bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Beriberi and other Food-deficiency Diseases in Newfoundland and Labrador
Authors: Aykroyd W. R.
Published: May 2009

1. Beriberi occurring on a white-flour staple is similar to that occurring on a rice staple.

2. Under the difficult climatic conditions of North Newfoundland and Labrador, families are obliged to buy food stores in November or December to last until the following May or June. When poverty prevents a sufficient variety of foodstuffs, and calories are the foremost consideration, white flour with few extras forms the main dietary, and beriberi tends to occur in April, May or June. It occurs in families who have grown few vegetables and shot little game.

3. The disease attacks more men than women, and very rarely children between the ages of infancy and puberty. The age and sex incidences of beriberi are difficult of explanation and differ in different countries.

4. Infantile beriberi probably occurs in Newfoundland and Labrador, but is largely unrecognised.

5. The main cause of beriberi is vitamin B1deficiency, but the diets of patients suffering from beriberi are deficient in other respects.

6. It is suggested that the infrequency of wet beriberi in Newfoundland may be due to the fact that wheat flour has a higher protein content than polished rice.

7. Since poverty and deficiency disease are rigidly associated, prevention is an economic rather than a medical problem.

8. Severe scurvy and rickets are not often met.

9. Functional hemeralopia or night-blindness occurs mainly during the summer among men. It occurs on a diet deficient in vitamin A, and is rapidly curable by vitamin A containing foods, a fact well known to the Newfound landers. The disease may occur in men taking a deficient diet for less than one month. Other evidences of vitamin A deficiency are lacking.

10. Tuberculosis, severe dental caries, functional stomach complaints and constipation are common. Gastric and duodenal ulcer, diabetes and obesity are rare.
The Examination of the Tissues and Some Observations on the Blood Platelets of Rabbits at Intervals of Five Minutes, and Later, after Intravenous Inoculations of Staphylococcus aureus and Indian Ink
Authors: Dudgeon Leonard S. , Goadby H. K.
Published: May 2009

1. The tissue reactions in rabbits from intravenous injections of live and dead Staphylococcus aureus and massive doses of indian ink and colloidal silver have been studied.

2. Any particles injected into the circulation cause the accumulation of polymorphs in the lung capillaries.

3. Inert colloidal particles such as indian ink are clumped in the capillaries of the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys, and are phagocytosed by the endothelial cells.

4. Staphylococci (S. aureus), live or dead, are nearly all held up in the lungs, where they are actively phagocytosed by the polymorphs within 5 minutes of an intravenous injection.

5. Subsequently the cocci are distributed to the other organs, where phagocytosis continues mainly by polymorphs, but in the liver also by the Kupfer cells.

6. Special attention is drawn to the localisation of the cocci in certain areas in the kidneys.

7. Platelet counting on animals injected with various substances showed that there is an agglomeration of the particles with the platelets, which are consequently removed from the circulation.

8. In the case of the inert particles the platelets are then restored to the circulation. With organisms (S. aureus) some of the platelets appear to be completely removed from the blood together with the bacteria.
Birth Rates and their possible association with the prevalence of Infectious Disease
Authors: Cumpston J. H. L.
Published: May 2009

It will, perhaps, be interesting to students of epidemiology to compare with the delicate and complex reactions of an experimental animal population the grosser reactions of a human population. In Australia the materials have been singularly favourable for a demographical study.
Observations on Bacillus (Haemophilus) influenzae with Special Reference to Morphology and Colonial Characters
Authors: Smith Muriel M.
Published: May 2009

1. Several strains of the influenza bacillus were grown under varying conditions for many months in order to ascertain whether morphology and colonial appearances could be permanently modified.

2. It was found that a modification in morphology occurred in all the strains studied.

3. Typical coccobacillary forms were changed to atypical long-curved forms.

4. The reverse change from atypical was also observed but was not so frequent, nor, when it occurred, was it so constant.

5. The change took place most readily after growth in a flask of Fildes' broth for several weeks or months at 37° C.

6. There was found to be a definite association between morphology and colonial form. The typical strains produced smooth colonies, while the atypical gave rough colonies, or colonies very much smaller than those produced by the typical.

7. When the change in morphology took place the change in colonial form occurred at the same time.

8. The biochemical characters remained on the whole unchanged.

9. One hundred and forty strains were examined for their fermentation reactions. The sugars most frequently fermented were dextrose, maltose and sucrose.

10. The atypicals were more active fermenters than the typicals.

11. 63·9 per cent. of the typicals, and 18 per cent. of the atypicals, gave a positive indol reaction.

12. Although the ability to grow on X or V alone affords an important differential criterion within this group, great care is necessary in interpreting the results obtained, especially in the case of those strains which grow on V in the absence of X. Different yeast preparations may give very different results in this respect.

13. All the strains tested were non-haemolytic.
On the evolution of fixed strains of rabies virus
Authors: Lépine Pierre
Published: May 2009

We know, since the time of Pasteur, that repeated passage of rabies street virus from rabbit to rabbit after intracerebral inoculation, leads to a modification of its effect and the appearance of mutative characters. This takes place at a variable period of time depending upon the strain employed. The irreversibility and the permanence of these characters has led to the name of “fixed virus” once the street virus has become adapted for the rabbit.
Cotton and plague in Uganda
Authors: Hopkins G. H. E.
Published: May 2009

Various authors have stated that the plague problem in Uganda is intimately connected with the cotton industry. Thornton sums up their statements: “as at present conducted the industry is a peril to other countries and to the peasants of Uganda themselves on account of plague”. The evidence given in support of these statements is vague and unconvincing and Roberts has investigated the question and come to an entirely different conclusion.
Cross infection in diphtheria wards
Authors: Glass V. , Wright H. D.
Published: May 2009

1. Evidence is adduced to indicate that cross infection occurred in 36·6% of a series of 246 patients in diphtheria wards.

2. In patients who were in hospital longer than 2 months it occurred in 68%.

3. Persistence of diphtheria bacilli in the upper respiratory tract was responsible for prolongation of hospitalization in 76% of cases in a series examined.

4. In 80% of these cases this persistence was a result of cross infection.

5. The administrative importance of cross infection is discussed.
Leucopenia and the toxic substances ofB. typhosus
Authors: Robertson R. C. , Yu H.
Published: May 2009

The transitory leucopenia in the peripheral blood of rabbits following injection ofB. typhosustoxic substances is due to the temporary accumulation of neutrophils in the reticulo-endothelial organs. We deduce from this that the phenomenon of leucopenia in the typhoid fever of man is due to the constant liberation ofB. typhosustoxic substances in the circulation during the course of the disease.
Distribution of coliform organisms in milk and the accuracy of the presumptive coliform test
Authors: Barkworth H. , Irwin J. O.
Published: May 2009

1. The presumptive coliform test was carried out by each of three workers, at each of four dilutions, on seventeen sets of five tubes for each of seven samples of 18-hour-old afternoon milk, held overnight in the ice chest.

2. With the exception of three slightly anomalous results, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that the chance of a tube remaining sterile is constant for all tubes inoculated from the same sample of milk at any one dilution.

3. The assumption of a Poisson distribution of organisms in parallel tubes is accurate enough, with these data, to give a good idea of the order of magnitude of the number of bacteria per ml.

4. There is, however, a tendency, more marked in our data in autumn than in spring, for the estimated count to rise at the higher dilutions. This may plausibly be attributed to the breaking up of clumps.
Some observations on the Rideal-Walker test
Authors: Thaysen A. C.
Published: May 2009

Discrepancies in coefficient values of the order of those recorded by the Laboratory of the Royal Institute of Public Health (1923) were obtained by the writer when determining the Rideal-Walker coefficient of four samples of disinectants. In these determinations he had adhered srictly to the technique laid down in the British Standards Institution's specification No. 541, of 1934.
A study of English diets by the individual method: III. Pregnant women at different economic levels
Authors: McCance R. A. , Widdowson E. M. , Verdon-Roe C. M.
Published: May 2009

1. The diets of 120 pregnant women at different economic levels have been studied by the individual method.

2. The intake of calories was found to be little affected by income, and this was true also of fat and carbohydrate. The intakes of protein, animal protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B1rose convincingly with income.

3. These differences were due to the fact that a rise in spending power led to an increased consumption of milk, fruit, vegetables and meat, and to a decreased consumption of bread and total cereals. Details are given in Table V.

4. Women taking the better diets were found on average to be taller and less anaemic than those taking the poorer diets. The differences were significant.

5. A comparison of the diets of the well-to-do women with the requirements suggested by the League of Nations and other authorities suggests that the requirement for calories has been set too high. The intake of calcium was suboptimal throughout and the diets of the poorer women were deficient in many respects.
Anthrax in mink (Mustela vison)
Authors: Greener Averil W.
Published: May 2009

An account is given of outbreaks of anthrax among mink, which occurred in Great Britain during 1936–8, and the possible danger to human beings from this source is discussed. Attention is called to the peculiar features of one of the outbreaks and to the probable mode of infection.

Acknowledgements. My best thanks are due to Dr D. Jordan Lloyd for supplying information and references concerning the dressing of pelts, to the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture for details of outbreaks of anthrax during 1936–8, and to Dr F. C. Minett for his assistance in compiling this paper.
The specificity of antisera against crystalline serum albumin
Authors: Adair Muriel E. , Hamilton John
Published: May 2009

Antisera prepared in the rabbit by injection of crystalline horse-serum albumin or crystalline human-serum albumin show a considerable diminution in specificity after more than one course of six to eight injections has been given.

The ratio of precipitate nitrogen to antigen nitrogen at the optimal point is smaller in antisera obtained after one course of injections than in antisera derived from subsequent bleedings.

In the case of antisera obtained from first bleedings, the ratio of precipitate nitrogen to antigen nitrogen determined at the optimal point with homologous antigen is of approximately the same value in both the antigen-antibody systems studied. The increase in the values of the ratios for antisera from subsequent bleedings is also the same for both systems.
Somatic and “X” agglutinins to theSalmonellagroup
Authors: Cruickshank J. C.
Published: May 2009

An examination was made of 200 Wassermann sera, thirty-eight sera from typhoid, twenty-five from paratyphoid B and thirty-one from tuberculous cases, for somatic agglutinins to a range of Salmonellas representative of the O groups then available.

In the Wassermann sera O agglutinins, except toBact. typhosumandBact. paratyphosumB, were rare, and the titres against these organisms were low, attaining a titre of 1: 80 againstBact. typhosumin one serum only.

The sera of the enteric cases mostly possessed agglutinins to bothBact. typhosumO andBact. paratyphosumB O. Cross-relations withBact. paratyphosumA,Bact. londonand, to a less extent,Bact. paratyphosumC, were common in the typhoid sera. Otherwise there was no evidence of relation amongst the somatic groups tested.

The response to T.A.B. inoculation of fifteen individuals suggested also the relation of some organism in the vaccine toBact. londonand its probable lack of relation to the other somatic groups.

There was no evidence of increased frequency ofSalmonellaagglutinins in tuberculous cases.

The cross-relations of the Salmonellas was found to be due to the possession of minor antigenic components and not to possession of X antigen, which was absent from the suspensions used. X agglutinins were not more frequent in the pathological than in the Wassermann sera.

The relation of these findings to the diagnostic agglutination test is discussed, and the possibility of error consequent upon the use of suspensions containing X antigen is pointed out.
The nature of a pyogenic filterable agent in the white rat
Authors: Woglom William H. , Warren Joel
Published: May 2009

Still another instance is reported where an agent resembling the viruses has ultimately proved to be an organism which can be cultivated, but only in media containing a high proportion of serum.
Bacteriological findings in an epidemic of Sonne dysentery
Authors: Beck A. , Buckle D. F.
Published: May 2009

During an epidemic of Sonne dysentery in Tooting Bec Hospital of which the epidemiological aspects have been described by one of us (Buckle, 1938), and during a recurrence of this epidemic, a number of strains were isolated of the causal organism (140) and various bacilli which were somewhat similar in their cultural and biochemical behaviour. It was thought that a close bacteriological and serological examination of these might be useful in giving information about the constancy of behaviour of the Sonne group, the question of possible biochemical subgroups of Sonne bacilli (Bojlén. 1934), and the relationship of the dysenteroid organisms isolated to the true dysentery bacilli, their classification, and significance.
The effects of morphine, diacetylmorphine and some related alkaloids upon the alimentary tract: Part III. Caecum and colon
Authors: Myers G. Norman
Published: May 2009

1. The effects of morphine, heroin, codeine, dilaudid, dicodid and eukadol upon the caecum and colon are described.

2. Small quantities of morphine produce a rapid increase in tone and amplitude of movements lasting many hours. Large doses result in a spastic contraction of the intestine with diminution of peristaltic movements.

3. The effects of heroin closely resemble those of morphine; it usually produces a greater increase in tone than morphine but the movements are not so great. Heroin is about 30% more active than morphine.

4. Codeine appears to be the weakest member of the series. It causes a slight increase in tone and peristaltic movements which never last very long.

5. Dilaudid produces effects which closely resemble those of morphine and heroin but it is approximately 7.5 times more potent than morphine. Intestinal tone is increased at first but may be subnormal at the 3 or 4 hr. stage. The maximum amplitude of peristaltic movements is seen at the 3 hr. stage.

6. Dicodid increases the tone, and particularly the peristaltic movements. The effects upon the general tone are moderate, much less than those of morphine, heroin or dilaudid. The increase in the amplitude of the movements is, however, much greater than with any other of the drugs. It differs from the others in producing its effects only after a long latent interval of 1–2 hr.

7. Eukadol increases the peristaltic movements in a marked way and is more active in this respect than either morphine or heroin, but is inferior to dicodid. Its effects upon tone are very transient and never very marked.

8. The effects of all these drugs upon the tone and peristaltic movements are at once abolished by adrenalin or atropine. Except morphine and eukadol, these drugs failed to produce their effects when administered after full doses of atropine.

9. The injection of hypophysin during the phase of increased muscular activity following the injection of these drugs, always causes an immediate abolition or diminution of the peristaltic movements and loss of tone to a subnormal level. There is however a rapid recovery from this state and approximately 5–10 min. later the movements are increased to an amplitude far in excess of that seen perior to the injection of hypophysin.
Air purification by hypochlorous acid gas
Authors: Masterman A. T.
Published: May 2009

1. A short synopsis of research upon application of hypochlorites to airpurification is given.

2. A short review of the most recent work on this subject shows that:

(a) Of the “nebulizers” employed by Baker, Finn & Twort (1940) the “Atmozon” is incapable of consistent atomizing of hypochlorites, whilst the “Aerograph” has an efficiency much below that of modern atomizers.

(b) The data obtained by them, after due allowance for defective technique, can be interpreted as fully confirming the view that HOCl gas is the active germicide in hypochlorite spraying. Sterility can be approximately attained (99·75% reduction) by HOCl gas with a volumetric concentration in air, of not more than (3·5 × 109)−1.

(c) The application of the “Aerosol” theory is discussed and reasons given for its non-applicability to hypochlorite spraying.

(d) Alleged drawbacks to this practical application of hypochlorite air disinfection are discussed and shown to be of no practical importance.
The serological diagnosis of glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis): a new technique
Authors: Barrett A. M.
Published: May 2009

1. The agglutination titres for sheep and for horse erythrocytes of 100 normal sera and twenty-seven glandular fever sera have been determined.

2. The results of the sheep-cell agglutination tests on normal sera differed considerably from those of Stuart, Burgess, Lawson & Wellman (1934) whose technique was used. The reason for this difference was not determined. It was thought to have some bearing upon the interpretation of sheep-cell agglutination tests in the diagnosis of glandular fever.

3. Although in the glandular fever sera the horse-cell titre was usually higher than the sheep-cell titre, the normal range for horse cells was also higher, and in the diagnosis of glandular fever there did not appear to be any advantage in using horse cells instead of sheep cells.

4. The value of absorption tests in the diagnosis of glandular fever is discussed and a new technique described which has practical advantages over other methods although it does not embody any important new principles.

5. Of 300 normal sera examined by this technique, five contained small amounts of an antibody indistinguishable from glandular fever antibody and ten others contained a sheep-cell agglutinin apparently, though not certainly, different from any yet recognized in human serum.

6. A comparison of the results of the two tests on thirty-one samples of glandular fever serum showed the absorption test to be a more sensitive diagnostic test for glandular fever than the ordinary sheep-cell agglutination test.
Comparative detection of coliform organisms in milk and water by the presumptive coliform test
Authors: Barkworth H. , Irwin J. O.
Published: May 2009

It has been shown (Barkworth & Irwin, 1938) that the distribution of coliform organisms in milk follows a Poisson series, and on this basis it should be possible to estimate the population from the results of replicate tests at several dilution levels by reference to tables. In later experiments with water (Barkworth & Irwin, 1941), it was found that the number of positive tubes did not always reach expectation, having regard to the known numbers of organisms inoculated. The peculiar physico-chemical constitution of milk naturally raises the question whether coliform organisms, though present, might fail to give a positive reaction in the presumptive test. It is well known that in favourable circumstances lactic acid bacteria will overgrow all other organisms in milk. In the presumptive test the greatest concentration of milk in routine technique is 1 ml. of milk in 5 ml. of medium. This dilution would not affect the ratio of coliform organisms to lactic acid bacteria. Even when the coliform contamination at the time of testing is ‘present in 0·001 ml.’ the agreement with the fermentation test is only about 50% (Barkworth, 1929). It will be argued that the gas tube would disclose the presence of gas in more cases than the fermentation test, nevertheless it is not perfect, for Chalmers (1928) recovered Bact. coli from plates of 1: 10 dilution of samples of milk which had given a negative presumptive test. There is therefore some reason to expect a small proportion of false negative coliform results to occur with milk samples, and the object of the present experiment was to see if inoculation with a known number of organisms would produce similar numbers of positive tubes in milk and in water.
An apparatus for the safe inoculation of animals with dangerous pathogens
Authors: van den Ende M.
Published: May 2009

An apparatus which prevents the distribution of infective droplets into the air of the laboratory during the intranasal inoculation of mice is described.

Experiments using Chr. prodigiosum as indicator organism are described to show the extent and duration of the droplet dissemination by inoculated mice, and the effect of the apparatus in reducing this dissemination.

We wish to express our thanks to Dr R. B. Bourdillon for many suggestions in the design of the apparatus, and to Mr C. D. Sutton for the photographs.
An agglutinogen common to certain strains of lactose and non-lactose-fermenting coliform bacilli
Authors: Stamp Lord , Stone Doris M.
Published: May 2009

1. Certain strains of lactose and non-lactose-fermenting coliform bacilli have been found to possess a common agglutinogen. This antigen is found in both motile and non-motile smooth strains and appears to be distinct from ‘H’, ‘O’ and rough antigens, and from the X antigen described by Topley & Ayrton. In certain respects it seems to resemble the Vi antigen of Felix & Pitt, notably in the inhibitory effect it exerts on ‘O’ agglutination. It is, however, not associated with virulence and is of relatively wide distribution.

2. The strains, when inoculated into rabbits, stimulate the production to high titre of an agglutinin which can be absorbed out completely by any one of the strains.

3. Subculture of the strains under certain conditions results in the loss of the antigen and the development of specific variants.

4. Agglutinins to these strains have been found in certain diagnostic sera and may prove a possible source of error, particularly if slide agglutination is relied on for identification.

We take this opportunity of expressing our thanks to Prof. G. S. Wilson for the loan of Bact. typhi-murium ‘X’ antiserum.
Etiological factors in broncho-pneumonia amongst infants in London
Authors: Wright G. Payling , Wright Helen Payling
Published: May 2009

1. In the period 1923–39, more than one-fifth of all deaths in the age group 0-2 years in the Administrative County of London are recorded as having been caused by bronchitis or broncho-pneumonia. It is very unlikely that the returns have been exaggerated by more than 10–15% through the inclusion of deaths from secondary broncho-pneumonia following measles, whooping cough or influenza. In the 8 years in which measles epidemics occurred, the peak of the measles mortality was from 2 to 17 weeks after, and never before, that of the mortality from broncho-pneumonia.

2. The winter rise in mortality from broncho-pneumonia is not associated with any comparable increase in the carrier rates for pneumococci and haemolytic streptococci.

3. The broncho-pneumonia mortality of infants in the Metropolitan Boroughs is strongly correlated with sub-standard housing incidence, social index and percentage below the poverty line. The relatively small value found for the coefficient of regression between broncho-pneumonia mortality and sub-standard housing may be due to the less rigorous winter temperatures occurring in the more overcrowded central areas.

4. Low external temperature appears to be the most important predisposing cause of fatal broncho-pneumonia in infants; their weekly death-rate from this disease in mid-winter is about seven times that in the late summer. This great seasonal fluctuation in mortality is also found for persons over 55 years in the Administrative County, and for persons of all ages in both the urban and rural districts of the Home Counties.

5. The weekly mortalities of infants from broncho-pneumonia in the Administrative County are most strongly correlated with low temperatures 2 weeks earlier. The two variables are so associated that the mortality rises sharply when the mean temperature of the coldest day of the week falls below 40° F. There is no indication that low temperatures in the spring are associated with higher death-rates from broncho-pneumonia than the same temperatures in the autumn, so that the data provide no support for the supposition that susceptibility increases during the winter in consequence of the progressive depletion in the body of protective nutrient substances.

6. Possible measures to reduce the mortality of infants from broncho-pneumonia are discussed.
A study of the Vi agglutination test for the detection of typhoid carriers
Authors: Mackenzie E. F. W. , Taylor E. Windle
Published: May 2009

A total of 1040 individuals has been examined for the typhoid carrier state by the O, H and Vi agglutination tests. Some observations have been made upon the technique of the Vi test.

Estimation of the O and H agglutinins proved unsuitable as a preliminary test owing to the high proportion of positive reactors. The Vi test, in contrast, gave a positive result in only a small percentage of those tested and brought the cultural work subsequently required within practical limits. All positive reactors were examined by cultural methods, and in no case were the organisms of enteric fever recovered.

The relative merits of the various tests available for the detection of carriers are discussed and certain tentative conclusions are expressed.
On a new form of reagent against perspiration effects on shoe materials
Authors: Colin-Russ A.
Published: May 2009

In a discussion of a series of tests connected with the fastness of colours on textile fibres, Villavecchia (1918) mentions the use of neutral ammonium acetate or common salt solution for measuring the colour resistance to perspiration. Thus in the case of coloured cotton, this is immersed for 10 min. alongside an equal quantity of white cotton yarn in a 0·1% aqueous ammonium acetate at 80°C., and the extent of colouring of the yarn as well as the degree of stripping of the coloured sample noted after drying without rinsing. An odd number of degrees of fastness is arbitrarily assigned to the coloured specimen according to the result, e.g. V degrees if neither the original tint nor the whiteness of the yarn is changed. Similarly with linen, hemp and ramie. For coloured wool both methods are used, viz. with sodium chloride and with ammonium acetate. In the former case, the alteration in colour is noted after simply dipping the wool in salt solution and allowing to air-dry out at room temperature. In the latter case, an equal quantity of white zephyr wool in addition to the white cotton is present. V degrees in all cases are stated to be conventionally adopted between industrial associations and dyestuff manufacturers for materials which are fast enough to reveal no change whatever in the testing bath. For coloured silk there are no precise data, and usually it is immersed in distilled water for several days to ascertain if any colour is lost.
Studies in the dynamics of disinfection: III. The reaction between phenol andBact. coli: the effect of temperature and concentration: with a detailed analysis of the reaction velocity
Authors: Jordan R. C. , Jacobs S. E.
Published: May 2009

1. Details are given of further experiments on the disinfection ofBact. colicultures by phenol using an improved standardized technique. These were carried out at several temperatures at each of five phenol concentrations.

2. An excess of high values of χ2was again observed at high mortalities. Reasons for the occurrence of this phenomenon are discussed.

3. The logarithmic death-rates calculated between successive determinations of the surviving cells have been combined and analysed. Strong evidence was obtained that the death-rate rises to a maximum and then falls, sharply at first and then more slowly. There was some evidence for an initial rush in the death-rate.

4. The method hitherto adopted for treating these data, based on the assumption that the death-rate rises to a maximum at which it remains constant, has been shown to be a fair approximation but one which leads to low values for thev.s.t.'s.

5. Calculated estimates nearer to the true values for thev.s.t.'shave been obtained by treating the last phase of slow decline as one of constant death-rate. All values except those exceeding 1000 min. are increased by this change in method of calculation.

6. The newv.s.t.'sdo not alter significantly the value previously obtained for the concentration exponent for phenol at 35°C.
Clinical nutritional surveys Relationship between observed signs
Authors: Adcock E. W. , Hammond W. H. , Magee H. E.
Published: May 2009

The findings of clinical nutrition surveys of 3351 children aged 8–15 years and of 3326 adults, of both sexes, were analysed statistically to ascertain the relationship existing between nutritional grade (good, fair and poor) and the incidence of a variety of clinical signs (pityriasis, folliculosis, gingivitis, etc.) observed at the time of the medical examination but not taken into account in grading the subjects according to their state of nutrition.

The analysis showed negligible correlations between the clinical signs singly and collectively and the clinician's nutritional grade. Further, when we compared the incidence of each clinical sign and the nutritional state as a combination of all the clinical signs (i.e. the general nutritional factor), there was negligible agreement as shown by the low general factor saturation coefficients, thus suggesting that the presence of these signs is not a dependable expression of the general state of nutrition.

A special clinical survey of 1067 children was carried out to provide data which would throw light on the relationship between the criteria (posture, muscular development, etc.) which the clinician consciously takes into account but does not as a rule record in deciding the nutritional grade, and the nutritional grade itself. The grading criteria in the survey were separately assessed and recorded and so also were the usual clinical signs (pityriasis, gingivitis, etc.).

For the grading criteria there was a high degree of correlation between each one and the nutritional grade and also between each one and the combined pool of all the criteria. The clinical signs showed only negligible correlations with each other, with the nutritional grade or with any of the grading criteria.

It would seem, therefore, that nutritional assessment as at present understood is determined mainly by the value placed on the grading criteria (posture, muscular development, etc.), and to a negligible extent or not at all by the presence or absence of clinical signs (pityriasis, folliculosis, gingivitis, etc.).
Bacteriological investigation of the washing and sterilization of food containers
Authors: Knox R. , Walker Jacqueline
Published: May 2009

1. We have investigated bacteriologically the conditions in a central meals kitchen from which about 3000 meals were issued daily to some 65 departments.

2. Plate counts showed that the containers in which the meals were sent out contained large numbers of organisms, from several thousand to several hundred thousand per container.

3. Counts of this order were obtained both before and after the routine method of washing.

4. These counts were reduced to the order of a few hundred or less per container by steam sterilization.

5. Exposure for 2–3 min. to steam from a simple jet sterilizer was effective for all except large insulated lids which required at least 5 min.

6. Treatment for 5 min. in a chamber filled with steam from a boiler was effective with all types of containers and lids tested.

7. If containers are to be sterilized at all they must be sterilized each time they are to be used.

8. A great improvement in the bacteriological counts can be achieved by attention to the hygiene of washing, e.g. by the use of plenty of hot water with soap and soda or perhaps preferably with detergents, with a second sink of very hot water for rinsing, and by using fresh sterilized dish-cloths each time the washing water is changed.

9. Counts almost as good as those given by steam sterilization were obtained by washing with soap and water at 48–50° C., wiping with a sterilized dish-cloth and then rinsing in a second sink of water at 75–80° C.

10. The arguments for and against steam sterilization are discussed.

This investigation was greatly helped by the co-operation of the Leicester Education Department.
Experiments on infection of cows with typhoid bacilli
Authors: Scott W. M. , Minett F. C.
Published: May 2009

1. A cow given by the mouth very large doses of virulent typhoid bacilli (275 and 125 thousand millions) on two occasions at an interval of 29 days failed to show signs of infection or to pass the bacilli in faeces or milk.

2. Of two-month-old calves, dosed with about 100 ml. ascites broth culture of typhoid mixed with milk, one became infected and typhoid bacilli were grown from the intestine and ileocaecal gland. Both, however, passed typhoid bacilli in the faeces on the first or second day after dosing.

3. When large numbers of typhoid bacilli (say, 1–3 thousand millions) were instilled into the udder through the teat canal, excretion of the bacilli in the milk usually ceased within 10 days (fourteen quarters of four cows). In two quarters of one of these cows excretion continued for 25 and 27 days, and in two quarters of another cow for at least 85 days. The procedure usually caused an acute mastitis lasting for a few days, and the ‘H’ and ‘O’ agglutinin titre of the blood rose.

4. When large numbers of typhoid bacilli were applied to the teat orifice, even when this had been grossly injured beforehand by slitting the sphincter, there was as a rule only a very transient infection. In eleven cases out of twelve, either the organism could not be found in the milk or was found for 1 day only; in the remaining case there was intermittent excretion for 7 days.

5. The strain of typhoid used for most of the above experiments was of high Vi content and was isolated from the carrier involved in the Bournemouth-Poole epidemic of 1936.

6. These experiments do not support the view that milk-borne typhoid outbreaks are brought about by an active infection of the cow and suggest that the main object of the epidemiologist must still be the location of the human carrier.

7. The chances of typhoid bacilli growing in the milk after its withdrawal from the cow are stressed.

This work was rendered possible by financial assistance from the Ministry of Health and from United Dairies Limited. Thanks are due to Dr A. Felix for providing a Vi-rich culture of typhoid, and to Dr V. D. Allison for valuable help in checking the draft paper and making suggestions.
Studies in the dynamics of disinfection. X. The effect of lethal temperatures on standard cultures ofBact. coli. III. on the variation of the rate of disinfection with temperature atpH 7·0, including the calculation of a new and constant temperature coefficient
Authors: Jordan R. C. , Jacobs S. E. , Davies H. E. F.
Published: May 2009

1. The 99·99 % mortality time (t) has been used as a measure of the rate of disinfection of standard cultures ofBact. coliby heat under carefully controlled conditions, and the relationship between this rate and temperature (T) over the range 47–55° C. has been examined.

2. From the form of the relationship a minimum temperature of about 44° C. for the reaction was indicated, but the formulat(T— α)b=a, which has been used for the calculation of biological temperature coefficients in the past, was quite inadequate to express the relationship when an acceptable value for the maximum temperature (α) was employed.

3. The formulat× θT=Amore usually employed in bacteriological work, fitted the data reasonably well except at the highest temperature. The very high value of 897 for Q10was obtained.

4. On theoretical grounds, the above formula could not apply at temperatures near the minimum, and also it appeared likely to break down when high temperatures were used.

5. It was shown that the full graph of log (t— 10) against temperature should be sigmoid and asymptotic to two temperatures, a minimum and a maximum, the latter being defined as the temperature at which 99·99 % mortality would be produced in 10 min.

6. The graph of the Pearl-Verhulst logistic equation is of this type and, with 44 and 56° C. as the minimum and maximum temperatures, it provided an excellent fit to the data, especially at the highest temperature used.
Factors affecting warmth comfort and stuffiness in domestic rooms
Authors: Yarnold K. W.
Published: May 2009

One object of the investigation was to determine the ideal contributions to warmth comfort in small ‘domestic’ rooms of air heating and radiation. It was soon found that in rooms heated by fires, subjects usually complained of cold backs when the equivalent temperature was in the region of 60–65° F., the accepted standard for buildings heated by convection, and preferred equivalent temperatures above 70° F.

Since large-scale trials, using many observers, were clearly necessary, the reliability of 5 min. test periods was studied; these short periods were proved reliable so long as the subject had previously been in a comfortable room for an hour or so.

It was found necessary, in rooms heated by fires, to treat separately the side of the subject facing the fire and remote from it. The cooler side must be exposed to an equivalent temperature not much less than 65° F., while radiation falling on the warm side is to be regarded as a very desirable, but nonessential, bonus. These conclusions were confirmed by field work in the subjects' own homes.

The eupatheoscope and globe thermometer were modified to enable conditions acting on the two sides of the body to be assessed separately.

The extent to which radiation acting on the front of the body could compensate for a cold back to produce what was called ‘minimum comfort’ was also studied. It was shown that down to back equivalent temperatures of about 56° F. an increase of 2° in front equivalent temperature will compensate for a fall of 1° in back equivalent temperature, but below 56° F. compensation fails.

The physical basis of sensations of stuffiness and freshness were also investigated. Throughout these experiments care was taken to ensure that the subjects were neither too hot nor too cold. In these conditions, only two factors appear to be important. First, the air temperature should be as low as possible. To obtain warmth comfort with a low air temperature some high temperature source of radiation is generally necessary. The peak wave-length of the radiation emitted by the fire is also of great importance, a striking change in the personal sensations occurring, for example, as the wave-length increases from 2 to 3μ. In general, those wavelengths which are absorbed in the outer layers of the skin cause sensations of stuffiness, and those which are not give rise to feelings of freshness. Peaks at 3, 4·1 and 4·7 μ should therefore be avoided in the design of gas and electric fires.
Variation, diurnal and over longer periods of time, in blood haemoglobin, haematocrit, plasma protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and blood chloride
Authors: Renbourn E. T.
Published: May 2009

Although the composition of blood is assumed to be constant within narrow limits, fluctuations in concentration of its constituents have been found by many observers over the period of a day or longer. Shaw (1927), Jores (1934) and others describe daily fluctuations in the white corpuscles, and Sabinet al.(1925) found similar changes in the blood platelets.
A suggested repellent for Schistosome cercariae
Authors: Atkins W. R. G.
Published: May 2009

Attack by the cercariae of Schistosoma haematobium, S. mansoni and S. japonicum causes in man debilitating diseases which in certain countries are widespread. Infection is mainly through the skin, though it can occur through drinking water containing the parasites. It has been shown by Sproule (1939) that freshly liberated vigorous cercariae of S. haematobium and S. mansoni are killed in 30 min. by superchlorination to the extent of one dose beyond that indicated in the Horrocks test. This of course does not deal with skin infection, and though bathing in fresh water may be avoided and water drawn off may possibly be stored till all cercariae are dead, yet it is obviously impossible entirely to avoid contact with natural waters. In U.S.A. and Canada dermatitis is caused at many otherwise desirable lacustrine bathing beaches by cercariae liberated from Stagnicola emarginata and other snails which live in shallow water on sandy bottoms (Cort, 1928; Brackett, 1941). The final hosts are apparently water birds and in man these cercariae tunnel in the epithelial layer of the skin and soon disintegrate. No dangerous disease is caused, but there is much discomfort, especially among children who naturally keep to the shallow water. Penetration takes place largely as the water film dries and oiling the skin is no preventive. McMullen (1941) has given an account of attempts to eliminate the parasites by poisoning the snail hosts with copper sulphate or a sulphate carbonate mixture. A temporary success can be achieved at considerable cost.
A Contribution to the Epidemiology of Poliomyelitis in New Zealand
Authors: Thompson A. W. S.
Published: May 2009

(a) A field investigation into an outbreak of poliomyelitis in Auckland in the summer of 1947–8 is described.

(b) The object of the investigation was to study the background of the epidemic in the general population, to discover how it had commenced, and how much minor illness related to poliomyelitis had occurred (i) amongst household contacts, (ii) in other persons residing in the same neighbourhood, and (iii) in those parts of the urban area least affected by the epidemic.

(c) Conclusions reached have been detailed in the preceding section. A relationship was established between minor (‘suspect’) illnesses and positive cases; the ratio of ‘suspect’ to positive cases at different age levels has been calculated, and an estimate is given of the extent to which the population as a whole was affected. Reasons are adduced for believing that, during an epidemic, mode of life and personal habits may be of more importance in determining the fate of the individual than previously acquired immunity.

(d) It is suggested that indoor dust-borne infection, at school and in the home, may be important, and that the results of recent research into threadworm infestation may throw light on this factor.
Qualitative differences among toxins and toxoids
Authors: Barr Mollie , Glenny A. T.
Published: May 2009

1. Considerable differences in antigenic efficiency are encountered among batches of (1) diphtheria toxoid, and (2) Cl. welchii (perfringens) toxins prepared under standardized conditions. These differences were revealed in the results of hyperimmunization of horses.

2. Such differences in antigenic efficiency in batches of diphtheria toxoid were also detected by means of injections into guinea-pigs. Two injections, each of 2 Lf doses, were given at an interval of 28 days, and the response measured by means of antitoxin titrations on bleedings taken 10 days later.

3. A general correlation was found between antigenic efficiency as measured by these two methods.

4. A method is described for comparing the affinity for antitoxin, of batches of diphtheria toxoid, by determining the test dose of mixtures containing 9 Lf doses of toxoid and 1 Lr dose of a fixed toxin. The greater the avidity of the antitoxin, the more toxoid entered into combination with it.

5. A correlation was found to exist between affinity for antitoxin and antigenic efficiency of toxoid, as measured both by the response of horses to hyperimmunization and the response of guinea-pigs to two spaced injections.

6. It is tentatively suggested that crude toxoids may contain molecules possessing varying degrees of affinity for antitoxin, due to slight steric structural differences.
An experimental study of haemolytic disease of the newborn due to isoimmunization of pregnancy. I. An attempt to produce the syndrome in the rabbit
Authors: Heard D. H. , Hinde I. T. , Mynors L. S.
Published: May 2009

1. Nineteen rabbit does were inoculated each with the whole blood of a buck to which they were later mated.

2. They were observed over a period of 10 months which included three pregnancies: (a) for the appearance and behaviour of anti-red cell isoanti-body in their sera; and (6) for the effect of such an antibody on the offspring, especially those inheriting a paternal red cell antigen incompatible with their mother's antiserum.

3. The does' antisera were examined for antibodies capable of directly agglutinating red cells and for ‘incomplete’ antibodies which might sensitize cells without causing agglutination. The latter were identified by an indirect antiglobulin sensitization test.

4. Nine does formed antibodies in their sera, six of these antisera directly agglutinated the appropriate red cells, but in three cases the antibodies were demonstrated only by the indirect antiglobulin sensitization test. Of the six antisera which directly agglutinated red cells three had antibodies which caused direct agglutination of red cells undiluted or in their lower dilutions, but in higher dilutions were shown to be capable of sensitizing cells without agglutinating them.

5. Four does, who had produced antibody in their sera, had between them seven litters in which the red cells of the young inheriting a paternal antigen incompatible with their mother's antiserum reacted to a direct antiglobulin sensitization test. This reaction is discussed and it is concluded that a positive direct antiglobulin sensitization test means that maternal isoantibody is attached to the infants' red cells. The offspring whose red cells reacted positively were, nevertheless, clinically normal.

6. A proportion of the young were killed at 3 days and 24 days old. A full peripheral blood examination was made and imprints taken from the liver and spleen. The bone marrow was also examined. Specimens were taken from liver, spleen, suprarenal, kidneys, femur, and, in some cases, brain for histological examination after an autopsy had been performed. Fifteen normal rabbits were similarly examined at 3 days old and four at 24 days old.

7. The range and average figures for the various haematological examinations made are given and the findings in the experimental animals compared with the normals.

8. A few differences were found between the experimental and the normal animals as a result of this experiment. The significance of these is discussed.