1907

Ehrlich’s chemist E. Schmitz synthesized a new arsenic compound (a new arsenobenzene) – Preparation 418 – with astonishing effects on early-stage syphilis in animal experiments; trials underway on other infections caused by trypanosomes (serum-resistant protozoa), such as African sleeping sickness (Bäumler, 129). Simon Flexner (Rockefeller Institute) reports effectiveness of horse-derived serum for meningococcal meningitis; it was of limited effectiveness but widely used in epidemic that accompanied WW I (Dowling, 52-53).