This laboratory worker, whose reputation is international, is known to scientists as an extremely conservative man. His positive statements, therefore, regarding the result of his latest discovery have created a stir in scientific circles.
It is certain that Doctor Meltzer has devised a method of artificial respiration tenfold more efficient than the older ones, and it is expected that it will be the means of saving countless lives.
Briefly the method consists of the introduction of a catheter into the pharynx, pulling out of the tongue, forcing the back part of the tongue against the roof of the mouth by pressure applied far back under the chin, putting a weight on the abdomen to keep air from being forced into the stomach, connecting the catheter with a bellows, and pumping air into the lungs. With very little instruction the layman can learn these methods as readily as the physician.
“The method was studied and found effcient on four species of animals. But its real usefulness will be established only after standing the test in its application to human beings, and the final judgment will have to come from the physicians and not from the experimenter in the laboratory.”
The majority of Doctor Meltzer’s experiments were carried on with animals in which respiration had been paralyzed by means of a poison named curare.
Indians Poison Mexican Wells.
Death by poison is a new menace added by rebellious Indians operating about the city of Oaxaca, Mexico, whose residents fear to take a drink of water. Chemists are making tests for traces of cyanide of potassium in the city’s water supply.
A group of rebels are declared to have entered the Natividad mining camp, in the Ixtlan district, and to have secured 200 pounds of the poison.
The rebels said they would first use the cyanide to poison the springs at San Felipe, from which much of the water used in the city of Oaxaca is piped. A small band of rebels was discovered in the neighborhood of the springs and driven off by federal troops. The rebel loss is given at 11 killed.