idea combined with the knowledge that in technical as the keeping properties of arsenicals in the Indian processes certain dyes were fixed by certain fibres gave a climate, but for a number of other drugs we are strong impulse to his research work in later years and led a dependent almost entirely on the research work and him into series of studies upon the selective clinical trials by workers in this and other tropical effect of various synthetic dyes on the blood and tissue countries. It has been the tradition in our laboratories cells. The results of such studies no doubt further to work in the closest collaboration with scientists in led him to the conclusion that chemical substances be this country and all over the world. We hope the might produced which would unite with and destroy ' Department Bayer' has been of some assistance to parasitic agents of disease without in any way injuring the cells of the host. It is this of the selective you, but I can assure you that your co-operation has study to been to us on behalf of the research affinity of chemical agents for parasites that led him invaluable and ' workers in our at Home and my pronounce his famous theory Corpora non agunt nist laboratories colleagues ' means do not act here, I once more want to express our sincerest thanks fixata' which bodies unless fixed'? for your active help in furthering the science of chemo- a theory that still lies at the basis of modern chemo- therapy, the foundations of which were laid by that therapy. of the science of with great man in whose honour we are gathered here to-day. The development immunology Lieutenant-Colonel Chatterji proposed that Colonel its discovery of natural and acquired antibodies, Chopra should be chairman of the meeting, and took specially the discovery of the protective and curative the of him on the recent action of the diphtheria antitoxin, strengthened opportunity congratulating of honours conferred on him?his admission as a member Ehrlich's hope of finding out chemical agents capable of the of and his parasites causing disease. Regarding the Royal College of Physicians London, destroying ' antibodies his idea was that had no at appointment as King's Honorary Physician. they affinity 44 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [Jan., 1936 all for substances of the but rush exclu- body, they were examined. Most of these were at the Therefore in this case compounds duly sively parasites. organo- found to be only one or two among them is reduced to is absolute and ineffective, tropy zero, parasitotropy giving promising results. It was observed that although the antibodies magic bullets which seek their represent some of these compounds could cure trypanosomiasis, unerring aim in some animals fatal Researches with 1887 acetanilide (anti- they unfortunately produced dyes.?In jaundice and other toxic effects. In the febrin) and certain other substances were synthesized haemolysis, case of one drug it was found that it killed the para- from coal tar and the use of these substances in medi- sites, but it damaged the nervous system of the animals cine as and still further ' antipyretics analgesics to such an extent that the animals used to dance not stimulated him. Ehrlich his work with the began appli- for a minute or an hour due to their liberation from cation of to those bacterial infections synthetic dyes the clutches of the dreadful disease but for the rest that could be in laboratory animals like mice, produced of their livesAfter studies extending over many rabbits, etc.; the line of study being the guinea-pigs, with derivatives of atoxyl a para- into the manner in which to years compound, investigation immunity was in which two such diseases could be increased in mice. arseno-phenyl-glycine, produced Unfortunately arsenic atoms were linked a double bond and each his work with bacteria mot with little success. He by to the benzene nucleus by a single linkage. had, however, an infinite reservoir of patience and after coupled This compound was in fact the precursor of the arseno- a lengthy period of failures, which lasted till 1901, lie benzene compounds which were later found by him to at last came across Laveran's work on the production be very effective. At last after a prolonged search he of trypanosomiasis experimentally in mice and rats. was in 1910 rewarded by the production of the 606th From that time onward Ehrlich and his co-worker ' which was dihydroxy-diamino-arseno- Shiga directed their attention towards the trypanosome compound benzol-dihydrochlorideThis compound had a most infection in laboratory animals. These parasites were potent effect on the trypanosome in infected animals then known to be responsible for causing sleeping sick- without at the same time injuring the host and the ness in the natives of Africa and to produce a disease news of the soon throughout in horses known as mal de Caderas.