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the age of 35 years, 21 deaths occurred between the
ages of 35 and 45, 111 from 45 to 65, and 127 from the
age of 65 years onwards.
Twenty-four deaths were due to cancer of the womb
and 24 to cancer of the breast. As is usually the case,
cancer of the intestine (excluding the rectum) was
more common in females than in males, 33 deaths
occurring in women and 15 in men. The mortality
from malignant disease of the stomach was also
higher in females than in males, the proportion of
deaths being 24 in females to 19 in males.
A great deal has been added to our knowledge
regarding the nature and cause of cancer as a result
of recent researches. It has long been known that
the tissue cells affected by the disease multiply uncontrollably
and revert to a primitive type which has
the power of invading the surrounding tissues.
Opinion is again veering round to the view that
the cause of cancer is a living virus or organism.
Dr. Gye's work in the laboratories of the Medical
Research Council led him to the conviction that this
is the case, but that in addition a second factor, which
he called " the specific factor," is also required. The
specific factor, he states, is probably a chemical substance.
The same virus is considered to be present
in all malignant growths, but there is a specific factor
for each species of animal and probably also for various
classes of cancer.
Mr. Barnard, working in collaboration with Dr.
Gye, used ultra-microscopic methods and ultra-violet
light in his work. The wave length of ultra-violet
rays is much shorter than that of ordinary "visible"
light and permits of much smaller objects being seen
and photographed. By these methods Barnard demonstrated
in malignant growths and in cultures of
the virus minute spheroidal bodies which are considered
by Dr. Gye and himself to be the virus of cancer.