IODINE IN TUBERCULOSIS

To the Editor:  — In regard to the communication of Dr. E. A. Peterson (The Journal, June 26, p. 1995), in which he states that he doubts that any authentic experiments have ever been done to show that iodine breaks down a lung in a tuberculous animal or in man, the following facts may have some bearing:Several years ago Jobling and Peterson, while working on ferments, showed that iodine had the power of saturating the unsaturated radicals of fatty acids, and that when these fatty acids were acting as antitryptic ferments, saturation of these unsaturated bonds tended to reverse the reaction and liberate trypsin. When it is considered that a tubercle has a high percentage of fatty acids in its composition and that the probabilities are that these fatty acids are acting as antitryptic ferments, the importance of iodine in releasing the trypsin by saturating these unsaturated fatty acids