22 : The Medical Effects of the Accumulator: 1940-1948We have seen how Einstein’s rejection deeply disappointed Reich. However, he did
not dwell on his hurt and anger but reacted in his usual way to rebuff, by pursuing his
research all the more vigorously, as if to say, my work will yet prevail. And he gave special
attention to the medical effects of the accumulator, effects which, he had advised Einstein,
could be useful in the war effort.
To understand the use of the accumulator in the treatment of illness, we have to
return first to the Oslo days. During 1937, Reich had observed that PA-bions immobilized
various kinds of bacilli. They also immobilized T-bacilli—one kind of bacteria resulting
from the disintegration of animal tissue. The paralyzing effect of the PA-bions led Reich to
hypothesize an antithetical relationship between these two organisms, with healthy proper-
ties attributed to the PA-bions and noxious ones to the T-bacilli. Between 1937 and 1939,
Reich ran a series of experiments injecting 178 healthy mice: some with T-bacilli alone, some
with PA-bions alone, some with PA-bions and then with T-bacilli, some with T-bacilli fol-
lowed by PA-bions.
The results largely supported his hypothesis. They showed that the Tbacilli inject-
ed group had significantly more deaths within the experimental period than the PA-injected
group. The results also suggested that PA-bions had an inoculatory effect against T-bacilli,
but could not reverse the damage done if T-bacilli were injected first^1.
When Reich investigated the cause of death in the thirty mice injected with T-bacil-
li alone,he found that thirteen showed cancerous cell formations and another seven showed
ripe cancer cells in various tissues^2.
Reich thus came to America with the finding that T-bacilli apparently effected the
development of cancer in mice and with preliminary evidence that PA-bions played some
role in combating this effect.
Reich’s initial findings concerning the role of T-bacilli in the development of can-
cer led to his spending much of the next four years, until about 1944, studying the etiology
and treatment ofcancer.
Reich’s investigation of cancer represents one of the most lucid examples of the
interlacing of his psychiatric, sociological, biological, and physical research. It also became
the most attacked part of his work. Because of his later assertion that the accumulator could
help(not cure) in the treatment of cancer, he was dismissed by practically everyone as a sin-
cere but psychotic “former psychoanalyst” or as a swindler.
In describing Reich’s work on cancer, I shall follow three main areas: his studies of