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EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFICACY OF PLAGUE SERUM.
730 vagrants may have strayed hither from the tropical branch of preserving the rats. cf the family it is probable that much of the annoyance from which we have lately been suffering is due to native These little creatures abound in gardens and energy. shrubberies and are no respecters of any persons who also frequent such places. Suburban practitioners have become familiar with the sequel. There is in most cases a irritation no beyond trifling very noticeable result from the gnat or mosquito bite. The application of a little boric acid powder satisfies all remedial Not seldom, however, there is considerable purposes. swelling of the part affected and occasionally severe pain. Usually there is hardly any constitutional disturbance and the occurrence of fever after bites of this kind should indicate the entrance into the system of some poisonous matter not natural to the insect of which the latter is the temporary vehicle. -
It
was
concluded from these
experiments that the antitoxic power of the serum obtained was equal to that prepared by Yersin at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, so far as could be gathered from Yersin’s published writings, and was similar and comparable in antitoxic value to the sera of cholera and of enteric fever previously obtained by Dr. Symmers at the British (now Jenner) Institute of Preventive Medicine. On the whole the sera in these experiments did not prove sufficiently strong in antitoxic value to warrant any hope of their being of therapeutic use in an actual epidemic of plague and it was suggested that for the latter purpose the use of more virulent bacilli inoculated in larger quantities and for longer periods of time was necessary. Under such conditions a more powerful and more effective antitoxic serum might in all probability be obtained which might serve the purposes of practical therapeutics in actual cases of bubonic plague. -
DETERMINE THE OF PLAGUE SERUM.
EXPERIMENTS TO
EFFICACY
BOARDING-OUT v. COTTAGE HOMES IN LANCASHIRE.
IN a report presented to His Excellency Rogers Pasha, the THE question " what to do with our workhouse Director-General of the Sanitary Department, Cairo, in May, children "-is Dr. an and William now sufficiently important to justify its frequent 1898, published, Symmers gives A discussion took place at the meeting account of experiments carried out at the Serum Institute of consideration. Abbasieh in Egypt. The experiments were undertaken with of the Chorlton Board of Guardians on August 18th, the view of obtaining a therapeutic serum for the treatment when very different opinions were expressed as to the of bubonic plague, the bacilli being obtained from specimens boarding-out system, some speaking of the "great dimnot compatible with the brought from Bombay by Dr. Ritter. Cultivations from culties" and of "results these were found to exhibit a considerable diminution in expense incurred." On the other hand, Mr. Nolan thought virulence so that a two days’ culture on agar-agar, for they were so tied down by stereotyped rules and regulations example, required ten days to produce death in white rats and that an extension of their powers would give the system a guinea-pigs. Cultures of the bacillus on neutral bouillon better chance. Another guardian of much experience were made and heated to 60° C. before being employed. considered that the limit of payment-four shillings Injections of these cultures were made into the subcutaneous a week for boarding-cut—was too low and that tissues of the neck in the animals used-viz., horses. Local if they had had money at their disposal "the swelling and inflammation with enlargement and hardness of probability was that a large number of the children the glands at the angle of the jaw followed, but the animals now at Styal would have been in comfortable homes." He continued to eat well and were apparently suffering no dis- did not wish to say anything against the Styal homes, but comfort. The first injection was followed in ten days by a such homes "merely aggregated workhouse children and second and other injections followed later. In all six injec- did not remove the taint of pauperism." A report by Miss tions were given. The reaction in these animals was so Zanetti, an inspector under the Infant Life Protection Act, insufficient, both locally and constitutionally, that it was dealing with the homes of children boarded out, stated that judged that no good anti-bubonic serum could be furnished in most of the cases the conditions were unsatisfactory. In from them, and further experiment in this direction was not such matters almost everything depends on the individual The results in a clean, well-conducted home continued. In a second series cultures of the bacilli on factor. neutral agar-agar were made and an emulsion of these with a managed with common-sense and sympathy will be better small quantity of neutral bouillon was prepared just before than in a cottage where the husband drinks and the wife is injection. This was also heated to 60° C. for half an hour a dirty slattern. But, on the other hand, if only the right and the sterile solution thus obtained was injected. The people can be found the closest possible approach is made reaction in these cases was more marked after each injection, to the family life which is to be aimed at, while the gradual the local swelling and inflammation were more intense, and in growth of home interests and affections gives a stability and a social foothold that is seldom or never felt by the child one case a small abscess also appeared in the gland. Finally, into another horse cultures of the living bacilli were who grows up simply as one unit in a multitude, where injected; 15 injections were thus given. The horses were individual peculiarities and tendencies are almost necessarily then allowed to pass through a period of reaction to ignored. the injection and blood was then drawn by venesection LYMPHATIC LEUKÆMIA COMBINED WITH PULThe serum obtained from the blood was in the neck. MONARY TUBERCULOSIS. to determine its neutralising power on living employed cultures of the bacillus. The minimal fatal dose of the BUT few cases of combined leukaemia, and tuberculosis live culture was mixed with varying quantities of serum and have been recorded. The American Journal of the Medica the mixture was injected into the peritoneal cavity of white Sciewes for June contains a case published by Dr. E. R. rats. In all cases control experiments were made-i.e., the Baldwin and Dr. J. A. Wilder with an account of the minimal fatal dose of the bacillus alone was inoculated literature of the subject. Volpe has reported two cases and intra-peritoneally into white rats. The results were as reviewed six. Cases are described by Quincke and Stintzing follows. The serum furnished by the horse inoculated with and are mentioned by Lichtheim who also observed a case of living cultures was insufficient to save the infected rats. the spleno-medullary form terminating in acute tuberculosis. The horse treated with sterilised agar cultures gave a A man, aged 47 years, was admitted to the Adirondack serum which in quantities of one-quarter cubic centimetre Sanatorium on June 8th, 1895. Both his parents and five preserved white rats against the minimal fatal dose of the maternal aunts and uncles had died from tuberculosis. In bacillus. Smaller quantities of the serum were incapable March he had been treated for tonsillitis, the cervical -
......
-
It
was
concluded from these
experiments that the antitoxic power of the serum obtained was equal to that prepared by Yersin at the Pasteur Institute, Paris, so far as could be gathered from Yersin’s published writings, and was similar and comparable in antitoxic value to the sera of cholera and of enteric fever previously obtained by Dr. Symmers at the British (now Jenner) Institute of Preventive Medicine. On the whole the sera in these experiments did not prove sufficiently strong in antitoxic value to warrant any hope of their being of therapeutic use in an actual epidemic of plague and it was suggested that for the latter purpose the use of more virulent bacilli inoculated in larger quantities and for longer periods of time was necessary. Under such conditions a more powerful and more effective antitoxic serum might in all probability be obtained which might serve the purposes of practical therapeutics in actual cases of bubonic plague. -
DETERMINE THE OF PLAGUE SERUM.
EXPERIMENTS TO
EFFICACY
BOARDING-OUT v. COTTAGE HOMES IN LANCASHIRE.
IN a report presented to His Excellency Rogers Pasha, the THE question " what to do with our workhouse Director-General of the Sanitary Department, Cairo, in May, children "-is Dr. an and William now sufficiently important to justify its frequent 1898, published, Symmers gives A discussion took place at the meeting account of experiments carried out at the Serum Institute of consideration. Abbasieh in Egypt. The experiments were undertaken with of the Chorlton Board of Guardians on August 18th, the view of obtaining a therapeutic serum for the treatment when very different opinions were expressed as to the of bubonic plague, the bacilli being obtained from specimens boarding-out system, some speaking of the "great dimnot compatible with the brought from Bombay by Dr. Ritter. Cultivations from culties" and of "results these were found to exhibit a considerable diminution in expense incurred." On the other hand, Mr. Nolan thought virulence so that a two days’ culture on agar-agar, for they were so tied down by stereotyped rules and regulations example, required ten days to produce death in white rats and that an extension of their powers would give the system a guinea-pigs. Cultures of the bacillus on neutral bouillon better chance. Another guardian of much experience were made and heated to 60° C. before being employed. considered that the limit of payment-four shillings Injections of these cultures were made into the subcutaneous a week for boarding-cut—was too low and that tissues of the neck in the animals used-viz., horses. Local if they had had money at their disposal "the swelling and inflammation with enlargement and hardness of probability was that a large number of the children the glands at the angle of the jaw followed, but the animals now at Styal would have been in comfortable homes." He continued to eat well and were apparently suffering no dis- did not wish to say anything against the Styal homes, but comfort. The first injection was followed in ten days by a such homes "merely aggregated workhouse children and second and other injections followed later. In all six injec- did not remove the taint of pauperism." A report by Miss tions were given. The reaction in these animals was so Zanetti, an inspector under the Infant Life Protection Act, insufficient, both locally and constitutionally, that it was dealing with the homes of children boarded out, stated that judged that no good anti-bubonic serum could be furnished in most of the cases the conditions were unsatisfactory. In from them, and further experiment in this direction was not such matters almost everything depends on the individual The results in a clean, well-conducted home continued. In a second series cultures of the bacilli on factor. neutral agar-agar were made and an emulsion of these with a managed with common-sense and sympathy will be better small quantity of neutral bouillon was prepared just before than in a cottage where the husband drinks and the wife is injection. This was also heated to 60° C. for half an hour a dirty slattern. But, on the other hand, if only the right and the sterile solution thus obtained was injected. The people can be found the closest possible approach is made reaction in these cases was more marked after each injection, to the family life which is to be aimed at, while the gradual the local swelling and inflammation were more intense, and in growth of home interests and affections gives a stability and a social foothold that is seldom or never felt by the child one case a small abscess also appeared in the gland. Finally, into another horse cultures of the living bacilli were who grows up simply as one unit in a multitude, where injected; 15 injections were thus given. The horses were individual peculiarities and tendencies are almost necessarily then allowed to pass through a period of reaction to ignored. the injection and blood was then drawn by venesection LYMPHATIC LEUKÆMIA COMBINED WITH PULThe serum obtained from the blood was in the neck. MONARY TUBERCULOSIS. to determine its neutralising power on living employed cultures of the bacillus. The minimal fatal dose of the BUT few cases of combined leukaemia, and tuberculosis live culture was mixed with varying quantities of serum and have been recorded. The American Journal of the Medica the mixture was injected into the peritoneal cavity of white Sciewes for June contains a case published by Dr. E. R. rats. In all cases control experiments were made-i.e., the Baldwin and Dr. J. A. Wilder with an account of the minimal fatal dose of the bacillus alone was inoculated literature of the subject. Volpe has reported two cases and intra-peritoneally into white rats. The results were as reviewed six. Cases are described by Quincke and Stintzing follows. The serum furnished by the horse inoculated with and are mentioned by Lichtheim who also observed a case of living cultures was insufficient to save the infected rats. the spleno-medullary form terminating in acute tuberculosis. The horse treated with sterilised agar cultures gave a A man, aged 47 years, was admitted to the Adirondack serum which in quantities of one-quarter cubic centimetre Sanatorium on June 8th, 1895. Both his parents and five preserved white rats against the minimal fatal dose of the maternal aunts and uncles had died from tuberculosis. In bacillus. Smaller quantities of the serum were incapable March he had been treated for tonsillitis, the cervical -
......
-