bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Pathology of Bovine Actinomycosis
Authors: Griffith Fred.
Published: May 2009

Actinomycotic lesions in tissues from a consecutive series of forty-four oxen slaughtered in this country have been examined and compared with fifty specimens imported chiefly from Argentina.

The British cases can be divided into two groups, according as the specific granules do not or do contain Gram-staining organisms.

The first group, characterised by the presence of granules consisting of clubs without Gram-staining organisms, contains 40 cases. In these the lesions were situated in the cheek, palate, tongue, or lymphatic glands in relation to the mouth and pharynx. From twenty-three of the forty cases, cultures of a non-Gram-staining organism were obtained, which were identical in their characters on nutrient agar plates and in shake glucose agar tubes; and five of the strains were found identical when tested on a large series of differential media. One of the cultures was inoculated into a calf, and produced a local lesion with the characters of a natural lesion.

This first group shows complete identity in the histological features and in the anatomical distribution of the disease with Actinobacillosis described by Lignières and Spitz in Argentina. The bacillus obtained has the characters of the Actinobacillus, except that the production of typical granules in the peritoneal cavity of guinea-pigs, described by Lignières and Spitz, has not been demonstrated.

All the imported specimens which were examined microscopically exhibited the characters of the lesions of this first group, but the causal organism was not obtained in pure culture.

The second group contains the remaining four British cases. The specific granules were composed of clubs and Gram-staining organisms, including branching filaments. The lesions were situated in each case in the inferior maxilla. The investigation of the biological characters of the organisms concerned is still in progress.

These results show that Actinobacillosis is widespread in the world, and forms a considerable proportion of the cases of disease in oxen known under the name of Actinomycosis.
A Contribution to the Study of Amboceptors and Receptors. Second Communication on Heterologous Immunity to Malignant Mouse Tumours
Authors: Tsurumi M.
Published: May 2009

Since Forssman (1911) discovered a heterologous haemolysin obtained by immunising rabbit against guinea-pig organs—kidney, liver, etc.—and having the property of dissolving sheep blood corpuscles but not those of the guinea-pig, many authors have devoted their time to this subject, and to the elucidation of the relationship between antigen and antibody.
The Sensitiveness of Tubercle and other Acid-Fast Bacilli to Acids
Authors: Porter A. E.
Published: May 2009

It was desired to determine the minimum amount of acid which would kill tubercle and other acid-fast bacilli, incidentally to note any distinction between human and bovine tubercle bacilli and between tubercle and other acid-fast bacilli in respect to sensitiveness to acid, and to find whether inorganic acid were more powerful in action than organic acid, and whether insoluble fatty acids were also effective.
The Malarial Fevers of Jerusalem and their prevention
Authors: Cropper John
Published: May 2009

In a previous paper I referred to observations by Dr E. W. G. Masterman, on the prevalence of malaria in Jerusalem. Since that time Dr Masterman has searched various places for Anopheles in and near the city, and has found numerous larvae in the Birket Mamilla (or “Upper Pool of Gihon”) in winter, the water of which is conducted by covered conduits to Turkish baths in the city. The pool is dry in summer.
Statistical Studies in Immunity. Natural Immunity and the Capacity for acquiring Immunity in the Acute Infectious Diseases
Authors: Brownlee John
Published: May 2009

The subject-matter of this paper is a study of the relationship which exists between the natural immunity enjoyed by an individual to any disease, and the capacity which he possesses of acquiring immunity if attacked. Most of the facts discussed are moderately well known. They are furnished by the statistics of the acute infectious diseases which have accumulated since the middle of last century. These statistics are in many respects very defective for the purpose required, but they refer to very considerable numbers of cases, and thus afford a basis for the estimation of different degrees of immunity with some accuracy. The most numerous collection of statistics relates to small-pox among the vaccinated and unvaccinated. These have been dealt with in an earlier paper1, and the results alone will be referred to here. This group of statistics unfortunately practically exhausts the whole data concerning acquired immunity. The next statistics of importance are those referring to the different outbreaks of typhus, relapsing, and enteric fever, and of a few other less common diseases. Last must be placed those regarding the diseases which chiefly affect children. These for several reasons, however, afford less definite data.
Supersensitization to Alien Serum
Authors: Grünbaum Albert S.
Published: May 2009

The phenomenon of supersensitization observed on repeated injection of alien sera has lately aroused much experimental and clinical interest. The following cases which led me some three years ago, on clinical grounds to assume the occurrence of this phenomenon, appear worth recording, especially since the reaction happened not with anti-diptheritic or anti-plague but with anti-tuberculous serum.
The Histological Changes in Frozen Fish and the alterations in the Taste and Physiological Properties of their flesh. A Resumé of Dr K. Reuter's Investigations
Authors: Nuttall G. H. F. , Gardiner J. Stanley
Published: May 2009

[Up to recent years, fish were frozen in a dry chamber; this was not found entirely satisfactory, the fish tending to become dry and lose their flavour. We were ourselves intending to experiment on freezing fish in brine prepared in different ways and made a proposal to the Fish Food and Motor Loan Committee to this effect. Our attention was then drawn to Ottesen's process which we have since tested through the kindness of Mr J. V. Pryor of Cambridge2, who has supplied us with ice and allowed us to use his cold storage chambers. The confirmatory results, which we have obtained practically, are well explained in the light of Dr Reuter's report on his careful investigations, an abstract of which follows.
A Food Poisoning Outbreak at Brighton
Authors: Savage William G. , Forbes Duncan
Published: May 2009

An outbreak of food poisoning which occurred at Brighton in November, 1917, showed several features of unusual interest which makes its publication of value. While the epidemiological inquires and pathological investigations were carried out separately a coherent narrative is best obtained by combined presentation. The pathological investigations were carried out for, and at the request of, the Local Government Board.

The outbreak occurred in the Royal Sussex County Hospital which at the time contained 369 residents, 227 being patients and 142 staff. Twenty-eight persons suffered from food poisoning, 24 of whom were patients and 4 members of the staff. Two deaths occurred but both were patients already suffering from severe diseases.
The Cultivation of Spirochaeta Icterohae morrhagiae and the Production of a Therapeutic Anti-spirochaetal Serum
Authors: Griffith A. Stanley
Published: May 2009

The Japanese investigators (Inada and Ido) who discovered the Spirochaeta icterohaemorrhagiae, the cause of infectious jaundice, showed that the serum of patients who had recovered from the disease contained immune substances which were capable of destroying the spirochaetes in the blood and tissues of an experimentally infected guinea-pig. They found that if the serum were injected into the guinea-pig prior to the appearance of icterus the disease was inhibited in all cases. The same result was obtained with the serum of immunised goats.
The Laboratory Diagnosis of Typhus Fever. Further Observations on the value and on the significance of the Weil-Felix Reaction
Authors: Fairley N. Hamilton
Published: May 2009

Following the capture of Jerusalem and in the early months of 1918 Capt. C. M. Craig, R.A.M.C., obtained a culture of a proteus-like bacillus from the civil Jewish bacteriologist of that city. He was informed that this organism was being extensively used by German and Austrian bacteriologists on the Eastern front for the diagnosis of Typhus Fever. After making some preliminary observations on its agglutination by the sera of typhus patients he forwarded the culture on to this laboratory for further investigation, the preliminary account of which was published by Craig and Fairley (21 Sept., 1918,Lancet, pp. 385–6).
The Reproduction of Aerobic Bacteria
Authors: Hort Edward C.
Published: May 2009

Although true meningococci are represented in serum 1, as shown by the high agglutination figure reached with serum 1 in the case of subculture 8, it appears that the antigenic value of strain 1, as represented in serum 1, finds its chief expression in “giant” forms, the morphological equivalent of films 3, 14, 17, 23, 31 A, from the subcultures which give the highest readings with serum 1 (except 8), being mainly that of “giant” forms in various stages of development. As I showed in 1916 “giant” forms may be either large, small or intermediate in size, and can at once be distinguished from true meningococci on the warm-stage by the fact that they often multiply by unequal binary fission, and by the further fact that they often undergo in addition endo-chromatinolysis, giving rise directly to meningococci which then divide in the ordinary vegetative manner. These fertile “giant” forms are readily distinguishable form forms undergoing genuine involutionary changes, both by the sterility of the latter when observed on the warm stage and by their feebly-staining properties.
The Contamination of Oysters
Authors: Nankivell A. T. , Stanley Sergt J. M.
Published: May 2009

The Harbour of Poole lies a few miles to the West of Bournemouth. It has an area approximately of 10,000 acres, but there is only a very narrow passage between its waters and the open sea. The width of this bottle-neck entrance is about 250 yards. The last published Admiralty chart gives the rate of the incoming tide through this narrow entrance at 3¼ knots, and of the outgoing tide at 4 knots. The local opinion is that these official rates err on the moderate side. The rapid ebb and flow of the tides has an influence in the bacteriology of the oysters within the harbour.
A Study of the Serological Reactions of Meningococci and an account of the Method of Preparation of Anti-Meningococcus Serum
Authors: Griffith A. Stanley
Published: May 2009

The work on the meningococcus described in this report was begun in 1916 in connection with the measures instituted by Lieut.-Colonel M. H. Gordon, C.M.G., for the preventive control of cerebro-spinal fever in the Army.
The Water Supply of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, with Special Reference to the Efficiency of Mechanical Rapid Filtration With Chlorination
Authors: Mcdowall R. J. S.
Published: May 2009

The provision of an epidemiologically safe water supply to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, as it fought its way across the Sinai Desert to deliver Palestine from the hand of the Turk, will long be remembered as one of the most remarkable achievements of the war.
The Prevalence of Thyroid Enlargement in and about Hereford
Authors: Durham Herbert E.
Published: May 2009

Under the title of “The inference of local degeneracy from a comparison of the vital tatistics of the people,” the late Dr C. S. Morrison, Medical Superin tendent of the County and City Asylum, Hereford, published a somewhat alarming account of the local conditions (Journal of Mental Science, vol. LIII, 1907, p. 795). After showing that the mean quinquennial rate of admissions to the Asylum had risen from 4·8 per 10,000 inhabitants in 1871–1875 to 7·0 in 1891–1895 and after a slight drop in the succeeding period to 7·2 in 1901–1905. (not including boarded-out patients in the latter case), he proceeds to remark upon the prevalence of thyroid insufficiency.
A Report on the Ventilation of Schools
Authors: Simpson J. V. A.
Published: May 2009

“Health is more affected by atmospheric conditions than by any other influence. From the moment the new born child utters its first cry, until life finally ceases, he is directly and immediately dependent on the atmosphere he breathes for continued existence. Records of sickness and of mortality clearly show that the nearer atmospheric conditions are to those of the open country, the better is the health of the population, and that the more these conditions are modified owing to urbanisation and industrialisation, the more pronounced is the ill-effect upon general health” (1).
Notes on the Sporulation of B. Sporogenes and other Anaerobes: (A Report to the Food Investigation Board)
Authors: de Smidt F. P. G.
Published: May 2009

In the course of experiments on the cultivation of anaerobic bacilli, it was found advisable to be able to calculate with some certainty on the production of spores by the strains of anaerobes worked with. Observations were accordingly made of the conditions of cultivation by which sporulation appeared to be influenced. It was evident that in the case of B. sporogenes and other well-known types observed, the proportion of spores produced within a given period varied markedly in response to variations in the same factors that mainly influenced the rate of growth in cultures, viz. concentration of food material, incubation temperature, and reaction of medium. With the exception of cultures in media containing added carbohydrate, it was evidently also the rule that sporulation was most active in cultures commencing under conditions most favourable to rapidity of vegetation.
A Commentary on Recent Plague Investigations in Transbaikalia and Southern Russia
Authors: Petrie G. F.
Published: May 2009

Although much work on the epidemiology of plague has been done in many parts of the world since the discovery of the Bacillus pestis in 1894, the origin of the outbreaks in Eastern and Southern Russia has, until a short time ago, remained obscure. Transbaikalia, together with extensive areas of Northern Manchuria and North-east Mongolia that are conterminous with it, and, again, the region in Southern Russia which includes the Kirghese and Kalmuck steppes and especially that portion of it which lies between the lower reaches of the rivers Volga and Ural have long been known to contain endemic foci of plague, and have been the source of considerable outbreaks of pneumonic plague. Thus, in the winter of 1878–79, an outbreak of this type at Vetlianka, a Cossack village on the right bank of the Volga, caused alarm in Western Europe. Competent epidemiologists–British, French and German–visited the village after the event, and examined the circumstances that favoured the spread of the infection. Their observations were brought together and analysed by Netten Radcliffe (1881) in his memorandum on plague, which gives the first adequate description of a pneumonic plague epidemic. The more recent epidemics of pneumonic plague, namely, those of Manchuria in 1910–11 with 50,000 deaths, Middle China in 1917–18 with 15,000 deaths, and Manchuria in 1920–21 with 9000 deaths, owed their origin to ill-defined centres of infection in the immense tract of land which includes Transbaikalia and which is contiguous to the north-west boundary of China.
On the Producing of Milk having a Low Bacterial Content
Authors: Sadler Wilfrid , Kelly C. D. , Martin G. R.
Published: May 2009

About a year ago the specific opportunity which our laboratories had been seeking presented itself. We were brought into touch with a farm on the outskirts of Vancouver engaged in the production of milk and the distributing of the same in the city. The proprietors of the farm, with at that time a herd of twenty-five grade cows, were endeavouring to supply a high grade milk, a milk having a low bacterial content, and secured from cattle giving a negative reaction to the tuberculin test. We approached the proprietors, Mr and Mrs Alexander Hill, and found that they were desirous of co-operating with us. At the same time their milk was obtaining a premium over the usual price obtained for market milk sold in the city. We made it clear that we were anxious to secure data which would be of use to milk producing farmers generally with respect to the possibility of producing a high quality milk; and they—Mr and Mrs Hill—assured us that they desired to have advice and help if the same could be forthcoming. Finally we made the following arrangement: (a) we were to be permitted to obtain samples of milk at any time deemed most suitable to ourselves, (b) these samples were to be examined for bacterial flora to the end that we might secure the data we needed, (c) no report on the examinations was to be sent from our laboratories until it became possible for us to publish the data as a whole, (d) the proprietors of the diary were to be given any information that was available from the laboratory data, but, under no circumstances, was the same to be used for publicity purposes, (e) we were to check up any of the procedures in vogue on the farm and dairy as far as proved to be possible without unduly interfering with the progress of our main project. The arrangement was agreed to mutually, and it is a matter of gratification to us that throughout the entire investigation the conditions detailed above were subscribed to loyally.
Observations on the Growth of Meningococciin vitroin Relation to Virulence: A Report to the Medical Research Council on Work Carried out at the University of Cambridge pathological laboratory and field Laboratories
Authors: Murray E. G. D. , Ayrton R.
Published: May 2009

Every bacteriologist is only too well aware of the many problems presented by the preparation of culture media for the growth of bacteriain vitro.
The Principles of Immunity applied to Protective Inoculation against Diphtheria
Authors: Glenny A. T.
Published: May 2009

When diphtheria toxin is injected in a suitable form and in sufficient quantity into an animal, antitoxin will presently appear in the blood. If the injection be made into an animal that has not previously received a stimulus there is a latent period of about three weeks before any antitoxin can be detected. The amount present in the blood gradually increases, reaching a maximum about eight weeks after the injection, and then a gradual fall in level of antitoxic content is seen. If, however, the same amount of the same antigen be injected into a previously treated animal, antitoxin appears in the circulation at a far greater rate. The latent period is only three days, and the maximum antitoxin level is reached in about eight days. The maximum level reached is from 10 to 100 times that reached after an injection into a normal animal. The two types of response are illustrated in Charts 1 and 2 and also in Chart 3, which shows the antitoxic content of a horse after two separate injections of a toxin antitoxin mixture. There is a great contrast between the extent and rapidity of the antitoxic response on the two occasions.
The Geographical Distribution of Goitre in School Children (England and Wales)
Authors: Campbell J. M. H.
Published: May 2009

In most European countries the geographical distribution of simple goiter is known from the number of men who are rejected on this account for military service(1,2). There are no similar figures for Britain but what is known about its probable incidence has been discussed by Hirsch(2) and by Berry(3) and in a more recent paper, where it was also shown that there was a geographical distribution of the deaths from “exophthalmic goiter” as recorded in the Registrar General's reports(5). There were still many gaps in our knowledge, especially as regards simple goiter, but there appeared to be some tendency for deaths from “exophthalmic goiter” to be more frequent in areas where goiter was endemic, thought this was contrary to the evidence of most parts of the world where goiter was seriously endemic.
Melioidosis: Notes on a culture of B. whitmori from Saigon.
Authors: Stanton A. T. , Fletcher William
Published: May 2009

The biological characters, and pathological effects in animal inoculation, of a strain of B. whitmori from Saigon are described. It is the most virulent strain of the organism from a human source that has so far been encountered. The case from which the organism was recovered was an example of the septicaemic from of melioidosis.
The Relation of Rat-fleas to Plague in Shanghai
Authors: Hicks E. P.
Published: May 2009

1. Though Shanghai is in close communication with ports in which plague is endemic, it has not suffered severely.

2. The number of human cases is small compared with the number of plague-infected rats found.

3. Both X. cheopis and C. fasciatus are found. Reasons are given for considering that X. cheopis is the chief agent in spreading plague, and that infection, being unlikely to reach Shanghai during the season when this flea flourishes, has difficulty in gaining a foothold.

4. The discrepancy between the number of cases of human and rat plague may possibly be explained by the habits of C. fasciatus.
A New Pipette used in the Bacteriological Testing of Milk
Authors: Barkworth Capt H.
Published: May 2009

The standing difficulty with the normal bulbed pipette is to clean the inside surfaces of the bulb. With a new pattern introduced by the writer the whole of the inside surface can be reached for cleaning. Pipettes have been made to this design by Messrs Baird and Tatlock, Ltd. (London).
Use of a Glucose Bismuth Sulphite Iron Medium for the Isolation of B. typhosus and B. proteus
Authors: Wilson W. James , Blair E. M. Mcv.
Published: May 2009

1. The development and use of a medium which has selective properties for the growth of B. typhosus and B. proteus is described.

2. The principle of the method rests (1) on the positive property of the B. typhosus of being able to reduce a sulphite to a sulphide in the presence of glucose, (2) on the inhibitory action on the growth of B. coli of a bismuth sulphite in the presence of a certain excess of sodium sulphite.

3. The media finally developed are made in the following way:

A. To 100 c.c. of a melted 3 per cent. nutrient agar are added 5 c.c. of a 20 per cent. solution of glucose, 10 c.c. of a 20 per cent. solution of sodium sulphite (anhydrous), 5 c.c. of a standard bismuth solution. After boiling for two minutes an addition is made of 1 grm. of exsiccated sodium phosphate and 1 c.c. of an 8 per cent. solution of ferrous sulphate crystals.

Medium B is the same as above with the addition of 0·5 c.c. of a 1 per cent. watery solution of brilliant green. The standard liquor bismuthi is prepared by mixing 60 grm. bismuth citrate with 50 c.c. of distilled water and then with 20 c.c. liq. ammonii sp. gr. 0·880 and finally making the volume up to 500 c.c. with distilled water.

4. On these media the B. typhosus grows readily and forms flat blackdry surface colonies. B. proteus grows on the medium in a non-spreading fashion but does not form black colonies. B. coli either fails to grow or after a period of inhibition forms brown sticky raised colonies.

5. Bismuth media were used in the examination of 31 enteric stools and in 30 instances the infecting microorganism was successfully isolated. Single examinations only were made and the material was usually 24 to 48 hours old at the time of examination.

6. Emulsions of enteric stools which as shown by the usual media contained only a dozen or so of typhoid bacilli were found by our bismuth media actually to contain several thousand.

7. The isolation from a case of typhoid fever of a proteus X 19 strain is recored.

8. As regards its growth on bismuth sulphite media B. paratyphosus B behaves more like a reducing B. coli than a B. typhosus culture. For the isolation of B. paratyphosus B a lactose bile salt brilliant green medium is described.
An Investigation ofBacillus dysenteriae(Sonne Type III)
Authors: Kerrin John C.
Published: May 2009

B. dysenteriae(Sonne Type III) may be separated from thedispargroup by the fact that it is indol negative and zylose negative. It is usually inagglutinable when freshly isolated but will remove all agglutinins from a Sonne serum.B. dysenteriae(Sonne Type III) is a serological entity and can readily be distinguished fromB. dysenteriaeFlexner and from thedispargroup. Eleven strains ofB. dysenteriae(Sonne Type III) have been isolated and examined, along with standard cultures of this group of organisms.
Dissociation Microbienne des Bacilles Fluorescents et Production Expérimentale de ces Variations
Authors: Lagrange E.
Published: May 2009

Dans trois courtes notes, j'ai décrit précédemment des variations très particulières que présentent certaines souches de bacilles fluorescents, et j'ai montré comment on peut arriver à les reproduire in vitro dans des conditions déterminées. Je compte reprendre ici cet exposé des faits et des considérations théoriques qui en découlent.
Typhoid Fever in Palestine
Authors: Peller S.
Published: May 2009

No information from official or non-official sources is available on the prevalence of enteric fevers in Palestine in pre-war days. Since the establishment of the British Administration (1919) the Annual Reports of the Government Department of Health invariably emphasise the high incidence of enteric fevers. Several papers dealing with the epidemiology of the disease appeared in the Hebrew periodicals Briuth Haam and Harefuah and in 1926 an elaborate Report was submitted to the Department of Health by a Committee of Enquiry appointed by the Department to consider and advise on the situation as regards enteric fever in the country. The data thus accumulated, although very valuable for the local health authorities, did not reveal any peculiar features of more than local interest. Their publication abroad seemed, therefore, superfluous.
On the Non-Specific Stimulation of Agglutinins. With Especial Reference to the Enteric Fevers and Typhus Fever
Authors: Felix A.
Published: May 2009

(1) The review of the published data furnishes additional evidence in support of the view that no technique whatsoever, Dreyer's technique included, based on the quantitative method of the agglutination reaction hitherto used, is capable of affording a differentiation between inoculation and infection agglutinins.

(2) These techniques are concerned always exclusively in the demonstration of the labilotropic H agglutinins ofB. typhosusandB. paratyphosusA. and B. and it is the behaviour of these agglutinins that is the responsible factor in producing the phenomena.

(3) In various febrile conditions in inoculated individuals these H agglutinins undergo a re-stimulation resulting in a curve of agglutination which is indistinguishable from that due to specific stimulation. The re-stimulation of the labilotropic inoculation agglutinins is of the same nonspecific character (i.e.heterologous) in the course of enteric infections as in the course of other febrile diseases.

(4) The observation of this non-specific re-stimulation is independent of the technique used; living bacilli and suspensions preserved with phenol or formalin (Dreyer's technique included) do not in this respect behave differently.

(5) The proposed qualitative method for the Widal test depends, in inoculated individuals, exclusively upon the behaviour of the stabilotropic O agglutinins. In their presence it is capable of affording the certain diagnosis of an enteric infection; in their absence the negative result of the test is not conclusive; if T.A.B. vaccine has been used it is only possible to diagnose enteric group without being able to differentiate typhoid from paratyphoid A. or B.; if T. vaccine has been used then A. or B. infection can be differentiated but not T.

(1) The conclusions previously arrived at by means of the qualitative method of the Widal test were fully confirmed. By eliminating the labilotropic H agglutinins from any consideration—in the case of previously sensibilised individuals—agglutination due to the specific stimulation in active enteric infection can be distinguished definitely from that due to the nonspecific re-stimulation by various febrile diseases.

(2) Normal and immune O agglutinins forB. typhosusandB. paratyphosusA. and B., as well as those forB. proteusX 19, are not liable to non-specific stimulation in the course of various febrile diseases.

(3) One more of the supposed differences in nature between the Widal test and the Weil-Felix test is thereby eliminated.

(4) The difference in the response to non-specific stimulation shown to exist in stabilotropic and labilotropic agglutination seems more likely to be one of degree than one in nature and needs further investigation.
Epidemiology of Typhoid Fever: Incidence of Typhoid Carriers in a General Population Group
Authors: Bromberg I. M. , Comaroff R.
Published: May 2009

Typhoid fever is one of the prevailing endemic diseases of Palestine. In 1925 and 1926 epidemic outbreaks of considerable magnitude occurred in various parts of the country (Kligler, 1927). As a part of a general programme of the study of the epidemiology of this disease, we have attempted to ascertain the incidence of typhoid carriers in a general population group. Owing to the large number of typhoid cases which occurred there in 1925 and 1926, Afule, a village of some 1200 inhabitants, was chosen as a desirable spot for such an investigation.
Further Notes on the Culture of the Nitroso-bacterium
Authors: Fremlin H. S.
Published: May 2009

The nitroso-bacterium inoculated into sterile urine does not produce nitrites. If, however, urine be added to an active culture of this microorganism nitrites are rapidly developed.

A nitroso-bacterium culture developed in bulk in peat and chalk can be used as a urinal. After passing through this urinal all ammonia in urine appears to have been converted into ammonium nitrite and nitrate. No odour is noticeable when left to evaporate at either 37° C. or at room temperature.

Urine rendered ammoniacal before use and then sterilised is also a good medium for the growth of the nitroso-bacterium.

The nitroso-bacterium is difficult to isolate because (1) when colonies are developed on a dilution plate, sufficiently spaced to allow of certainty in subculture, nitrification only rarely takes place in the sub-culture, and when it does take place some months are required for the production of a measurable amount of nitrite, and (2) the nitroso-bacterium usually grows in association with some other more rapidly growing species. The colonies of this other microorganism often appear to be pure, but when growth has proceeded for some days individual colonies of the nitroso-bacterium may appear in a certain percentage of the plates.
The Complement Fixation Test in Relation to the Gonococcus and Allied Organisms
Authors: Oliver John O.
Published: May 2009

The work described in this paper was commenced in 1926 in order to demonstrate whether or no infections with theM. catarrhalisafford positive reactions with gonococcal antigens. It had already been shown that an antigen ofM. catarrhalismight react with the sera from gonococcal infections. Later it was decided to investigate aberrant forms ofM. catarrhalisand allied organisms and also to test whether sera which react very strongly to the Wassermann reaction might also react non-specifically to the Gonococcal Complement Fixation test, possibly to such a degree as to detract from the value of the latter. Such a non-specific reaction might be of the nature of a group fixation (the Wassermann being not anti-spirochactal but probably anti-lipoidal), or to adventitious substances introduced in the preparation of the gonococcal extracts from cultures derived from patients with secondary syphilis.
Serological Diagnosis of the Enterica
Authors: Pijper Adrianus
Published: May 2009

This paper is written from the practical point of view of a laboratory worker who is daily in direct contact with the cases submitted to him for diagnosis. Its purpose is to prove the inefficiency of the Widal reaction as a diagnostic test, and to urge its replacement by a more satisfactory method. Such a method is to be found in the application of the discoveries and theories on agglutination of Weil and Felix (1920), Felix (1924 and 1929), and Felix and Olitzki (1928 and 1929).
Epizootic among Veld Rodents in De Aar and Neighbouring Districts of the Northern Cape Province
Authors: Mitchell J. A.
Published: May 2009

1. During the summer months 1928–9 an epizootic occurred in De Aar and neighbouring districts among small veld rodents, mainly affecting Namaqua gerbilles (Desmodillus auricularis).

2. Many of the animals dying showed a haemorrhagic septicaemia, the causative organism of which appeared to be a Pasteurella rather smaller in size than Pasteurella (Bacillus) pestis.

3. In a considerable proportion of the animals found dead there was no obvious septicaemia.

4. A description is given of the Pasteurella, which is believed to be a hitherto undescribed species, and for which the name Pasteurella desmodilli is suggested.

5. This organism was found to be highly pathogenic for rabbits, less so for guinea-pigs and mice, and non-pathogenic for rats and fowls.

6. It was found by Rhodes to be highly pathogenic for Lobengula gerbilles (Tatera lobengulae) from Cape Town, but for animals of this species from Johannesburg it proved to be much less virulent, and even when it killed them there was frequently no septicaemia.

7. The above observation seems to indicate the presence of a considerable degree of immunity among the Johannesburg lobengulas, as compared with those from Cape Town.

8. It is suggested that a similar condition of partial immunity among the Namaqua gerbilles (for which there is other evidence adduced) might account for the finding of many of them dead without obvious septicaemia.

9. The existence of this disease introduces a complication in the diagnosis of plague among veld rodents.
Notes on Organisms Serologically Related to S. Enteritidis Gärtner. II.: Observations on S. Paratyphus N2 (Salmonella, Type Moscow): an Organism Complicating Relapsing Fever
Authors: Hicks E. P.
Published: May 2009

In 1922 Iwaschenzoff described from Russia an epidemic of relapsing fever attended by high mortality. From many of the sufferers organisms of the Salmonella group were isolated. These organisms, termed S. paratyphus N1, were apparently responsible for the severity of the cases. In 1921–2 the mortality rate in uncomplicated cases of relapsing fever was 5·5 per cent.; whereas it was 50 per cent, in cases showing secondary infection by Paratyphus N bacilli.
Transient Fluctuations in the Resistance of Mice to Infection withB. aertrycke
Authors: Wilson G. S.
Published: May 2009

1. The virulence of a given strain ofB. aertryckewas tested on 54 occasions during the 3-year period, October 1926–October 1929. Each test was made by inoculating intra-peritoneally about 100 viable organisms into 20 parti-coloured mice, usually of 17–23 grm. in weight, drawn at random from the general laboratory stock. The average number of specific deaths caused by this procedure was 12·71 ± 3·39, but very marked deviations were noticeable, varying from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 20. These deviations occurred without any observable regularity, and appeared to have no definite seasonal relationship. Evidence is brought to suggest that they were chiefly determined not by variations in the dosage or in the virulence of the strain, but by fluctuations in the resistance of the mice.

2. The meaning of the term “resistance” is discussed, and it is suggested that the term “fluctuating immunity” should be used to denote those variations in resistance which occur from time to time, and which are due to alterations in the physiological behaviour of the animal dependent on changing environmental conditions. This fluctuating immunity should be distinguished from innate, inherited, orgenetic immunity on the one hand and from acquired immunity on the other.

3. It is pointed out that the existence of fluctuations from time to time in the susceptibility of animals to infection renders fruitless any attempt to obtain an absolute measure of virulence. The most that can be done is to compare the relative virulence of two or more strains injected simultaneously.
The Longevity of Dry Spores of B. anthracis
Authors: Graham-Smith G. S.
Published: May 2009

The spores of B. anthracis are well known to be very resistant, and able to survive for long periods, especially when dry. Some of the older workers have quoted instances of their long survival, but none seem to have ascertained the limit of their survival under definite conditions.
Serum Treatment of Scarlatina
Authors: Wylie Margaret E.
Published: May 2009

Good results were obtained by Ferry, Pryer and Fisher (1925) in the treatment of cases of scarlatina with concentrated antitoxin, obtained from horses treated with toxin of scarlatina derived from streptococci. This antitoxin was supplied commercially by Parke, Davis and Co. It has been used in the present investigation.
Types of Body Build and their Relation to Special Aptitudes and Capacities
Authors: Mumford Alfred A.
Published: May 2009

In recognition of the need for understanding, and for making proper allowances for differences in body growth and physical development during school life, it has been the custom at the Manchester Grammar School to take annual measurements of standing and sitting height, girth of chest, of upper and lower arm, and also range of vital capacity of all the boys amounting to about 1000 in number, and to compare their physical growth with their school attainments. The measurements are graded for each boy as regards height, weight, chest girth and vital capacity, in order to discover the rate and range of growth in each category, and see how far the growth in one category is commensurate with the growth in another. The grading in each category is expressed in time-increments of six months' growth above or below the normal boy of his age, so that, e.g. a boy who is a year ahead or a year behind the average boy of his age in height is graded + 2 or − 2 in height, and so forth. Similar and separate gradings are used for weight, chest girth and vital capacity. At the time of annual measurement, enquiry is also made into the physical activities in which each boy participates, e.g. the games he plays, his performance in the swimming bath, in the gymnasium, etc.
Natural Bactericidal Antibodies: Observations on the Bactericidal Mechanism of Normal Serum
Authors: Mackie T. J. , Finkelstein M. H.
Published: May 2009

1. An analytical study has been made of the mechanism of natural bactericidal action by the serum of various animals (ox, sheep, horse, rabbit, guinea-pig, rat, man) towards certain organisms (B. typhosus, B. dysenteriae Shiga, B. proteus, V. cholerae) exhibiting the maximum reactivity to this effect.

2. Serum-complement has no bactericidal action per se, and an antibodylike agent invariably acts as an intermediary agent, “sensitising” the particular organism to the action of the complement and capable of being “absorbed” by it from serum at 0° C.

3. This sensitising agent is stable at 55° C. but labile at 60°–65° C. In this respect it resembles natural haemolysins and agglutinins, but contrasts with the more stable immune antibodies and the more labile natural complement-fixing antibodies (for bacterial antigens). It is resident mainly in the carbonic-acid-insoluble fraction of the serum. It is present in the serum of young animals before certain other natural antibodies have developed.

4. Absorption tests demonstrate the high degree of specificity of these natural bactericidal antibodies for particular bacteria.

5. A non-specific extracellular substance occurs in bacterial cultures which may neutralise or inhibit these antibodies, and interfere with their sensitising action even at 0° C.

6. This substance is liberated in large amount in cultures heated at high temperatures (120° C). It can be removed by repeated washing of growths in saline solution. It may inactivate a bactericidal antibody in heated serum, though not in fresh unheated serum, and may inactivate a particular antibody in the serum of one animal species but not in another. Strains of bacteria vary in their production of this substance.

7. The observations submitted in this paper, correlated with previous studies of natural antibodies by the authors and others, indicate that immune antibodies have their precursors specifically differentiated in the serum of normal animals and that, in general, immune antibodies are not substances formed de novo.
The Results of some Quantitative Experiments on the Serum Precipitation Reaction
Authors: Taylor G. L.
Published: May 2009

The work described in this paper is based, very largely, on the work of Dean and Webb (1926), and the methods used in the various experiments are similar to those described by them. The results are discussed in two parts. The first is concerned with the mixture of different specimens of anti-horse serum, and with the relationship of the antibody in one specimen to the antibody in another. The second part deals with the nature of the reaction between antigen and antibody in the serum precipitation reaction. The two parts are dependent on each other, and the subject of the second suggested itself whilst the work on the first was in progress. The order in which the work is described is mostly that in which it was done. Nevertheless, conclusions arrived at in one part are, in one or two cases, of importance in the consideration of the other part, and vice versa. A question as to the possibility of strengthening the ratio of an antiserum by the addition of another antiserum led to the earlier experiments.
The Incidence of Cancer of the Bladder and Prostate in Certain Occupations
Authors: Henry S. A. , Kennaway N. M. , Kennaway E. L.
Published: May 2009

In eight out of ten occupations associated with exposure to coal gas, tar, pitch or soot the incidence of cancer of the bladder is greater than that found in the general male population, and in five of the ten it is from one and a half to four times as great. Three of these occupations show the highest figures for incidence of cancer of the bladder observed among the forty-six occupations investigated. Various possible sources of error in these figures are discussed, of which the most serious is the smallness of the numbers of deaths involved. The corresponding data for cancer of the prostate give less consistent indications of an occupational liability. The subject needs much further enquiry, but it has seemed best to publish now, without further delay, such material as is available, rather than wait for another long term of years while more data accumulate.

A large, and quite essential, part of this investigation, namely the computing of the population for each occupation recorded on the death certificates, and the calculation of the ratios, has been carried out by members of the staff of the Registrar General, to whom we wish to express our great indebtedness. We have to thank the British Empire Cancer Campaign for a grant which enabled the special enquiry into individual cases to be made, and to record our gratitude to those who assisted so willingly in carrying out this enquiry.
Further Experience of the Bismuth Sulphite Media in the Isolation of Bacillus typhosus and B. paratyphosus B from Faeces, Sewage and Water
Authors: Wilson W. James , Blair E. M. McV.
Published: May 2009

1. By means of the Old Standard bismuth sulphite medium B. typhosus was cultivated 44 times out of 50 examinations of the stools of 50 typhoid fever patients and convalescents.

2. By means of the same medium B. paratyphosus B was cultivated 22 times out of 27 examinations of the stools of 27 different cases of paratyphoid fever.

3. In 13 examinations of Belfast sewage in different months during 1928 and 1929, by means of the Old Standard sulphite media, B. typhosus was isolated on 10 occasions. In two examinations of Lisburn sewage B. typhosus was isolated. Although no special search for B. paratyphosus B was undertaken, this organism was isolated on two occasions from Belfast sewage. The viability of B. typhosus and B. paratyphosus B in sewage is longer than was suggested by the work of previous observers. It has been possible to cultivate B. typhosus and B. paratyphosus B from the deposit of sewage stored in a bottle at room temperature for 3 weeks. On one occasion B. typhosus was found alive at the end of 5 weeks.

4. On two occasions water from the River Lagan was examined, and on one of these B. typhosus and B. paratyphosus B were cultivated.

5. For the isolation of the B. enteritidis Gaertner the media gave good results in the examination of faeces from cases of food-poisoning.
The Spermicidal Powers of Chemical Contraceptives: III. Pessaries
Authors: Baker John R.
Published: May 2009

1. A technique is described for comparing the spermicidal powers of pessaries, using human sperms.

2. Those pessaries which do not contain cocoa-butter are more spermicidal than those that do.

3. Quinine and lactic acid pessaries, in cocoa-butter vehicles, are almost without effect upon sperms.

4. There is more than ten times as much quinine bisulphate in a quinine pessary as suffices to kill all sperms in half an hour, but the cocoa-butter prevents its action in some way which is not at present understood.

5. Semori is the most spermicidal pessary of the nine investigated. Even at one-tenth of the concentration at which it is normally used, it kills every sperm or nearly every sperm in half an hour.

6. Even if the foam-producing substances are omitted, semori remains effective.

7. The minute quinine urea hydrochloride pessary is nearly as effective as semori, but the absence of foam-producing substances in this pessary limits its usefulness.

8. Speton relies for its spermicidal power wholly upon its foam-producing substances. Its supposedly active substance, sodium dichlorylsulphamidbenzoate, is without effect upon sperms.
Observations on the Weil-Felix Reaction in Tsutsugamushi Disease
Authors: Wolff J. W.
Published: May 2009

1. The Weil-Felix reaction in a series of forty-five cases of tsutsugamushi disease (type Schüffner) is recorded.

2. The agglutination reaction was negative in fifteen cases, the other thirty showing a positive reaction with the “Kingsbury” strain of B. proteus X.

3. The Weil-Felix reaction is not regarded as an adequate method for differentiating tsutsugamushi disease from scrub typhus, since high titres (1 in 1000) occur in a considerable proportion of cases of tsutsugamushi disease.

4. In the present state of our knowledge of the two diseases it is recommended that they should be separated according to the presence or absence of a primary ulcer and bubo.
Keeping Quality of Milk and the Age on Testing for Total Bacterial Count
Authors: Barkworth H.
Published: May 2009

During the period 1923–29 inclusive nearly six thousand samples of milk were tested at Wye for both total bacterial count and also keeping quality. An examination of the results shows that on the average the afternoon milks showed nine hours less keeping quality than morning milks of the same total bacterial count, see Table I. The age of the milk on testing for total bacterial count (reckoned from the time of milking) is 27–29 hours for morning milks and 20–24 hours for afternoon milks.
The Phases ofHaemophilus pertussis
Authors: Leslie P. H. , Gardner A. D.
Published: May 2009

Haemophilus pertussisis a uniform species, without fixed varieties or “types.”

After isolation from the human subject it tends to pass through a series of antigenically distinct phases, of which the first two are toxic to guinea-pigs, whereas the last two are relatively harmless. The former probably correspond to the smooth, the latter to the rough phase of other bacteria.

The phase-changes are, up to a point, reversible.

Experiments on guinea-pigs have produced some evidence that the toxic Phase I is the best and perhaps the only antigen for the production of active immunity in guinea-pigs.