bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Anti-Bactericidal Action of the Bile Salts
Authors: Cummins S. Lyle
Published: May 2009

Bile and the bile salts are substances of great importance in connection with typhoid fever. On the one hand, they are extensively used in differential media for the isolation of B. typhosus from the excreta, and in media designed to cultivate the bacillus from the blood; while on the other, the survival of the organism in the gall bladder and its association with gall stones and cholicystitis indicate that bile may play an important rôle in the etiology of the disease. It would appear therefore that a study of the mode of action of bile in culture media for the isolation of B. typhosus might, apart from its bearing on bacteriological technique, incidentally throw light on the far more important question of typhoid fever and the production of typhoid carriers.
Immunity of Guinea-Pigs to Diphtheria Toxin and its Effect upon the Offspring
Authors: Sudmersen H. J. , Glenny A. T.
Published: May 2009

(1) The young of parents both of which have been injected with an immunising mixture of diphtheria toxin and antitoxin, show immunity of the same order as that of young from similarly treated mothers and normal fathers.

(2) The injection of certain foreign substances into a female guinea-pig appears to have a direct effect on the offspring in diminishing their resistance to diphtheria toxin, shown equally well by the young of mothers injected, (a) before the attainment of sexual maturity, (b) during pregnancy, and (c) after birth during the period of lactation.

(3) A single injection of diphtheria toxin may give rise to a condition of active immunity (as tested by the resistance of the young) in guinea-pigs possessing hereditarily transmitted passive immunity. Should this injection of toxin give rise to great constitutional disturbance, the young may show lowered resistance, whereas, if it give rise to but slight constitutional disturbance, the young show a high degree of immunity. These effects appear to be accentuated if similar injections are repeated in the next generation.
Further Experiments on Variability in the Gas-forming power of Intestinal Bacteria
Authors: Penfold W. J.
Published: May 2009

Ina recent communication (Penfold 1911) I described experiments with three organisms,B. coliEscherich,B. enteritidisGaertner andB. Grünthal, showing that limitation or complete abolition of certain gas-forming powers normally possessed by these organisms, could be brought about by their growth on chloracetic acid-agar, and further, that in the case of the latter organism, resistance to this medium was associated with such limitation or abolition.
A Note on the Inter-classification of the Gaertner Group
Authors: Savage William G.
Published: May 2009

The bacteria which maybe included together as the Gaertner Group are of considerable importance, comprising as they do most of the bacteria found in outbreaks of food poisoning and in paratyphoid fever, while they are etiologically concerned with a number of diseases in animals both domesticated and wild.
An Historical Document Relating to the Prevention and Cure of Plague in Spain in 1600—1601
Authors: Nuttall Zelia
Published: May 2009

The document, of which a translation follows, was discovered by me in the National Library at Madrid (Coll. Salazar, Vol. MSS. 3207).
Immunity of Guinea-pigs to Diphtheria Toxin and its Effect upon the Offspring
Authors: Südmersen H. J. , Glenny A. T.
Published: May 2009

1. A male guinea-pig which has received a single injection of a mixture of diphtheria toxin-antitoxin causing severe constitutional disturbance, may beget offspring of slightly lower resistance than normal to diphtheria toxin

2. This effect is generally restricted to young born within twelve months after the injection of the father, being rarely noticed in the young of later litters.

3. An increased susceptibility to diphtheria toxin is likewise observed in the offspring of male or female guinea-pigs which have received a large dose of horse serum. The greater susceptibility to diphtheria toxin of the young of male guinea-pigs which have been treated with toxin-antitoxin may therefore be non-specific in character.

4. The injection of diphtheria toxin-antitoxin mixtures into guinea-pigs whether male or female reduces their rate of breeding and lowers the vitality of their young.

5. These effects are most pronounced when the toxin-antitoxin mixture produces severe constitutional disturbance or contains excess of horse serum
Occurrence of Ferments in the Sterile Milk collected by Milking Tube from Cows and Goats
Authors: Harden Arthur , Lane-Claypon Janet E.
Published: May 2009

The literature upon the presence of various ferments in milk is extremely large and dates back through many years. Up to the beginning of 1911, however, when the experiments described in this paper were undertaken, no observer had dealt with milk uncontaminated by bacteria.
The Detection of Anthrax Spores in Industrial Material
Authors: Glynn Ernest E. , Lewis F. C.
Published: May 2009

(1) There are two methods of examining industrial material for anthrax spores, viz. agar plate cultures and the inoculation of guinea-pigs.

(2) Though no worker has yet made a large series of examinations of equal portions of the same material by both methods simultaneously, yet the available evidence indicates that animal inoculation is superior, provided that guinea-pigs, not mice, are employed.

(3) It is better to inoculate two guinea-pigs than one, and to use the centrifuged deposit of the watery extract, though this practice may also increase the mortality from pathogenic anaerobes.

(4) The inoculation of guinea-pigs is more successful than plate cultures mainly on account of the larger quantity of watery extract usually tested, which more than counterbalances the disadvantage that some of the animals died from anaerobes before they develop anthrax.

(5) If plate cultures are employed it is essential to examine the superficial colonies after a short incubation, probably 12 to 16 hours is the most suitable.

(6) Anthrax spores have been demonstrated by the inoculation method in 21·3 % of 141 samples of industrial material, supposed to have produced anthrax in Liverpool amongst those who handled them. Of these samples 28·6 % were from hides, 22·2 % from wool, 20·6 % from hair and 7·1 % from bones. The largest proportion of infected samples came from Singapore.

(7) Anthrax spores have been demonstrated in one sample of hair “ disinfected ” with 5 % fluid of high coefficient at 100° C. and in two out of six samples of hair disinfected in Germany probably by steam at 105° C. It is practically impossible to completely sterilise certain industrial materials without seriously damaging them; yet partial disinfection should on no account be abandoned, because the perfect method has not yet been discovered.

(8) Anthrax appears to be steadily increasing among domestic animals, and consequently a larger number of agriculturalists are becoming infected. The reason for this dissemination amongst animals is still obscure.

(9) We have found B. anthracis in a sample of pea meal used for feeding cattle confined to a shippon, one of which died of anthrax. The meal was probably infected from the sack.

(10) Anthrax is preventible among men and domestic animals, and its ultimate suppression depends largely upon the certainty with which bacteriologists can demonstrate the presence or absence of bacilli in suspected industrial food, or other materials.
Inhalation Experiments on Mice with Pneumococci
Authors: Griffith Fred
Published: May 2009

Fatal general infection can be readily production in mice by spraying with pneumococcal culture in a closed chamber without resorting to any artificial means of lowering the animal's resistance.

In the experiments recorded the proportion of unprotected mice which developed septicaemia varied considerably, the highest being nine out of ten. These irregularities may be partly attributable to variations in (1) the fineness of the spray, and (2) the virulence of the culture.

In unprotected mice death from septicaemia rarely occurs before the 3rd day after spraying and may be delayed for a week or more.

Vaccination by subcutaneous and intraperitoneal inoculation with heated cultures afforded protection against infection by inhalation to 11 out of 13 mice. Two succumbed to septicaemia although they had resisted 14 days earlier an intraperitoneal dose of 0·0001 c.c. of culture. The culture used for spraying was evidently in a highly virulent state since nine out of the ten controls died of septicaemia.

The above experiments were with homologous cultures but tests have also been made of the efficacy of vaccination against heterologous strains. For example, vaccination with Types I and II cultures gave apparently a certain amount of protection against infection by spraying with a mixture of Type III and Group IV strains.

Passive immunity induced by an injection of antipneumococcal serum immediately before spraying was effective against the homologous types in all of a batch of 13 mice. The resistance showed a tendency to diminish with the lapse of time, since on re-spraying the same lot of mice 3 weeks later one mouse developed septicaemia.

In unprotected mice where death was delayed for some days after spraying there was generally no evidence to the naked eye of any local pulmonary lesions. Rarely typical grey consolidation of portions of the lungs was found. A pneumonic condition occurred more frequently in mice in which a slight degree of immunity had been produced. For example, a Type II pneumonia was found in a mouse which had been immunised against Type I.

The production of the carrier state is a regular sequel to spraying even with the most virulent cultures of pneumococci. A large proportion of the mice which survived spraying were nasopharyngeal carriers a fortnight later and the condition persisted in one mouse for 99 days. A carrier of pneumococci may succumb to septicaemia 15 days after the date of infection; it is not known whether any immunity develops in carriers.

The presence, about the pharynx of mice, of Gram-negative bacilli which grow rapidly in culture and are of high virulence when introduced parenterally is a source of difficulty in attempts to demonstrate pneumococci.

An attempt was made to ascertain whether, after spraying, nasopharyngeal carriers of pneumococci were more numerous among normal or among protected mice. The results were inconclusive, but there was no marked indication in the experiments recorded that the state of immunity influenced the carrier condition.
Meningitis due to B. enteritidis Gaertner
Authors: Stuart G. , Krikorian K. S.
Published: May 2009

In discussing a case of meningitis caused by B. paratyphosus B, Brahdy (1925) calls attention to the extreme rarity of such a condition. An exhaustive survey of the literature led Brahdy to the discovery of only eight cases of paratyphoid meningitis, these being recorded by French or German observers.
Mendelian Variation in the Paracolon Mutabile Colon Group and the application of Mendel's Principles to the Theory of Acquired Virulence
Authors: Stewart F. H.
Published: May 2009

It is the thesis of this paper that Mendel's principle of varitaion, formed from the study of the genetics of higher plants and animals, can be applied also to bacteria, and that acquired virulence in bacteria is the result of Mendelian variation.
A Study of the Longevity of Males at different periods in the History of Great Britain and Ireland from the Sixteenth to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, based on Data from the “Dictionary of National, Biography” and “Burke's Peerage and Baronetage.”
Authors: Young Matthew , Russell W. T.
Published: May 2009

The life tables that have been constructed from the recorded mortality in England and Wales as a whole at more or less regular intervals since registration of death was introduced in 1837, and those that have been prepared for special districts and cities at various times since that date, afford accurate information regarding the average length of life at different periods during the greater part of last century. There is still comparatively little known, however, about the mean duration of life, and the conditions of health on which it so largely depends, amongst those who lived in the British Isles in pre-registration times and the present paper contains the results of and attempt to supplement existing knowledge on this subject. The data on which the paper is based have been derived from two sources, namely, the Index and Epitome of the Dictionary of National Biography and Burke' Peerage and Baronetage. In the first of these are records of the dates of birth and death with brief summaries of the life histories of persons who were selected as being wminent in various spheres of life in the British Isles and the Colonies from the earliest historical period; in the second are given the genealogical histories of members of the different titled families.
Experiments on the Pasteurisation of Milk, with reference to the Efficiency of Commercial Pasteurisation
Authors: Jenkins Hermima
Published: May 2009

Pasteurisation at 62.8° C. (145° F.) for 30 minutes leads to a marked reduction inthe total bacterial contentof milk, varying for different specimens from 94 to 99·8 per cent., when the process is carried out under the most exact conditions. At lower temperatures,e.g.60° C., the percentage reduction may vary widely—from 51·6 to 97·4 per cent. The percentage reduction has been found to be slightly less when the same specimens of milk are pasteurised in a large scale apparatus than when treated in small quantities under laboratory conditions, the average reduction being 91·2 per cent, in the former case and 98·4 per cent, in the latter. The reasons for this are discussed.

An effectively pasteurised milk should not contain lactose-fermenting bacilli in 1 c.c, and theB. colicontent is a valuable index of the efficiency of a pasteurising process.

Milk containingB. tuberculosis, when pasteurised at 62·8° C. for 30 minutes (1) in tubes in a water bath in the laboratory, and (2) on a large scale by a commercial plant, is rendered non-infective to guinea-pigs. By laboratory pasteurisation, even at 60° C. for 30 minutes, milk containing tubercle bacilli is rendered non-infective.
The nature of the Factor inhibiting the Fermentation of a Sugar in the Mutabile and Paracolon forms of Bacillus neapolitanus Emmerich
Authors: Stewart F. H.
Published: May 2009

In a previous paper (Stewart, 1926), we have seen that the mutabile form of B. neapolitanus Emmerich is a heterozygote with a Mendelian formula IiFF, in. which F represents a unit character for the fermentation of a particular sugar, e.g. lactose, I represents a factor for the inhibition of F, and i represents the absence of I in a pair of allelomorphs. Similarly paracolon has a formula IIFF.
The Virulence Testing of the Diphtheria Bacillus and its Practical Application
Authors: Okell C. C. , Parish H. J.
Published: May 2009

1. In the intradermic test virulence of “morphological diphtheria bacilli,” 0·2 c.c. containing 100 million organisms is injected. The control guinea-pig receives 500 units of antitoxin the night prior to the test. The test animal receives 125 units six hours after the injection of the cultures. A known virulent organism is always injected as a control; 12 to 20 cultures can be tested on one guinea-pig.

Of 2368 swabs received, 1388 (59 per cent.) showed morphological C. diphtheriae. Fromthese 1286 pure cultures were isolated (92·7 per cent.). In 234 positive swabs from cases of clinical diphtheria, in a series examined under very favourable conditions, morphological C. diphtheriae were obtained in 231 (98·7 per cent.) and of these 229 (99·1 per cent.) were virulent. In 758 positive cultures from carriers morphological C. diphtheriae were isolated in 715 (94 per cent.); 50 per cent. were virulent C. diphtheriae, 39 per cent. avirulent, 3·6 per cent. of Hofmann group, 0·3 per cent. Xerosis and 6.4 per cent. unclassified diphtheroids.

3. Only one culture of intermediate virulence was found, i.e. uncertain reactions occurred with a dose of 100 million organisms while clear reactions occurred with 1000 million.

4. Out of 626 positive cultures from cases of diphtheria, both virulent and avirulent bacilli were isolated in two instances, once from the throat and once from the nose.

5. A monovalent antitoxin (Park Williams 8) nenutralised all of 819 virulent strains.

6. Amongst 39 cultures obtained from the ear in post-diphtherial conditions, virulent C. diphtheriae were isolated fourteen times.

7. Impure primary (“field”) cultures gave reliable results (94 per cent.) when more than one-third of the organisms seen in the smear made from the overnight culture were morphologically C. diphtheriae. If fewer C. diphtheriae were present in the smear th e primary culture gave uncertain results.
Precipitation Phenomena and the Wassermann Reaction
Authors: Wolf C. G. L. , Rideal E. K.
Published: May 2009

1. “Antigens” of varying sensitivity may be prepared by coating a dispersion of gum benzoin with saponin.

2. Using suitable dispersions so prepared a zone of precipitation is observed which is more extended for specific than for normal sera. Differentiation is more pronounced as the region of the isoelectric point of the globulin is approached.

3. Precipitation is effected by the ions of salts present in the solution discharging the negative antigen suspension which has been sensitised by the protein of the serum.

4. The mechanism of sensitisation is described.

5. Both albumins and globulins can protect or sensitise gum benzoin suspensions, the effect depending on an appropriate dilution. This effect occurs qualitatively irrespective of the hydrogen ion concentration of the medium. Quantitatively the position of the zone of precipitation and its extent is contingent on the reaction of the medium.

6. The euglobulin fractions of normal and of luetie sera deprived as far as possible of their lipoids can be differentiated both by the Wassermann test, and by precipitation tests.

7. Delipoided euglobulins from horse serum will yield a Wassermann positive reaction when used in certain concentrations. In more concentrated solutions an anticomplementary effect is exhibited.

8. Evidence is presented for the view that the euglobulins of specific sera differ rather in their composition or state of aggregation than in quantity from the euglobulin of non-specific sera.

9. The changes in sensitising power and in the Wassermann reactivity of euglobulin caused by repeated freezing or exposure to ultra-violet light run a parallel course.

10. Attempts to change the Wassermann properties of normal sera are briefly described.
Types of Haemolytic Streptococci in Relation to Scarlet Fever
Authors: Griffith Fred
Published: May 2009

The analysis of a series of haemolytic streptococci of scarlatinal origin by agglutinin absorption experiments has revealed the existence of three chief types. Among 81 strains from scarlatinal throats 37 have been shown to belong to one or other of the three types; 12 have been classified as Type 1, 14 as Type 2 and 11 as Type 3. In addition, two strains have been found which absorbed the agglutinin from both Types 1 and 3 sera.
The “Thompson” Type of Salmonella
Authors: Scott W. M.
Published: May 2009

(1) The source, cultural characters and serological properties of a new food-poisoning type of Salmonella are described.

(2) The value is emphasised of Andrewes' discovery of the group and specific phases in Salmonellas.

(3) Alteration of phase from group to specific can be produced by growth in group serum and vice versa. This device is useful in determining the sero logical type of strains which persistently appear in the group phase only.
Sonne Dysentery in Aberdeen
Authors: Fraser A. M. , Kinloch J. Parlane , Smith J.
Published: May 2009

1. In the absence of the epidemic prevalence of the dysenteries over a period of 30 months it is found that cases of the various forms of dysentery as occurring in Aberdeen have been in the proportion of 1 amoebic, to 3 Flexner, to 6 Sonne dysenteries, and it is concluded that B. dysenteriae Sonne is the most frequent cause of dysenteric outbreaks in Aberdeen in non-epidemic times.

2. A description of the clinical and bacteriological features of Sonne dysentery is submitted.

3. Preliminary experiments, undertaken with a view to ascertaining whether B. dysenteriae Sonne produces a true exo-toxin, are described.
Mortality From Cancer According to Site in the Counties of Scotland, 1923–8
Authors: Russell W. T.
Published: May 2009

As Scotland is the only home country for which information is published on the regional distribution of the mortality from cancer according to site, it seemed of interest to examine whether a particular site, or group of sites, had any special geographical location. With this object in view the present investigation was undertaken for the period 1923–8.
The Part Played by Meteorological Conditions on Respiratory Mortality in Liverpool
Authors: Woods Hilda M. , Stallybrass C. O.
Published: May 2009

In the annual report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health for 1925 (p. 22) the incidence rates of notifications of pneumonia in four-weekly periods are compared for large geographical groups in England and Wales. These rates show the divergence between the north and north-west and the remainder of the country, and also the fact that the north-west (Lancashire and Cheshire) usually compares badly with the north. During 1923 “in none of the thirteen periods was the rate for the north-west less than 15 per cent, in excess of the all-England rate and in ten it was equal to or greater than the rate for the north.” That these remarks still apply may be seen from the figures for 1930 (Table I). If one compares some of the large Lancashire towns with London the contrast is even greater (Table II). The towns giving the largest number of notifications of pneumonia are Liverpool and Manchester. These towns alone contributed 48 per cent, of the total number of notified cases of pneumonia in Lancashire during 1930. Their combined population forms about 30 per cent, of the total. Great caution is, however, required in drawing deductions from rates of notification of pneumonia, as considerable differences exist between one place and another in the extent to which the obligation to notify is complied with. Mortality rates provide a sounder basis of comparison.
The Serological Diagnosis of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fevers
Authors: Smith J.
Published: May 2009

The analysis of the serological results of blood specimens submitted during the course of the past 2 years for the Widal reaction has been made.

The sera from cases of typhoid and paratyphoid fever were examined in particular for their agglutinin content for the “H” and “O” antigens ofB. typhosusandB. paratyphosusB. The results obtained indicate that it is essential to use the “O” antigen ofB. typhosus, but no particular advantage has been derived, from the point of view of early diagnosis, from the use ofB. paratyphosusB “O” antigen.

A comparison of the value of suitable living and killed antigens has been made. Either type of antigen appears to be equally effective, but for convenience and stability the suspensions issued by the Standards Laboratory, Oxford, have proved entirely satisfactory.

Cases showing the serological difficulties which arise when a mixed specific and non-specific form ofB. paratyphosusB “H” antigen is used are described.

The author is indebted to the Medical Eesearch Council for a personal grant, and to Miss N. A. Davidson for much technical assistance.
A Study of theBacillus Mucosus CapsulatusGroup
Authors: Hay Hilda R.
Published: May 2009

The group of organisms included in the termB. mucosus capsulatushas continued to intrigue bacteriologists for more than thirty years, mainly on account of the problems of academic interest which arise when any attempt is made to define the characters of the group as a whole or to classify its members into types. Proof that such problems still exist is to be found in current text-books in which certain discrepancies occur regarding the biochemical reactions ascribed to the various members. There is also uncertainty as to the inclusion ofB. lactis aerogenesin the group (Topley and Wilson, 1929; Wilson, 1929). Much of the difficulty arose from the fact that Friedländer's bacillus, one of the first members of the group to be isolated (1883), was studied from a morphological standpoint, while Escherich who describedB. lactis aerogenesin 1886 stressed its biological similarity toB. coli. A chasm was thus created betweenB. lactis aerogenesand Friedländer's bacillus which has not been bridged to the present day, although these organisms must always have resembled, more than they differed from, each other;e.g. Bergey (1929) classifiesB. lactis aerogeneswith coliform types under Bacterieae and places Friedländer's bacillus in the tribeKlebsielleae Trevisan, i.e. encapsulated Gram negative organisms encountered principally in the respiratory tract, whose fermentation reactions are not given in full. Organisms morphologically similar to Friedländer's bacillus were found to be widely distributed, and in 1896 Fricke named the groupB. mucosus capsulatus. There is still little criticism to be made of his general description to the effect that the members were Gram-negative, possessed capsules, showed marked pleomorphism and did not form spores; they grew on a variety of media in a profuse slimy layer, and in gelatin stabs they did not liquefy, but showed the so-called “nail” growth; in addition to this, most of the bacteria classed under this head formed a moderate amount of indole and fermented carbohydrates in solution with production of acid and gas. In an attempt to type members of this group Perkins (1904) admitted that the current knowledge of technique had been almost exhausted in the effort to separate one member from another, but on the basis of certain biochemical differences he was able to distinguish three classes, of which the first was the largest:
The Conditions of Temperature and Humidity of the Air between the Skin and Shirt of Man
Authors: Mellanby Kenneth
Published: May 2009

Methods for measuring the temperature and humidity of the air beneath the shirt are described.

Conditions of temperature and humidity under the shirt are described, for a resting person, with external temperatures varying between 0° C. and 41° C., under different atmospheric humidities. The air beneath the shirt varied between 23° C. and 37° C., and 23 and 70 per cent. relative humidity. The saturation deficiency of the air beneath the shirt varied very little—only between 13 and 18 mm.—in all the observations taken.

I am indebted to Dr P. A. Buxton for many helpful suggestions and for reading the manuscript. Also to Prof. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., for drawing my attention to literature on the earlier work.
The Problem of the Seasonal Prevalence of Plague
Authors: Otten L.
Published: May 2009

1. The epidemic spread of plague in Java usually shows periodicity in that the increase commences in the third quarter, the driest period of the year, the apex being reached in the last months of the year. Afterwards, still in the middle of the wet monsoon, the decrease commences and reaches its lowest point in the second quarter.

2. This seasonal course of plague—in the mountainous parts of Java at least—corresponds with a distinct fluctuation in the flea index during the same period.

3. Whereas under the climatic conditions of the mountainous regions of Java the flea index usually follows the rise and fall of the saturation deficiency, it has been shown that in British India the influence of the saturation deficiency is in an exactly opposite direction.
The Haemoglobin Concentration of Workers connected with Internal Combustion Engines
Authors: Jenkins C. E.
Published: May 2009

The present investigation, was undertaken to test the American suggestion that the higher mean concentration of haemoglobin in males in America, compared to this country, is due to the chronic inhalation of carbon monoxide from the exhaust of closed motor cars (Price-Jones, 1931).
An Investigation into the Effect of Certain Factors upon Child Health and Child Weight
Authors: McGonigle G. C. M. , McKinlay P. L.
Published: May 2009

It does seem clear from the above series of results that of the factors examined in their relation to rickets, etc., the only one of substantial importance is differences in the manner of feeding. The absence of definite association with overcrowding is, certainly, surprising, in spite of the fact that we realise how crude is the measure of this factor which we have had to adopt. If, as we suggest, the personal factor is not a very serious one, the above findings afford at least prima facie evidence of the truth of the assertions made previously, and are certainly sufficient to warrant the prosecution of further field enquiries, on this line, but having greater regard to the obtaining of the necessary information in a form more suitable for detailed analysis.

In this section the influence of five possible factors on the weight of the child has been considered. No one of these can be shown to be of outstanding importance in this respect; but the efficiency of the mother shows the highest and most consistent relationship. Health of mother and those variations of feeding which are considered here as indiscretions have no appreciable influence on infant weight, but the remaining two variables, overcrowding and position of the infant in the family, seem to influence the weight of the child. In the case of overcrowding, the effect is small and only becomes substantial towards the end of the first year. Position of the infant in family, likewise, is of little moment; first and latest-born infants initially seem to have lower than average weights, but towards the end of the first year of life the weights of first-born infants tend to be over average, while those of infants born into already large families still show evidence of inferiority.
The Utilisation of Citrates and the Fermentation of Cellobiose by Strains ofBacterium ColiIsolated from Human Faeces
Authors: Skinner C. E. , Brudnoy H. G.
Published: May 2009

1. Of 585 strains of lactose-fermenting aerobes each isolated from faeces of a different person, 501 did not utilise citrate or ferment cellobiose; 20 were citrate negative and cellobiose positive; 27 were cellobiose negative and citrate positive; and 37 were positive to both tests.

2. Almost 10 per cent, of the strains isolated were indol negative.

3. One culture was methyl-red negative and Voges-Proskauer positive. Two were positive to both tests. The rest were methyl-red positive and Voges-Proskauer negative.

4. It is concluded that the results are not favourable to the use of the citrate or the cellobiose test in routine water analysis.

5. A discussion of the taxonomy of the lactose-fermenting aerobes is given. Only two species,Bacterium coli(Escherich) L. and N., andBacterium aerogenes(Escherich) Chester, are recognised.
Miscellaneous Studies on the Iodine and Goitre Problem in New Zealand
Authors: Hercus C. E. , Aitken H. A. A.
Published: May 2009

1. Methods for the estimation of iodine in natural products are described.

2. Common sea weeds on the Pacific coast of Otago have an iodine content of the same order as similar species on the Pacific coast of British Columbia.

3. InCystophora retroflexa, which contains over 0·1 per cent, of iodine, 70–80 per cent, of the iodine appears to be in inorganic or loosely bound combination. Precipitation and colour tests indicate that di-iodotyrosine is also present.

4. Observations are recorded of the iodine content of kelp-feeding and other fish.

5. Administration of anaesthetics produces fluctuations in the concentration of blood iodine in rabbits, the effect persisting after removal of the thyroid gland. Experimentsin vitrosuggest that only in the case of inorganic iodine could a redistribution of iodine between tissues and serum be brought about by the direct action of anaesthetics.

6. New Zealand cabbage possesses goitrigenous properties for rabbits but in a much smaller degree than American cabbage.

7. The urinary excretion of Samoans is compared with that of inhabitants of Christchurch Mental Hospital.

8. The incidence and course of development of goitre at Christchurch Mental Hospital is discussed.

9. Values are given for the iodine content of Otago pigs' thyroids.
Physical Measurements of Adolescent School-Boys in Relation to Scholastic Attainment and Prowess in Games and Sports
Authors: Mumford Alfred A.
Published: May 2009

The following study completes the examination of the data derived from certain physical and physiological measurings of adolescent boys at the Manchester Grammar School, taken during the last ten years with a view to enquiring whether any definite relationship could be discovered between such measurings, considered singly or in combination, and either general scholasticattainments or special aptitudes in school sports and games. If such relationship, indicating either general or particular aspects of health and vitality, could be discovered, then, although spontaneity of choice in classroomand playing-fields should always be jealously guarded, yet the cause of many failures might be revealed and such innate energy as the boy may possess be directed into more appropriate channels.
Further Experiences with Intravenous Antitoxin Treatment of Scarlet Fever
Authors: Banks H. Stanley
Published: May 2009

1. Experience of 4½ years of intravenously administered scarlatinal antitoxin, in 1204 cases, confirms the tentative conclusions reached in 1928, viz. that the acute stage of the disease can generally be arrested in 12–24 hours, complications almost wholly prevented, and the period of morbidity reduced to a little over a fortnight.

2. These effects were obtained in hospital wards where over 50 per cent, of the cases, generally about 75 per cent, and including all the worst, were so treated, and it is possible that the reduction of mass infection obtained in the wards by this means is an essential condition for obtaining such results. Under such conditions relapses and cross-infections were very rare.

3. Some evidence was obtained that intravenous antitoxin administered in the acute stage of scarlet fever largely prevents the onset of septic complications, including the late septic type itself, scarlatina anginosa; and that it may be of striking benefit in the treatment of the septic type, even at a late stage.

4. The importance of proved clinical potency and freedom from dangerous reactions of each individual batch of serum to be employed, is stressed.

5. Indications and contra-indications are stated.

6. Certain precautions and details of technique are recommended.
Genetic Predisposition toBacillus piliformisInfection among Mice
Authors: Gowen John W. , Schott Ralph G.
Published: May 2009

Tyzzer (1917), who described an epidemic that had appeared in his mouse colony, named the causative organismBacillus piliformis, giving an inclusive description of its behaviour and morphology. Both natural and experimental infections were studied. The high susceptibility of the Japanese waltzers as contrasted with the relative immunity of the common mice suggests that the disease susceptibility may be linked with the waltzing factor.
Selective Media for the Isolation, Cultivation and Differentiation ofBacillus coliandB. lactis aerogenes
Authors: Wilson W. James
Published: May 2009

1. An agar medium is described which enables a direct estimation of the numbers of coliform bacilli in a water or milk sample to be made.

2. An enrichment medium forB. lactis aerogenesis one containing in every 100 c.c. of peptone water 0·5 g. sodium citrate, 0·25 g. soluble starch and 1 c.c. of a 1 per cent, watery solution of neutral red.

3. Enrichment media forB. coliare: (a) lactose peptone water containing in every 100 c.c., 1 g. sodium sulphite anhydrous and 2 c.c. of 1 per cent, rosolic acid in absolute alcohol; (b) lactose peptone water containing in every 100 c.c., 2 c.c. of a 40 per cent, solution of hexamine in water.

4. Importance is attached to the capacity to ferment starch possessed byB. lactis aerogenes.

5. The application of these media to the examination of water and milk is indicated.
The Statistics of Erysipelas in England and Wales
Authors: Russell W. T.
Published: May 2009

1. The annual number of notified cases of erysipelas is approximately 17,000, and assuming complete notification of the disease the general case fatality is approximately 6 per cent.

2. The death-rate, deaths in terms of the population, varies according to age, being highest at the beginning and end of life and at a minimum between the age of 5 and 10 years. The mortality of males is identical with that of females up to age 25, but is afterwards in excess.

3. The disease has in recent years a well-marked seasonal incidence—a winter and spring excess with a summer defect. In this respect it resembles scarlet and puerperal fevers and, although its seasonal incidence has changed in the course of time, the alteration has not been nearly so pronounced as that for scarlet fever.

4. The incidence is highly correlated with overcrowded conditions, the correlation coefficient being in some periods as high as + 0·83 in the divisions of London and + 0·70 in the sanitary districts of Glasgow.

5. The morbidity from erysipelas is fairly well correlated in time with that from scarlet fever and erysipelas, but in London, in the urban and in the rural districts of England and Wales, the spacial correlation is very small. On the other hand, in Glasgow the spacial correlation between the incidence of erysipelas and that of scarlet fever is highly negative, −0·718 ±0·109, whereas between erysipelas and puerperal fever the association is positive, + 0·689±0·109 during the period 1903–8, but these values were much reduced when the partial coefficients were calculated.
The Ticks of Rodents and their Nests, and the Discovery that Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latr. is the Vector of Tropical Typhus in Kenya
Authors: Roberts J. Isgaer
Published: May 2009

1. Earlier attempts to trace the vector of tropical typhus in Kenya failed. The only references to the subject in the available literature consist of mere suggestions that a mite would most likely prove to be the transmitter.

2. An investigation made in an area whence most Nairobi cases of tropical typhus were reported, suggested that a tick (R. pulchellus) would be the most likely vector.

3. Transmission experiments made in the belief that one of the unclassed fevers of man was conveyed by R. pulchellus have so far yielded negative results. There is, however, sufficient circumstantial evidence available pointing to this tick as vector of a form of mild typhus to man—this demands further investigation.

4. At Mombasa and Nairobi, houses reported to be heavily infested with ticks, or houses investigated after the occurrence of the tropical typhus in them, have yielded only R. sanguineus.

5. R. sanguineus (3 ♀), taken from a dog in a house where the last typhus case had occurred 8 months previously, gave a typical typhus syndrome when emulsified and inoculated into a male guinea-pig. R. sanguineus (1 ♀, 12 ⊙), taken in a house where a child had recently contracted typhus, also gave a positive result with guinea-pigs and the virus was further transmitted by passage through other guinea-pigs.

6. The infestation of houses by R. sanguineus and the incidence of tropical typhus among human beings appear to be influenced by unfavourable weather conditions, causing the ticks to seek relatively dry and warm places for purposes of oviposition or metamorphosis, thus invading houses. In the absence of dogs, its usual hosts, the tick attacks man.
Impetigo Contagiosa, its Epidemiology and Control
Authors: Newman J. L.
Published: May 2009

The infectious fevers have, during the last fifty years, been the subject of much epidemiological research, and have thus been made to yield up secrets which have materially affected the whole outlook of preventive medicine. But there yet remains for exploration a vast adjacent territory, that of minor coccal infections of the skin. However, whereas the former, being clearly defined clinically and in many cases subject to compulsory notification, lend themselves well to investigations of this sort, Impetigo, as a type of minor coccal dermatitis, surrounds itself with dificulties. For not only does it vary very much in its appearances by the time it is first seen but it is often of so little severity that it does not come under the observation of a physician at all, so that the influence of missed cases, always an important factor to be reckoned with in the study of epidemics, may assume such proportions as to give quite an erroneous impression of the total incidence of the disease. Consequently the epidemic aspects of impetigo have as yet received very little attention.
Bactericidal effects of the partial irradiation of a room with ultra-violet light
Authors: Lidwell O. M.
Published: May 2009

The process of removal of bacteria from the air of a room of which part only is irradiated with ultra-violet light is discussed.

Formulae are derived for the rate of disappearance of bacteria from the air in such circumstances and for The equilibrium levels reached when bacteria-carrying particles are being continuously introduced into the air at a constant rate. These formulae include terms for the effect of simultaneous ventilation and for the effect of sedimentation of the bacteria-carrying particles.

The results of a short series of tests are compared with those calculated from these formulae and the two found to agree reasonably well on the assumption that the air within both the irradiated and nonirradiated zones is effectively mixed.

Figures are given over a range of humidities for the sensitivity of salivary organisms to ultra-violet irradiation when suspended as small particles in the air.

A chart is presented for the evaluation of the mean radiation intensity within a rectangular volume produced by a point source situated within or on the boundaries of the volume.
Schick reactions in recently confined women and their new-born infants
Authors: Vogelsang Th. M. , Kryvi B. O.
Published: May 2009

The Schick test was carried out on 500 recently confined women and their new-born infants. The Schick reaction was positive in as many as 73 % of the mothers and in 60 % of their infants. The infants were positive reactors in 82% of all the cases in which their mothers were positive.

The reaction of the new-born infants was, as a rule, weaker than that of the mothers. It often happened that when the mother's reaction was faintly positive, her infant's reaction was negative.

When the mothers had been immunized with diphtheria toxoid, the overwhelming majority of both the mothers and their new-born infants were negative. Immunization of Schick-positive women with diphtheria toxoid during pregnancy is recommended as a preventive of diphtheria in infancy, as by this means the antitoxin level of the new-born infant can be raised.

We wish to acknowledge our indebtedness to Jörgen Lövset, M.D., chief physician, Hospital for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Bergen, Norway, for permission to use the material for this investigation.
Quantitative study of the sterilization of bacteria by mercuric compounds
Authors: de Loureiro J. A. , Lito Eugenio
Published: May 2009

In the present work it is suggested that the sterilization of bacterial suspensions by mercurial antiseptics is a reflexion of a possible stoichiometrical relation between the mercuric compound and the thiol receptors in the bacterial cells.

This has been verified experimentally by studying the times of survival of suspensions of B. typhosum mixed with multiples and submultiples of the quantity of antiseptic theoretically equivalent to the thiol content of the suspension, as estimated by iodometric titration.

The considerable differences observed in the time of survival of suspensions mixed respectively with more and with less than the thiol equivalent of antiseptic, and the absence of any marked effect of dilution of the mixture, show that there is a quantitative relationship between the amounts of substrate and the quantity of antiseptic capable of sterilizing it.
Endemic pellagra in northern Portugal
Authors: Monteiro A. Moura , Coutinho Herculano , Janz G. J. , de Loureiro J. A.
Published: May 2009

1. A clinical and biochemical study of a group of thirty patients from northern Portugal shows that they were suffering from a mild form of pellagra with no signs of severe malnutrition or of associated deficiencies except dental abrasion caries and pyorrhoea.

2. The diet of these patients in most respects was chemically satisfactory. Apart from a very low consumption of animal protein the gross intake of calories, total protein minerals and vitamins, including nicotinic acid, was satisfactory.

3. Since the syndrome was completely cured by nicotinic acid, it is suggested that the main characteristic of a diet on which pellagra is likely to develop is not a shortage of nicotinic acid, but a lack of high-grade protein.

4. A maize diet, satisfactory so far as calories and total protein are concerned, may produce pellagra because maize proteins are short of certain essential amino-acids. Other cereal diets may also produce pellagra if the general level of nutrition is very low.

5. The syndrome may be cured either by very large doses of nicotinic acid without change of diet or by moderate doses accompanied by abundant animal protein.
An experimental basis for estimating the virulence of tubercle bacilli
Authors: Stewart G. T. , Tamargo-Sanchez M.
Published: May 2009

1. Mice infected intracerebrally with M. tuberculosis H 37 Rv in doses of 400,000–1,300,000 bacillary units gave a graduated series of responses whose regression provided an arbitrary 100% standard of mouse virulence for human tubercle bacilli.

2. Under certain experimental conditions this standard remained stable and its confidence limits could be defined.

3. The relative virulence of other strains of tubercle bacilli could be assessed quantitatively in relation to this standard, and expressed as a (percentage) virulence ratio.

4. 100% virulence was defined as that of a strain showing a threshold of response of 600,000–1,300,000 bacillary units, lethal cerebral lesions at 8–20 days or necrotic pulmonary lesions at 20–30 days, and a mean 50% mortality time of less than 36 days.

5. Qualitative and quantitative responses characteristic of intermediate and very low virulence were also defined.

6. Higher proportions of virulent cells were obtained from 3 to 7 days than from older cultures in Tween-albumin liquid media, but inocula were more suitably standardized by obtaining cells from 11 to 12-day cultures.

7. Passage in the mouse and guinea-pig failed to alter the virulence of H 37 Rv. A slight increase was effected by passage in the lung of the rabbit.

8. The technique employed was a measure essentially of the ability of the organism to multiply in, and damage, resistant tissues.
An apparatus for the study of airborne infection
Authors: Henderson David W.
Published: May 2009

A relatively simple and safe apparatus for the study of airborne infection is described.

Cloud sampling and assessment techniques are described and critically discussed. Evidence is given concerning the satisfactory reproducibility of in vitro and in vivo assays.

Limitations to the usefulness of the apparatus are noted.