bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Isolation of Bact. typhosum by means of bismuth sulphite medium in water- and milk-borne epidemics
Authors: Wilson W. James
Published: May 2009

1. An account is given of enteric fever in a Mental Hospital, and the discovery of a “precocious carrier” of the Bact. typhosum, a man who, 4½ months before he showed symptoms of the disease, was a “carrier” and probably the source of infection in a milk-borne outbreak.

2. Description of a strain of Bact. typhosum forming dwarf colonies which was isolated (a) from a river, (b) from a patient who had drunk the water, (c) from the sewage of a mental hospital discharged into the river 4½ miles higher up, and (d) from patients in the mental hospital.

3. Isolation of the Bact. typhosum from a well of an institution in which an outbreak of enteric fever had occurred.

4. Isolation of Bact. typhosum from a stream adjoining a well in a farmyard in Belfast at a time when the milk was the source of infection of over 100 cases of the disease.

5. Isolation of Bact. typhosum from a cesspool discharging into a stream near Bournemouth, and the suggestion that Mrs A. from whose premises milk was obtained, which was the infective vehicle in the Bournemouth-Poole epidemic, may have been a “precocious carrier”.

6. An account of methods employed in the bacteriological examination of water and sewage.
Further observations upon the influence of the growing family upon the diet in rural districts in Sussex
Authors: Brockington Fraser
Published: May 2009

1. Adequacy and balance in expenditure on the various items of food in the diet has been compared to the standard B.M.A. (1933) diet for a child aged 8–10 in eighty out of ninety-eight families with children attending four rural schools in Sussex.

2. The proportion that these items bear to the standard declines as the income is lower and the family larger. With the exception of bread, butter and cheese there is, in fact, a marked deterioration in the diet as the family grows, particularly in the lower groups. Bread, although declining, remains above the standard, with a few isolated exceptions, in all groups, and the proportion of cheese, although only about 60% of the amount recommended in the standard diet, remains roughly constant; butter and margarine fall below the standard only in the largest families. In contrast meat, eggs, fish, and milk, are reduced to considerably less than 50% of the standard in the larger families.

3. The balance of the diet is less defective but it is, nevertheless, profoundly influenced by growth of the family, especially where the income is small. The most marked alteration is the steadily increasing proportion of bread both as the income is lower and the family larger. In the largest families in all groups bread constitutes in the neighbourhood of one-third of the total expenditure. The tendency produced by reduction of income and increase of family to lessen the proportion of first-class protein in the diet (mainly by lessening the consumption of meat, eggs, and fish) is combated to some extent by an increasing provision of cheese, a more economical protein.
An investigation of the normal agglutinins for typhoid and paratyphoid bacilli in human sera in Victoria, and the interpretation of the Widal test
Authors: Gregory T. S. , Atkinson Nancy
Published: May 2009

1. Five hundred samples of sera sent for the Wassermann test were tested for the presence of H and O agglutinins for Bact. typhosum, Bact. paratyphosum A and Bact. paratyphosum B. Histories were obtained of nearly all those persons whose sera gave H agglutination at dilutions of 1:40 or higher, or O agglutination at 1:80 or higher. It was found that at least 20 people in this series had been inoculated or had suffered from enteric fever. The remaining 480 were considered to be normal. This assumption is likely to be correct in this community where typhoid is the only enteric fever which occurs, and that rarely, and where inoculation is not commonly practised.

2. The results are tabulated so as to show all the combinations of agglutinins which occurred at serum dilutions from 1:20 to 1:1280. Out of sixty-three possible combinations of agglutinins twenty-three were found to occur.

3. The interpretation of the results for single agglutinins and for certain combinations of agglutinins is discussed, and also the application of these results to the diagnosis of typhoid fever in this community and enteric fever elsewhere.

4. A comparison of the local “level” of normal agglutinins with that of other communities is made, and the origin of normal and co-agglutinins discussed.
Sulphuretted hydrogen production by bacteria in a lead mine
Authors: Edington J. W.
Published: May 2009

This investigation was initiated when twelve miners who were working in a certain part of the Mill Close Lead Mine complained of smarting of the eyes associated with marked congestion of the conjunctivae. They also suffered from a stinging sensation in the nose and throat. The particular area in which they were working differed from other parts of the mine in that there was a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen present. After recovery, and when the ventilation had been improved, the men were able to continue working in that area without experiencing further discomfort. The interesting part of the investigation was tracing the origin of the sulphuretted hydrogen. The odour proceeded from collections of mine water which the miners very appropriately called “stink water”. In this there was a deposit of sulphur mixed with black sludge which also smelt strongly of H2S. The sludge consisted of slightly gelatinous black masses mixed with a whitish felt work of a filamentous organism. On microscopical examination the filaments were seen to contain sulphur globules, and often to arise from a mass of black material. This black material consisted of sulphur and inorganic salts in a slimy matrix, the black colour being due to the presence of ferrous sulphide. On further examination these masses were found to be teeming with other bacteria, Gram-negative bacilli and spirilla, both of which were motile, the spirilla being actively so.
The titration of therapeutic anti-typhoid serum
Authors: Felix A.
Published: May 2009

An account has been given in a previous paper of the immunizing procedures now employed in the preparation of anti-typhoid serum in the horse for therapeutic use in man (Felix & Petrie, 1938). The object of the present communication is to describe the methods used for the titration of the serum.
Milk epidemic of scarlet fever and angina, originating from a milkmaid with scarlatinal otitis media
Authors: Henningsen E. Juel , Ernst J.
Published: May 2009

A report is given of a milk epidemic of scarlatinal angina, comprising 118 cases of scarlet fever and about fifty cases of sore throat.

The infection was spread through contamination of the milk from a milkmaid with purulent otitis media after non-recognized scarlet fever.

On cultivation,Streptococcus pyrogenes, group A (Lancefield), type 3 (Griffith) was isolated from 108 of these patients and from pus from the ear of the milkmaid. The cows, on the other hand, and their milk were found to be normal (two examinations at an interval of 6 days).

Inquiry into the conditions under which the milk was transported from the producer via the dairy to the consumers and information concerning the distribution and consumption of the milk confirmed in all details the assumption as to the causal connexion between the otitis media in the milkmaid and the outbreak of the epidemic.

This epidemic furnishes an example of transmission of the infection from man directly through the milk to a fairly large number of consumers without any intermediate infection (mastitis) in the cows.

Clinically the cases in this epidemic may be said, on the whole, to be mild; still, one of the patients died of complicating bronchopneumonia.
A long-term experiment with rats on a human dietary: II. Calcium and phosphorus depletion and replacement
Authors: Gaunt W. E. , Irving J. T. , Thomson W.
Published: May 2009

1. A group of rats has been fed on a poor human dietary supplemented with milk and green food. A further group has been given the same dietary supplemented with Ca and P as salts, equivalent in amount to that present in the milk and green food. The experiment has been continued over three generations.

2. The diet supplemented with Ca and P salts has been found to be as effective as that containing milk and green food in promoting reproduction, calcification and tooth formation; it has induced growth as effectively in the first generation of rats but is unable to maintain this growth rate as effectively over several generations. It is obvious that Ca and P are of the chief deficiencies in the poor diet. The addition of these elements greatly increases the nutritive value of this diet, but they are inferior in this respect to milk and green food supplements.

3. Under conditions of Ca and P lack, tooth formation is much less adversely affected than is skeletal ossification.
Further studies on the sterilization of T.A.B.C. vaccine
Authors: Rainsford S. G.
Published: May 2009

1. Silver nitrate or sodium merthiolate can be used for the sterilization of suspensions of B. typhosus and neither have any immediate destructive effect on the Vi, O or H antigens.

2. Two methods of employing silver nitrate as a sterilizing agent are described.

3. Physiological saline solution with silver nitrate added is bactericidal for B. typhosus and the staphylococcus but has no inhibitory action on the growth of moulds.

4. Vaccines sterilized and preserved with silver nitrate after storage for 6 months at 7° C. were found to have retained their Vi antibody stimulating properties.

5. A vaccine sterilized and preserved with “katadyn” after storage for 18 months at 7° C. still contained some Vi antigen and was superior as an immunogenic agent to a freshly prepared heat-killed-phenolized vaccine.

6. It would appear that the stability of Vi antigen is increased by the addition of silver within certain limits, but this effect is only obtained if low temperature storage conditions are maintained.

7. A vaccine sterilized and preserved with sodium merthiolate after 6 months' storage at 7°C. failed to stimulate any Vi antibody in the rabbit.
The estimation of physique and nutrition in children
Authors: Tuxford A. W.
Published: May 2009

The process of physical growth in children is manifested by changes in their size, mass and shape. Changes in size are ascertained by measurement, usually, of the standing height of the child, but occasionally of the sitting height, and sometimes, also, of the chest circumference and the width between the hips. Changes in mass are detected by weighing, whilst changes in shape, which are due to unequal rates of growth in height and in mass, are estimated by methods referred to later.
Studies on pleuropneumonia-like organisms: the L4 organism as the cause of Woglom's “Pyogenic Virus”
Authors: Klieneberger Emmy
Published: May 2009

In June 1938 the writer obtained three rats from Dr Gye and Dr Knox which had been previously infected with the “Pyogenic Virus” received by them from Dr Woglom (Woglom & Warren, 1938a). Pus from these rats was spread on plates of the writer's “special medium” for the isolation of pleuropneumonia-like organisms. No bacterial organism had been detected in the pus which, however, was full of granules and showed some filaments in the dark-ground preparation; after 6–10 days of incubation the plates were crowded with tiny colonies. They proved to be colonies of a pleuropneumonia-like organism, and the finding was recorded in an appendix to a recent paper by the writer (Klieneberger, 1938). At the edge of the growth from the seeded pus, where unhampered development was possible, the colonies showed a granular structure with a well-marked dense centre (see Fig. 1). No other organism was isolated from the lesions. More rats were now infected from the pus and all developed abscesses in the way described by Woglom & Warren (1938a, b). From these lesions the same culture was obtained (to be referred to as “Woglom strain I”). Since June 1938 up to date the pyogenic agent obtained from Dr Gye (to be referred to as “original agent”) has been transferred from rat to rat by subcutaneous injection of the crude pus. So far, forty-five rats have been infected with this agent; they all developed abscesses, and the pleuropneumonia-like organism was invariably isolated from the pus. In thirteen of these rats spleen culture was attempted, and the pleuropneumonia-like organism was obtained from nine out of these thirteen spleens. If the spleen culture was positive, subcutaneous injection of a suspension of spleen produced an abscess, while a culturally negative spleen had no effect if injected.
Rat and flea conditions in a rural endemic plague area in Kenya
Authors: Roberts J. I.
Published: May 2009

The female percentage figures for Rattus for the three years are 57.8, 57.7 and 57.5 respectively. Pregnancy records were obtained by counting embryos sufficiently advanced to be recognizable to the naked eye. The average number of embryos per pregnant female agree closely for the three years, and the error of underestimating invisible embroys appears to be constant. There is a slight suggestion of two enhanced breeding periods for Rattus in the area, both periods being coincident with higher rainfall and the growing season. The main interest in these figures lies in the large number of embryos recorded over the nipple provision, the greatest number observed being seventeen.

The average number of fleas per rat shows that the period of their maximum incidence agrees closely with the higher incidence of plague.

The number of traps set out daily in huts has remained constant over the three years. Little reliance could be placed on detailed trapping figures as the trapping varies considerable from village to village and even hut to hut, and gross figures only can be employed. Not only do these figures demonstrate that endemic areas have a much higher Rattus density and higher breeding rates than plague-free areas, but they indicate that the incidence of plague, both in man and rats, is more closely associated with rat population densities than any other factor.
Some observations on the classification of enterococci
Authors: Graham N. C. , Bartley Eileen O.
Published: May 2009

An investigation of enterococci from human and bovine sources by the method of Lancefield (1933) shows that they possess a specific antigen by which the enterococcus group can be defined.

The validity of this method as a means of differentiating the enterococcus from other groups of streptococci is confirmed by the biochemical and other properties, such as the association of mannitol fermentation with heat resistance of the starins used, which already differentiate the group in some degree. The tests for susceptibility to lysis by bacteriophages, carried out during the present investigation, are also confirmatory of the results obtained by the precipitin method.

As the specific antigen characteristic of enterococci cannot be demonstrated in strains representative of groups A, B, C, (Lancefield, 1933) andStr. lactis(Lister, 1873) it is concluded that these are unrelated to the enterococcus.

A number of other streptococci, however, includingStr. zymogenes(MacCallum & Hastings, 1899),Str. liquefaciens(Orla-Jensen, 1919), and group D haemolytic streptococcus (Lancefield, 1933) have been shown to possess an antigen in common with the enterococcus, as well as the other properties of enterococci, including susceptibility to lysis by bacteriophages; these are usually considered as distinct species, but reasons are advanced in the present communication for regarding them as varieties of enterococci.

The name group D haemolytic streptococcus of Lancefield, is unnecessary and may give rise to confusion. As an enterococcus, it possesses no characteristic antigenic, or haemolytic or other property which differentiates it from thezymogenesorhaemolyticusvarieties of enterococci referred to in this communication.

The more important growth characters and fermentation and other properties of the enterococci, classifield by the precipitin method in this investigation, may be summarized as follows; ability to grow at 10 and at 45°C., in broth containing 6·5% NaCl, in broth of pH 9·6, to produce chains in pure bile, to produce a final pH in 1% glucose broth of 4–4·2, to reduce methyleneblue, and to ferment trehalose, sorbitol and salicin; but deficiency in one or more of these properties was occasionally noted.
On an approximate method of determining the median effective dose and its error, in the case of a quantal response
Authors: Irwin J. O. , Cheeseman E. A.
Published: May 2009

Käber's method is, for many purposes, a sufficiently accurate way of determining the median effective dose, when we have a series of doses increasing in a constant ratio and a small number of animals on each. The standard error of the determination may also be rapidly found by a simple approximate method. Illustrative examples are given.

The standard error calculated by the approximate method is based on the assumption that the animals are homogeneous. It must be used with caution when any heterogeneity is suspected. With animals of similar heterogeneity to those used here, the differences between two different toxic-fractions should only be regarded as significant if they are from 3 to 3.5 times their standard errors so calculated.
The intra-tracheal inoculation of anthracite dust mixed with dead human tubercle bacilli into rabbits
Authors: Cummins S. Lyle
Published: May 2009

In 1931 Cummins, Weatherall & Waters investigated the adsorption of tuberculin by anthracite dust and the subject was further investigated by Cummins & Williams in 1938. After the publication by Kettle (1934) of his observation that the intra-tracheal inoculation of kaolin dust mixed with dead tubercle bacilli gave rise to a much greater reaction than did the inoculation of kaolin alone, the result of the mixture being comparable to an early silicotic lesion, the author, thinking that this effect might have been due to adsorption of the products of the bacilli on to the dust, tried the same experiment with a number of other dusts, met with in mines, such as those of silica, sericite and anthracite. He obtained comparable results with all of them, though of different degrees according to the dust used (Cummins, 1940b).
Bacterium dysenteriaeSonne: a study of forty strains with particular reference to the appearance of the colonies
Authors: Rhodes A. J. , Reid Christine
Published: May 2009

1. Certain appearances of the colonies and some biochemical reactions of forty strains ofB. dysenteriaeSonne have been investigated.

2. In thirty-five strains definite raised papillae occurred on parent colonies after 3–5 days' growth on MacConkey's medium or ordinary agar.

3. Papillae were produced both by strains that fermented lactose in fluid culture and those that did not; in the former case they were pink, in the latter pale.

4. Papilla-producing and other strains could not be differentiated by various biochemical reactions or by straight agglutination tests.
An apparatus for spin-freezing serum or plasma in circular bottles
Authors: Lanyon E. C. G.
Published: May 2009

A Technique for drying serum proteins from the frozen state has been described by Greaves & Adair (1939). For war requirements the procedure has been to dry in 12 oz. medical flats into each of which is put 200 c.c. of serum. The bottles are then placed in a −20° C. cold room on shelves slightly inclined to the horizontal. The inclination is to allow the maximum quantity of serum to be dried consistent with the exposure of a reasonable surface area from which to dry. This method of freezing produces a wedge-shaped block of serum in the bottle (Fig. 1) and is very efficient. Large amounts of serum for the use of the Army have been dried in this manner by Greaves and his colleagues.
Physical type in pneumoconiosis
Authors: Aslett E. A. , Hart P. D'Arcy , Martin W. J. , Russell W. T.
Published: May 2009

When a number of persons is exposed to a particular pneumoconiosis-producing dust for the same period under apparently similar conditions, some of them develop the disease while others escape. It is possible that the less easily affected group comprises merely those who by chance or through some inborn or acquired local physical difference, e.g. nose-breathing, receive smaller doses of the noxious dust into the lungs. It is also possible that they are a selected group of peculiar constitutional type. The latter view has been accepted by some authorities and used in practice in selecting entrants to the mining industry, on the ground that by excluding certain anthropometric types the incidence of pneumoconiosis, or of pneumoconiosis complicated by tuberculosis, would thereby be reduced, though no adequate statistical data have so far been published to support this hypothesis.
The effect of the shape of container and size of gas tube in the presumptive coliform test
Authors: Barkworth H. , Irwin J. O.
Published: May 2009

1. The primary aim of the experiment was to find out if certain combinations of container and gas tube give a greater proportion of positive results than others (with the same strength of inoculation) and if possible to elucidate the causes of any differences between combinations.

The earlier results indicated that the best combination was a 7 × 1 ½ in. test-tube with a 4 × ¾ in. gas tube. Later experiments failed to maintain this preference but did show a definite disadvantage in using a very small gas tube. Whether this is due to the absolute sinallness of the gas tube or the smallness of its volume relative to the total amount of liquid used cannot be decided, for the latter was the same in all combinations. This was the only shape or sizefactor that was definitely influential on the evidence of these experiments. Yet if size of gas tube is intrinsically important the absence of reactions with acid but no gas is puzzling.

Attempts to break down the points involved in changes in shape and size of gas tube and container into a number of simple factors showed that several considerations might be involved, too many to cover in one experimental lay-out; but by including extreme combinations it was hoped that some indication might be obtained of the more important factors. With the new and successful combination of 7 × 1½ in. test-tube with 4 × ¾ in. gas tube, the gas tube holds 22% of the total volume of medium plus inoculum, the same proportion as the standard 6 × ⅝ in. test-tifbe and in. gas tube. This seems to be in support of standard practice if it is relative volumes that are important.

2. The analysis of plate counts shows that the opacity method, with the strain employed, gives complete control of the population and the three methods of assessing the plate count were in good agreement with one another.

The χ2 values were as a rule subnormal. This result excludes the possibility of any lack of control of the population in any one set of plates, but the reason for the subnormality is of some interest. It may plausibly be attributed to the factor of competition among developing colonies for the nutrient medium available so that the chance of development of a colony is smaller when a large number of others are present than when there are only a few. A toxic emanation from a colony which excluded the formation of another colony within a certain distance of it would have the same effect.

3. In the main experiment the percentage of positive tubes was about half (20% as against 45%) that to be expected from the plate counts on the usual Poisson hypothesis; or looking at the matter the other way the mean number of organisms per tube (0·22) deduced from the percentage of positives was about half the 0·5 expected from the plate counts. We have found no reason for this and in two subsequent experiments the agreement was satisfactory.

4. No difference was found between 2 × ⅜ and If in. gas tubes with a 6 × ⅝ in. test-tube or between rimmed and rimless gas tubes.
Further experiments on the golden hamster (Cricetus auratus) with tubercle bacilli and the vole strain of acid-fast bacillus (Wells)
Authors: Griffith A. Stanley
Published: May 2009

Subcutaneous inoculations: Two strains of human origin were tested, one was of eugonic human type from the sputum of an English case of pulmonary tuberculosis; the other was of dysgonic human type obtained by Dr J. A. Young from a native in Nigeria. Both strains produced typical general tuberculosis in the hamster, the lesions on the whole showing less caseation than those set up by bovine bacilli (vide 1939).

The vole strain of bacillus gave rise to generalized disease resembling tuberculosis. The duration of life of the animal was, however, prolonged and though the bacilli were abundant in the lesions there was no necrosis or caseation. Similar results in two hamsters were reported in 1939.

The avian bacillus was the least pathogenic of the four types. Of the three hamsters inoculated only one (H. 17, dose 5·0 mg.) showed macroscopic foci in the liver and spleen; as these were not seen microscopically in sections it is doubtful if they were due to the action of tubercle bacilli. It is unfortunate that the specimens of Hamster 17, which died in my absence from the laboratory, were badly fixed; a smear preparation of the spleen was not made. In the others tubercle bacilli were found in the organs, but were not numerous. The peculiar result after 5·0 mg. of avian bacilli—enormous multiplication of bacilli in spleen, liver and a local gland without macroscopic tuberculous lesions—described in the first paper was not reproduced.

Feeding: The four different types of bacilli were given by the mouth to six hamsters, the dose in each instance being 10 mg. of culture. Two of the hamsters, one fed with a potato culture of the vole strain, the other with a human strain, escaped infection. The remaining four hamsters, each fed with one of the four types of bacilli, developed disease, the severity of which in each instance was in harmony with that following subcutaneous inoculation of the type.
Infection of adult cattle with Mycobacterium tuberculosis avium
Authors: Glover R. E.
Published: May 2009

A series of 35 unselected cattle tested with synthetic medium tuberculin and synthetic medium johnin was subjected to post-mortem examination. In five instances (14·3 %) avian strains of full virulence for the usual experimental animals were recovered by the inoculation of guinea-pigs with glandular suspensions or by cultural methods used for the isolation of Johne's bacillus: in two of these cases an avian type was isolated from the glands of the alimentary tract and a bovine type from the thoracic glands. In addition there were five cases (14·3%) in which evidence of avian infection was not complete. From one a strain was obtained which was culturally identical with an avian type, but it was almost completely avirulent for laboratory animals. In two, acid-fast bacilli were seen in smears from the thoracic and mesenteric glands respectively, while in two, completely calcified glands were observed which were typically tuberculous, but were devoid of acid-fast bacilli (microscopical examination of smears and sections). Cultures from the organs of guinea-pigs inoculated with glandular suspensions from the four last-mentioned cases failed to grow tubercle bacilli. In these circumstances the evidence that the infection was of the avian type is largely presumptive, but the nature and extent of the lesions suggests that such may have been the case.

With, regard to the tuberculin and johnin tests, clear cut reactions to johnin were obtained in seven instances, a doubtful reaction in one and negative reactions in two. One-half of the animals were also positive to tuberculin.
The administration of vitamin C in a large institution and its effect on general health and resistance to infection
Authors: Glazebrook A. J. , Thomson Scott
Published: May 2009

1. The vitamin C in the dietary of an institution was largely destroyed by the methods of cooking and distribution.

2. Some 50 mg. of ascorbic acid per head per day were required to be added to the diet to produce an optimum excretion level.

3. Large doses of ascorbic acid were given to a group of adolescents in the institution over a period of several months. A record was kept of the incidences of infectious diseases in this treated group and in the remainder (controls). The following conclusions were reached:

(a) The incidences of common cold and tonsillitis were the same in the two groups.

(b) The average duration of illness due to the common cold was the same in the two groups.

(c) The duration of illness of tonsillitis was longer in the control group than in the test group.

(d) Cases of rheumatic fever and pneumonia occurred in the control group but no case of either disease occurred in the test group.
Diphtheria amongst the Bantu
Authors: Murray J. F.
Published: May 2009

1. A total of 499 rural and 437 urban Bantu school children were examined for their diphtheria carrier rate and Schick immunity.

2. Clinical diphtheria amongst the rural and urban Bantu was also investigated.

3. The virulent C.diphtheriaecarrier rate was found to be 3·2% in the rural children and 1·8% in the urban with virulent/avirulent ratios of 1: 1·1 and 1: 2·5 respectively.

4. The Schick-positive rate in children aged 6–17 years was found to be 8·0% in rural children and 13·7 % in urban.

5. Clinical diphtheria was rarely encountered under rural conditions, but was more common in urban natives.

6. The case mortality rate in eighty-nine clinical cases was 14·4%.

7. 53% of the clinical cases occurred in the 0-5 years age group.

8. 89% of the strains recovered belonged to themitistype. No intermediate strains were encountered.

9. The reason for the infrequency of clinical diphtheria amongst the Bantu is discussed and various theories are reviewed.

10. It is concluded that the infrequency of clinical diphtheria is partly due to the environment, but that there is also a racial factor. It is suggested that the racial factor lies in an ability to produce antitoxin quickly. There is not sufficient evidence in this investigation to show whether the racial factor is genetic, but in view of Turbott's work amongst the Maoris it is suggested that the racial factor in immunity to diphtheria may be genetic amongst the Bantu also.

I have pleasure in acknowledging the continued interest of Dr E. H. Cluver, Director, and Dr G. Buchanan, Deputy-Director, of the South African Institute for Medical Research in the progress of this work. I also wish to acknowledge gratefully the help given me by Dr Prestwick, Dr Miller and Dr Xuma at Alexandra Township. I am indebted to the Administration, and in particular to Dr J. W. Stirling, Principal Medical Officer of Bechuanaland Protectorate Government, for permission to carry out the investigation at Kanye. To Dr Marcus of the Seventh Day Adventist Mission, Kanye, I am deeply indebted for help and hospitality, and to Chief Bathoën who assisted me in making contact with the requisite number of school children at Kanye. My thanks are also due to the Mother Superior and Sisters of the Holy Cross Mission, Alexandra Township, and the many Bantu school teachers who gave me access to the children in their charge. Mr Barnes (S.A.I.M.R.) very kindly carried out the statistical tests of Tables 1 and 2. The travelling expenses involved in this work were defrayed by a grant from the National Research Board.
Notes on the α-naphthol modification of the Voges-Proskauer test and reference to the creatine modification
Authors: Barritt Maxwell M.
Published: May 2009

The α-naphthol modification of the Voges-Proskauer (v.-p.) test described by Barritt (1936) has proved satisfactory for the examination of the coli-aerogenes group in the hands of several workers, including Harold (1936), Vaughn, Mitchell & Levine (1938), Kluyver & Molt (1939), Iyer & Raghavachari (1938–9), and Batty-Smith (1941).
Observations on an epidemic of paratyphoid fever in Dundee, 1941
Authors: Davidson W. A. , Brodie James
Published: May 2009

An epidemic of paratyphoid B fever occurred in Dundee during the period from 19 February to 19 October 1941. There were 373 notifications and 357 patients were admitted for investigation and treatment to King's Cross (Infectious Diseases) Hospital. Information was also received of the occurrence of eight cases in other areas, and there is evidence that they were infected in Dundee.
A note on the seven papers by the late A. Stanley Griffith published during 1941–2
Authors: Griffith A. N.
Published: May 2009

The Editor has asked me for a brief note to explain how a number of papers by my husband came to be published in this Journal during the two years following his death.
Studies in immunization by a species antigen: I. The presence of ‘species antigen’ and of ‘opposition factor’ in bacteria other than pneumococci
Authors: Day H. B.
Published: May 2009

The experiments here described proved that preparations made from widely different classes of bacteria are capable of inducing immunity in mice against pneumococci. The success of these preparations was found to depend on the differential separation of an active immunizing antigen from another bacterial constituent—an ‘opposition factor’—which interferes with immunization. Further investigation and comparison depend largely on the discovery of a really effective method for the isolation and purification of the active antigen. Until its chemical nature is determined, the identity of the pneumococcal species antigen with similarly acting substances found in other bacteria remains unproved.

Pathogenic bacteria depend for their virulence and invasiveness on certain products individual to the species or type, and specific immunity is due to the development of the appropriate antibodies. But chemotherapy, as in the case of the sulphonamides, interferes with a less specialized metabolic process of the microbes and is neither species nor type specific in action. It is reasonable to infer that bacteria may possess in common a vital process associated with the presence of a common constituent which may be antigenic. ‘Species antigen’ may be a substance of this nature.

In view of the wide distribution of ‘species antigen’ among bacteria generally, it is probable that this constituent has already been separated and named in accordance with its presence in a particular species, but irrespective of its potential immunizing capacity.

So far as pneumococci are concerned, there is good evidence that species antigen may be identical with the species C carbohydrate. Tillett (1927) found that rabbits injected with successive courses of heat-killed pneumococci, whether of types I, II, III or of avirulent rough strains, developed an equal increase of resistance to infection by type III Pneumococcus. In 1936 Enders, Wu & Shaffer varied the procedure, and by injections of rough pneumococci prepared an antiserum which gave passive protection to rabbits against infection by type III Pneumococcus. This antiserum lost its protective power after absorption with the species C carbohydrate.
Diphtheria in Glasgow 1934–42
Authors: Carter H. S.
Published: May 2009

1. A general survey of diphtheria in Glasgow during 1934–42 has been made. Over 11,000 strains ofC. diphtheriaehave been typed and the incidence of the types is recorded.

2. The period has been marked by a change in the predominant type of organism fromintermediustogravis, andgravisinfections are now responsible for most of the mortality, though the average case fatality rate due to them is not high.

3. Diphtheria on the whole has been mild and complications relatively few, but some shift in the death-rate incidence to the higher age periods with increase in the corresponding case fatality rate has taken place. A small shift in the age incidence of diphtheria is noted.

4. Some account of the effect of immunization is given.

5. Comment is made upon colony variation among the types ofC. diphtheriae.
The epidemiology of Q fever
Authors: Derrick E. H.
Published: May 2009

In seven years 176 cases of Q fever have been diagnosed in Queensland. Nearly all the 129 patients who lived in Brisbane were associated with meat works. Most of the forty-seven country patients worked on dairy farms.

Investigation of native animals, cattle and ticks, has indicated in outline the natural history of Q fever, which is set out diagrammatically in Fig. 1. (Several steps in this outline need confirmation and much detail remains to be filled in.)

First there is a basic cycle of infection with the bandicoot (and probably other bush animals) as reservoir, andHaemaphysalis humerosa(and probablyIxodes holocyclus) as vector. A bush worker may interrupt this cycle and get Q fever from the attack ofIxodes holocyclus.

Cattle become infected, probably throughIxodes holocyclusand perhaps through other ticks. It is possible that there is a secondary cycle: cattle-Haemaphysalis bispinosa-cattle.

Ticks on the cattle (Boophilus annulatus microplusorHaemaphysalis bispinosa) are probably the source of human infection. It is suggested that inhalation of tick faeces is the likely mode of entry ofRickettsia burneti.
The application of the principle of partial pressure of gases to Haldane's method of stage decompression
Authors: Boycott G. W. M.
Published: May 2009

During the discussion following the late Sir Henry Japp's paper on ‘Prevention of compressed air illness’, read at a meeting of the Institute of Structural Engineers on 28 March 1935, I suggested an extension of Haldane's system of decompression which might prove of considerable practical value in tunnel and caisson work (Japp, 1935). Briefly the proposed extension consisted in making use of Dalton's theory of the partial pressure of gases in such a manner that denitrogenization of the blood might be brought about while the workers were still under full pressure, namely, by making them breathe before entering the decompressing chamber an artificial atmosphere containing no nitrogen.
The typing of strains of Bact. paratyphosum B by the biochemical method of kristensen and Bòjlen
Authors: Macnaughtan Jean
Published: May 2009

Results are given of the typing (by biochemical fermentation tests) of 290 strains of Bact. paratyphosum B isolated during an epidemic in the north of Scotland. Of these strains 283 were of type R3I1. Seventy-four strains isolated in or around Edinburgh later in the same year, and 107 strains from three patients were also typed. Some variation (2·4 % in the north and 4 % in Edinburgh) was observed, but, in general, typing by the fermentation of rhamnose and inosite is of epidemiological significance.

I am indebted to Dr Kirkpatrick for supplying strains of Bact. paratyphosum B and providing access to the necessary records, to Dr Seiler for epidemiological notes on the Edinburgh cases, and to Prof. Mackie for his valuable advice and encouragement.
On refection in rats and on the nature of the growth promoted by the addition of small quantities of milk to vitamin-free diets
Authors: Hopkins Frederick Gowland , Leader Violet Ruby
Published: May 2009

1. In the course of this investigation we have dealt with many cases of refection, but during a period of several years we never obtained the condition except when raw potato starch was the carbohydrate in the synthetic diet. Recently, in the exceptional circumstances described in the text, we have had a few cases with rice starch.

2. Like other authors, we have always found that in refected rats the caeca are always enlarged and their contents the seat of specially great bacterial activity. The nature of the dominant organisms present has varied from case to case, and in one it was apparently a yeast. Nevertheless, there is a suggestion that certain organisms are more potent in promoting refection than others. In rice starch refection, such organisms seem to be present.

3. We have found that the administration of roughage in the manner described can, to a large extent, prevent the establishment of refection. The number of organisms in the caeca is then greatly reduced and the contents indeed may become nearly sterile.

4. Using potato starch as the carbohydrate of the diet, we have had no difficulty in reproducing the results of the early experiments published by one of us (Hopkins, 1912), but we found that to obtain a growth induced by administering very small quantities of milk to vitamin-free diets, the presence of this starch is necessary. Indeed, the growth so promoted calls for the same particularity in the carbohydrate supply as does the establishment of refection.

5. Nevertheless, we have obtained what seems to be conclusive evidence showing that the growth with milk is wholly independent of refection.

6. We have obtained some evidence that potato starch contains growth factors in association with protein which only becomes soluble when liberated by treatment with pepsin HCl. As our experimental results bearing on this, for some reason at present unexplained, have lacked constancy, we can only claim, that they are suggestive.
Studies in the dynamics of disinfection. VI. Calculation of a new and constant temperature coefficient for the reaction between phenol and Bact. coli
Authors: Jordan R. C. , Jacobs S. E.
Published: May 2009

1. The virtual sterilization time (v.s.t.) has been used as a measure of the rate of disinfection of Bact. coli cultures by phenol under carefully standardized conditions. The relationship of this time to temperature at each of five phenol concentrations has been examined from a fresh point of view, since it has previously been shown (Jordan & Jacobs, 1946) that none of the commonly accepted temperature coefficients was satisfactorily constant.

2. The relationship is such that a minimum or threshold temperature exists for each concentration. A corresponding ‘maximum’ temperature has been fixed, defined as the temperature at which the v.s.t. is 10 min. The value of (v.s.t. – 10) thus varies from infinity to zero between these temperature limits.

3. Sigmoid curves are obtained when log (v.s.t. –10) is plotted against temperature for given phenol concentrations. These may be regarded as asymptotic to ordinates at the minimum and maximum temperatures.

4. The Pearl-Verhulst logistic equation gives a curve of the required sigmoid type, and this formula has been shown to fit the curves of log (v.s.t. – 10) against temperature very satisfactorily over the range of concentrations studied.

5. One of the constants of this formula partakes of the nature of a temperature coefficient, and it has, therefore, been possible to derive a truly constant temperature coefficient for each phenol concentration.

6. The values of this new temperature coefficient do not vary greatly with phenol concentration within the range studied, but it is not yet possible to establish whether it is essentially constant for all phenol concentrations with which it is possible to work.
Agglutination and complement fixation in human and rabbit typhoid and dysentery sera and the specificity of complement
Authors: Scholtens R. Th.
Published: May 2009

The titres of the complement-fixation test and the agglutination test run parallel in rabbit sera, but not in human sera. These facts are explained in connexion with the specificity of complement.
Feeding and breeding of laboratory animals III. Observations on the feeding of guinea-pigs
Authors: Bruce H. M. , Parkes A. S.
Published: May 2009

1. A dry pelleted diet is described which, supplemented with fresh greenstuff, dried cabbage, or ascorbic acid, is highly satisfactory for the growth and maintenance of guinea-pigs.

2. No evidence could be found that the pelleted diet alone was deficient in any other factor than vitamin C required by guinea-pigs, fresh greens and dehydrated cabbage being effective because of their high content of this vitamin.

3. Vitamin C added to the diet as crystalline ascorbic acid or as present in dried lucerne meal is mostly destroyed by the pelleting process and is further reduced during storage.

4. The aim of evolving a dry pelleted stable diet completely adequate for guinea-pigs has not yet been realized.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge our indebtedness to Miss M. Olliver, Messrs Chivers & Sons Ltd., who carried out the ascorbic acid determinations and gave us much valuable advice.

Our thanks are also due to Roche Products, who gave us the ascorbic acid, to the Director of Messrs Chivers & Sons Ltd. for the generous gift of 1 cwt. of standard dehydrated cabbage, to the Dehydration Division of the Ministry of Food for supplying two samples of sub-standard dehydrated cabbage, and to Mr D. G. Short, senior technician in charge of the animals at the Institute, who prepared the small-scale diets.
The epidemiology and control ofSalmonella thompsoninfection of fowls
Authors: Buxton A. , Gordon R. F.
Published: May 2009

The details are given of the epidemiology ofS. thompsoninfection in a flock of pullets which survived an outbreak of this disease when chicks, and also of a flock of adult birds suspected of being carriers of the organism. The results of blood testing and bacteriological examinations of cloacal swabs, random faecal samples and eggs from both flocks indicated that:

(1) Many chicks which survived an outbreak ofS. thompsoncontinued to carry the organism for some months without showing any symptoms. In most cases the organism was harboured in the intestines and was excreted intermittently in the faeces. On one occasionS. thompsoninfected the gall bladder, and the bacilli were excreted in the faeces for at least 18 months after the outbreak had occurred.

(2) The common method of egg infection was by the contamination of the shell with infected faeces. Under conditions of incubation the bacilli penetrated the egg shell and infected the yolk. Although there was little penetration of the organism under storage conditions, the bacilli on infected shells remained viable for at least 21 days.

(3) The common methods of spreading infection in a hatchery were from:

(a) The contact of infected and non-infected egg shells.

(b) The handling of eggs before and during incubation.

(c) The contact of egg shells with infected incubators.

(d) The ingestion and inhalation of infected fluff and incubator debris at hatching time.

(e) The ingestion of food and water contaminated with infected faeces from survivor chicks.

For the control ofS. thompsoninfection in poultry, the following procedures have been recommended:

(1) The production of agglutinins by carrier birds was not a reliable indication of infection. In known infected flocks, however, the detection of carriers by blood testing and by the examination of cloacal swabs is of value. For such a test an alcoholized antigen is preferable to a heat-treated broth antigen, and a titre of 1/20 or more should be regarded as an indication that a bird is infected.

(2) Only clean eggs should be used for hatching. Dirty egg shells should be cleaned by scraping or brushing and not by wiping with a damp cloth.

(3) Fertile eggs should be stored in a cool, dry atmosphere for as short a period as possible before incubation.

(4) Eggs should be fumigated in the incubator with formaldehyde vapour, not later than 24 hr. after they have been set.

We wish to record our appreciation of the assistance received from Mrs E. Sidery in the bacteriological examination of eggs and the preparation of agglutination tests.