Current public health literature

C U R R E N T PUBLIC H E A L T H L I T E R A T U R E . cent. LiCI. These results have been confirmed b y e . Lenti.

Di~htb~fa Bacillus Outside tke Body.--An

interesting research by Dr. Reyes, of the Univ. palermo, has been published in the ~lnnali dI&kne S~erimentale (vol. v., 1895 , fasc. 4), which appears to prove that the diphtheria bacilli are capable, under certain circumstances, of a lengthened survival outside the body, and can be dissemi. nated by very feeble air currents. They are incapable of surviving complete desiccation in a bell.glass in presence of sulphuric acid, being destroyed in forty-eight hours or less. If allowed to dry on linen, silk, or paper, under more natural conditions, they survive for a few days ; in sand, for more than a fortnight ; in malt powder, for at least ioo days. If preserved in a moist state, they will survive still longer~in malt for more than 12o days. In diffused sunlight they do not live quite so long as in the shade. Ordinary temperatures do not affect their vitality. The agents which kill them do so by degrees, and their virulence and power of growth decrease ~ari ~Oassu with their diminution in number. Very feeble air currents, such as would be often present in rooms, will raise them, at all events, to a height of one metre above the ground. CURRENT PUBLIC HEALTH LITERATURE. BACTERIOLOGY A N D INFECTION. "Variolation of Calves for Production of New

Strains of Vaccine." Dr. Freyer, Zeit. f. I-Iyg. u. Infictr. B. xxi., H. 2, describes his previous failures, and his recent successes in inoculating two calves with human variola, obtaining general discrete eruptions, from which, after transmission through four other animals, he obtained a virus giving excellant results in infants. "Infection in Rags." Dr. Eyfl', Z. If.., idem., discusses exhaustively the questions of the communication of different diseases by means of rags, and the various methods of disinfection and prevention. "Bubonic Plague." Metschnikoff (Z. H.., id.) recounts the researches of Kitasato, Koch, and himself on the bacillus of the plague. "Bubonic Plague in India." Dr. Surveyor, B. JL. ]:., October 17. Dr. Gottstein, H . R . vi. x9, October x, 1896, discusses the relation between epidemics and the general child mortality. After a historical review and a criticism of the fallacies of Malthus and Spencer, he shows from elaborate statistics of age and disease that an "age class," or the children born in a given year, having passed through an epidemic, shows in the years immediately succeed-

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ing a lower mortality from all causes than the average among children of the same age, thus com. pensating for the previous heavy loss.

"Practical Disinfection." The ~redical Magazine for October contains an article by Dr. E. F. Willoughby, which is a vigorous indictment of popular and official methods of disinfection so called, the fallacies of which he exposes, maintaining that in steam, heat, sublimate vols of I'xooo or I'2OOO,and lime washing, we have the only trustworthy means for disinfecting houses, furniture, bedding, and clothing~ "Bacillus of Enteric Fever or Typhoid." In the Z.f. Hyg. B. xxi. Heft 2, Professor R. Pfeiffer and Dr. W. Kolle describe a long course of experimentation on the "Specific Immunity Reaction of Typhoid Bacilli," in which they used the serum of persons suffering with or convalescent from typhoid fever. Normal human serum acts unfavourably on the typhoid bacilli in cultures, but has no effect on those injected into guinea pigs The serum of convalescents causes rapid disappearance of the bacilli in cultures and in infected animals, acting as a bactericide, but not as an antitoxin ; hence frequently failing to avert the death of the animal. It acts on the specific bacillus only, not on the pseudo-typhoid bacteria. That of inoculated goats has a like action, but too feeble to be of practical use. " Differential Diagnosis of Cholera Bacilli and Vibrios Resembling them." In the same number of theZ. f. _N:.,Professor Dunbar, of the Hyg. Inst. at Hamburg, compares the behaviour and appearance of the vibrios of Weichselbaum, Schmidt, Greve, Brinks, Sellwagen, Wechselburg, and Lis. sabon from suspected or pseudo cases of cholera observed during the epidemic of x893 , with those of true cholera as regards their size, form, flagellation, motility, and phosphorescence, and their development in agar after twenty-four hours at 37eC., in pepton sol. at 377C., in gelatin stab cultures at 237C. , in gelatin at 237C. , after forty hours, and the red reaction with dilute H2SO4; and establishes beyond doubt the value of the specific immunity reaction in guinea pigs and in goats, as characteristic of true cholera. "Demonstration of Typhoid Bacilli in Water." (Z. f. H. id.). John Wasbutzki, in his inaugural thesis, K6nigsberg, x896, describes his method, carried out under the direction of Professor Czaplewski, which was to take three small Erlenmeyer's flasks filled with the water to be examined, adding to each 5 ccs. of pepton salt grape sugar solution, and to one o'5, and to a second i"o era. of a solution of carbolic acid 5"0, and HCI. 4"o, in distilled water i'oo cos. After leaving them for twenty-four hours in an incubator at 377C., they became turbid, when he made gelatin plate cultures, and from the colonies, so soon as they were of sufficient size,

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C U R R E N T PUBLIC H E A L T H LITERATURE.

stab cultures in tubes of sugar agar, with xo ccs, of sterilised nutritive broth added to each; afterwards confirming by the Indol and other tests. These "Vorkultur," as he calls them, were very successful, showing that the typhoid bacillus is far more widely distributed than has been commonly supposed. "Anticholera Inoculations in Calcutta, and Influence on Epidemics." /5. M. jr., September I 2. "Bacteriology of Water Supply of Dublin Barracks," by Dr. E. J. McWeeney. /5. M. or., September 12. "Limitations to the Antidotal Power of Antitoxins, as Seen in Snake Bites." Dr. T. R. Fraser. /5. 2~..7., October 3. "Preparation of Antidiphtheritic Serum." Bokenham. B . M . jr.., October 3.

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"Filaria Sanguinis in South Sea Islands," by V. G. Thorpe, Surg. R.N. /5. 2l,/..)r., October 3. "Bactericidal Value of Disinfection of Hands." C. Leedham Green. /5. eli..]'., October 17. FOOD.

"Potato Poisoning." Ann. d'IIyg.~ub. October x896. The writer explains these rare occurrences by the varying proportions of Solanine present under different conditions, the normal being 0"044 gr. per kilog., or less in the best, rising when germinating in a cellar from 0"99 in March to o'112 in July, the "eyes," or sprouts, yielding 2' 7 to 5'0 per cent. l shrivelled roots, o"144; " n e w " potatoes in July, 0"236; and some attacked by a black fungus, x'34gr, per kilo. "Soda-Water Poisoning." W. Kalmann, Chem. Zdlg. , xix., p. 1,874. Three tourists at Bielitz were taken ill after drinking freely of soda-water made from sulphurie acid and dolomite. The bottles were cleaned with ferrous sulphate, pot. permang., and water, but some contained arsenic, doubtless from the sulphuric acid converted into ASH3, by the action of the iron in the dolomite. "Tuberculous Flesh." I-fyg. Runds¢~., vi. The risks attaching to its use as food, and preventive measures, are treated in several consecutive numbers of the H. R., by Mr. Reissmann, Veterinary Inspector to the Municipality of Berlin. "Poisonous Mushrooms." The Zancet, October x7, gives, f r o m / 2 Progr~s Mddicale, a number of fatal and non-fatal cases of recent occurrence in France. "Poisonous Honey." Zancet, October io and x?. Cases reported by Messrs. Lyman Kebler and J. Atflee.

'~Meat Inspection." Proposed "Clearing-houses" for Dead Meat. Zancet, October I7, p. x,ix 9. "Milk Sterilization." Dr. C. H. Stewart, .B. ~..]'., September 12. "Enteric Fever and Shell Fish." Dr. A. Newsholme and Dr. Cartwright-Wood, /5. SL.)r., September 12, r9, 26. WATER. "Domestic Filters." Plagge reports in the Verb'ffenslichungen aus der Gebiete des Sanit~Tswesens herauszeKeben yon der 2/[edicinische .4bllteilun K des K$nigliche Kriegsministeriums, Heft. 9, his continued examination of filters, nearly all of which he found useless or worse, the germs in the filtrate being often ioo to i,ooo times as numerous as in the unfiltered water. The gradual passage of the bacteria contributes to this result. He followed Hesse's method (Z~itseh.f.H., 1886, B. i., p. 178), using water from wells or town mains, also garden tanks and selvage, and making gelatine and agar cultures. All carbon, spongy iron, and cellulin filters were useless, including Bischoff's and Maignen's. The asbestos filters of Breyer, Trenkler, Ktihn, Jensen, and Arnold and Schirmer, were more or less germ proof, the greatest reduction being effected by Sellenscheidt's. Earthenware were far superior, though Haldenwanger's was not always reliable. The Pasteur Chamberland, "Porcelaine d'Amiante" pocket-filter of Mallib, Paris, and Audr6's were absolutely germ-proof, but gave too slow and scanty a yield. Kieselguhr, as the Berkefeld, was superior in this respect, and as effec. live, while those of Nordtmeyer were in every way the best. "Domestic Hot-Water Service." A. Reck's system, whereby incrustation and occlusion of the pipes with earthy deposits is avoided, is described in the San. Rec., September xt¢. "Village Water Supplies," by Dr. Thresh. S . R . , October i6. " Water Supply of East London," by H. Ward, M.I.C.E. 25. _/kr./r., September I2. MISCELLANEOUS. "Explosions in Clay-pits." C. yon Ernst, in the C~m Zeit., xix., p. 319, describes the occurrence of explosions in workings adjoining disused shafts, due probably to gases evolved from some fermenfive process in the rotting timbers and shorings in the latter. They appear more frequent when poplar-wood has been employed than with oak or pine. In the same number of the Chem. Zdt. is a discussion of the influence on the health of man, and on fisheries and vegetation, of the gases

ANNOTATIONS--REVIEWS. evolved from, and the waste waters of, paraffin and petroleum works. The gases appear to be rendered harmless by dilution with the air, though the solid particles in the smoke [Flugstaub] may become a nuisance, and contact with petroleum causes eruptions on delicate skins. I f the acid liquids be neutralized by the alkaline before being discharged into rivers, no injury to the fisheries has been observed, and the vapour may be rendered innocuous by being passed through the furnace. On the other hand, the tar waters, so far from being hurtful to vegetation, are actual fertilisers of the soil, clover especially yielding luxuriant crops. The current number of the Arch. f I~. contains an examination, by Max Rubner, of the various materials used in clothing, their weight, thickness, compressibility, permeability to air, conductivity of heat, absorption of moisture, shrinkage when wetted or dried, the influence of structure and arrangement of the fibres, of the mixing of different materials, and every other physical property in its relation to health.

ANNOTATIONS. THE ~TERILIZATION OF MILK.

IT has been recently shown that there is a very close connection between some human maladies and the same or similar ones in cattle. This is particularly the case in tuberculosis and diphtheria, in which it has been demonstrated that milk derived from animals so affected is c a p a b l e of producing the disease in human beings when consumed in an unboiled condition, possibly in distant districts. For this reason it is very desirable that all milk should be boiled or sterilized before consumption. Complete sterilization destroys all the germs in milk, and so prevents permanently fermentative changes; by partial sterilization many of the germs may be destroyed, so that the milk will remain wholesome for at least twenty-four hours in the warmest weather. Milk is best sterilized for infants by steam. It may be sterilised at a h i g h or low temperature ; that is, at the boiling temperature (2ru ° F.), which is high sterilization, or at a lower degree of heat obtained by modifying the steaming process, It has been found that milk sterilized at a high temperature (212 ° F.) is not desirable for prolonged use, as the high temperature causes certain changes in the milk, which make it less suitable as a food for infants, These changes are in part avoided if a temperature lower than boiling is used, It is recommended that the lowest temperature be ~used for partial sterilization, which will

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keep the milk wholesome for twenty-four hours in warmest weather (Koplik). A temperature of about ,85 ° F. obtained in a sterilizer is sufficient to destroy all bacteria, and is not sufficient to affect its flavour. The adoption of some such precautions in every public institution, or, indeed, in every household, would no doubt diminish infantile mortality, and possibly that from tuberculous disease.--From Dr. L. Wilde's Annual Relhort, A?ed/ord C.C., 1895. PROFESSOR DEL~PINE'S DISINFECTOR.

There is reason to believe that scarlet fever and diphtheria can be carried in clothing ; and it is therefore very necessary that the clothes worn by those who have been for some time much in contact with the sick should be disinfected before they mix with people outside. This is a great difficulty in the ease of poor people who have no change of clothing, and who, I am informed, could not be got to go to the disinfecting station. It must always be remembered that there is a danger, if too much rigour is exercised, of preventing disease from being notified, and I therefore east about for some other way of getting over the difficulty. None appeared quite satisfactory, though a disinfector invented by Professor Del6pine seems the best way of meeting it. This is a portable steam disinfeetor, which can easily be carried about, and is capable of disinfecting several suits of clothes in thirty-five minutes from lighting the stove required to generate steam. Good clothes are provided by the Corporation for wear by the person whose clothes are being disinfected while the operation proceeds. This disinfeetor is absolutely reliable, and is very inexpensive. There is no doubt that this machine quite answers the purpose for which it is used, and, I should imagine, would be very useful in well-to-do private households.--Prom Dr. dViven's Anuxal Re~oft, Manchester, i895.

REVIEWS. A Manual of Infectious Diseases. By E. W. Goona~Li M.D., and J'. W. WASHBOURN,M.D. (London : He K. Lewis, I36, Gower Street. Demy 8vo. lSs. ) This is an eminently practical manual, and the medical student, for whom it is designed, who has mastered its con* tents, will be better equipped for the diagnosis of infectious diseases than the majority of the practitioners of the present generation. In some ]68 pp. the most important questions relating to infectious diseases are clearly and succinctly dis, cussed. The print and general get,up of the book are excellent. It is embellishedby fiveplates containingpheto. graphs of the diphtheria, influenza, typhoid, and anthrax bacilli, and of the streptococcuserysipelatis,and by numerous smauer cuts throughout the text, giving temperalure ch~t,ts, the distribution of cutaneous rushes in v a f i o u s d ~ ~e.