Abstract
MUCH important research work is summarized in the annual report of the South African Institute for Medical Research for 1935. The use of a ‘mixed vaccine’ for the prevention of pneumonia among the Rand native miners has been continued with encouraging results. In the Biochemical Department, a strange finding was that the leaf of a plant belonging to the yam family contained forty times as much iron as spinach. Lucerne has been found to be suitable for human consumption as an anti-scorbutic, and several mines are now including this plant as part of their vegetable ration. The influence of South African snake venoms, previously tested on animal tumours, has now been tried on human cancers. Cobra venom often produced a relief of pain in cases of cancer, but not always; and no permanent beneficial effect resulted. There was no evidence that African snake venoms had any action on the majority of malignant tumours in man. Rodents to the number of 2,026 were examined for presence of plague infection, of which 51 were found to be infected with B. pestis.
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Medical Research in South Africa. Nature 139, 665 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139665a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139665a0