Two Harvard Scientists Find Cause Of Previously Unexplained Diseases

Discoveries leading to the explanation of the causes of certain forms of anemia have been announced by Thomas H. Ham, assistant in Medicine, and William B. Castle '17, professor of Medicine, in their recent report to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

The authors have been investigating aente and chronic anemias and have found that those which follow poisoning by the war gas arsine, misuse of the new chemical sulfanilamide, and one kind of heart disease result from stagnation of the blood within the blood vessels.

This stagnation occurs when the red corpuscles swell, grow fragile, and finally disintegrate with loss of the red coloring matter, homeglobin.

The principal organ in which such stagnation takes place is the spleen, and the removal of the spleen may become one of the cures for this particular affliction.

The application of their observations side in explaining the increased destruction of blood and the anemia noticed in the newborn infant or in congenital hemolytic jaundice. Dr. Ham stated last night at his home that although the investigations were still in a very primary stage , they might prove extremely valuable to the medical profession.