To the Editor:—I am curious to learn the value of the violet ray in the treatment of disease. The violet ray seems to be much in evidence in Canada at the present time in various towns. It is well advertised, not in the same way as a “patent medicine” would be, but as a genuine form of treatment. The enclosed booklet gives a brief outline of what the agents for the “Sterling Violet Ray Generator” claim it will do. The reason I am troubling you about the matter is that I feel if there is anything in it as is claimed, it should be better known. It also seems that if this treatment is not capable of doing what is claimed for it, it is a rather serious thing for a person who may defer calling a physician.
J. A. G.
Answer.—The “Sterling Violet Ray Generator” is a small high frequency apparatus with some vacuum and possibly other electrodes. There is a violet color in these vacuum electrodes when they are energized. The apparatus is not one for producing violet or ultraviolet rays in the scientific meaning of those words. The apparatus certainly will not do the things claimed for it in the booklet which includes the treatment of practically every ailment known to mankind.—(Correspondence in The Journal A. M. A., April 14, 1917.)
Strontium Salicylate Not Superior to Sodium Salicylate
Sodium salicylate is a valuable drug. It is official and cheap; it is the compound generally relied on when salicylate effects are desired. And there is no mystery about it. With the other salicylates, mystery begins. For this reason, such studies as that of Blankenhorn on strontium salicylate are of special value. Blankenhorn shows that strontium salicylate possesses no advantages over sodium salicylate, as regards either therapeutic efficacy or freedom from undesirable by-effects. He calls attention to the fact that “the salicyl content of strontium salicylate is about four-fifths that of sodium salicylate based on the amount of available anion.” The question naturally arise whether this smaller salicylate content may not contribute to the notion that strontium salicylate is less likely to cause salicylism. The impression as to the greater freedom of this salt from undesirable by-effects may have arisen in part also from the fact that the more expensive preparations are more likely to be given in small doses than is the cheaper sodium salicylate. As Blankenhorn suggests, when once such a tradition gains currency, it will be “lugged along” from one textbook to another, with little or no attempt at critical examination.—(Editorial from The Journal A. M. A., Jan. 29, 1916.)
Vaccine As a Prophylactic in Influenza
To the Editor:—I am chief surgeon for a large steel industry in Canton, and desire to do all in my power to prevent the threatened recurrence of influenza. What is the status of the various vaccines as a preventive or prophylactic measure? Would you advise their use as a preventive measure, to immunize the workers in the industries?
M.D., Canton, Ohio.
Answer.—The status of vaccine therapy as a prophylactic for influenza may be ascertained from the two articles appearing in The Journal, Aug. 9, 1919: that of E. C. Rosenow and B. F. Sturdivant entitled “Studies in Influenza and Pneumonia: Further Results of Prophylactic Inoculations,” and that of G. W. McCoy, director, Hygienic Laboratory, U. S. Public Health Service, on “Status of Prophylactic Vaccination Against Influenza.” In brief, the conclusion of Rosenow and Sturdivant is: “It appears from all of the facts at hand that by the use of a properly prepared vaccine it is possible to rob influenza of some of its terrors.” On the other hand, McCoy states: “The general impression gained from uncontrolled use of vaccines is that they are of value in the prevention of influenza; but, in every case in which vaccines have been tried under perfectly controlled conditions, they have failed to influence in a definite manner either the morbidity or the mortality.” To make a conservative statement: The use of vaccine as a prophylactic in influenza is an experiment.—(Query in The Journal A. M. A., Sept. 27, 1919.)