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Local immunisation
889
REVIEWS.
LOCAL IMMUNISATION.* This small book is a translation by Dr. PLOTZ, a fellow worker of BESREDKA, of the latter's " Immunisation Locale," published in 1925 (Paris : Masson and Co.). Some slight additions and emendations have been made by the translator but the price of the book in its English dress is astonishingly high. T h e work embodies BESREDKA'Sresearches of recent years dealing with staphylococcal and streptococcal infections, anthrax, enteric fever and bacillary dysentery. By administration of the appropriate antigen, in form of poultices on the skin or pills by the mouth, BESREDKAclaims that rapid and efficient immunisation can be produced and that antibody-development at least to any marked degree, does not enter into the question. At places in the book the argument in support of the " antivirus " notion is pushed, we think, too far, particularly when it is brought into relation with passive immunity. Nevertheless, the text is admirably lucid, and where it reads like a romance, it simply serves to stimulate thought and criticism. T h o u g h much of the experiment and much of its interpretation have not secured confirmation and approval from workers who have entered this field, it is undeniable that BESREDKAhas done good service by drawing attention to potentialities in local defence mechanisms particularly in the skin, and if these potentialities can be brought to light by entirely non-specific stimulations they are none the less of deep interest and importance. With regard to the use of these oral vaccines in mass prophylaxis it is, we think, of great importance that attempts should be made to secure some comparative estimate of their value by employing the more familiar routes in control series. Thus only will it be possible to obtain real knowledge as to their alleged prophylactic value in the field. J, C. G. LEDINGHAM.
T H E O P I U M Q U E S T I O N , W I T H S P E C I A L R E F E R E N C E T O PERSIA. t This is a concise and practical resum6 of the Opium Question as it concerns Persia. T h e author has made good use of his twenty years in that country * By Professor A. B~SP.EDKA,Pasteur Institute, Paris. Edited and translated by Dr. HARRY PLOTZ, Pasteur Institute, Paris. London : BaiUi~re, TindaU and Cox. 1927. Price, 16s. t By A. R. NELIGAN, M.D. (Lond.), M.R.C.S. (Eng.), L.R.C.P., D.T.M. & H. (Camb.). John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd., London. 1927. Price, 5s.
REVIEWS.
LOCAL IMMUNISATION.* This small book is a translation by Dr. PLOTZ, a fellow worker of BESREDKA, of the latter's " Immunisation Locale," published in 1925 (Paris : Masson and Co.). Some slight additions and emendations have been made by the translator but the price of the book in its English dress is astonishingly high. T h e work embodies BESREDKA'Sresearches of recent years dealing with staphylococcal and streptococcal infections, anthrax, enteric fever and bacillary dysentery. By administration of the appropriate antigen, in form of poultices on the skin or pills by the mouth, BESREDKAclaims that rapid and efficient immunisation can be produced and that antibody-development at least to any marked degree, does not enter into the question. At places in the book the argument in support of the " antivirus " notion is pushed, we think, too far, particularly when it is brought into relation with passive immunity. Nevertheless, the text is admirably lucid, and where it reads like a romance, it simply serves to stimulate thought and criticism. T h o u g h much of the experiment and much of its interpretation have not secured confirmation and approval from workers who have entered this field, it is undeniable that BESREDKAhas done good service by drawing attention to potentialities in local defence mechanisms particularly in the skin, and if these potentialities can be brought to light by entirely non-specific stimulations they are none the less of deep interest and importance. With regard to the use of these oral vaccines in mass prophylaxis it is, we think, of great importance that attempts should be made to secure some comparative estimate of their value by employing the more familiar routes in control series. Thus only will it be possible to obtain real knowledge as to their alleged prophylactic value in the field. J, C. G. LEDINGHAM.
T H E O P I U M Q U E S T I O N , W I T H S P E C I A L R E F E R E N C E T O PERSIA. t This is a concise and practical resum6 of the Opium Question as it concerns Persia. T h e author has made good use of his twenty years in that country * By Professor A. B~SP.EDKA,Pasteur Institute, Paris. Edited and translated by Dr. HARRY PLOTZ, Pasteur Institute, Paris. London : BaiUi~re, TindaU and Cox. 1927. Price, 16s. t By A. R. NELIGAN, M.D. (Lond.), M.R.C.S. (Eng.), L.R.C.P., D.T.M. & H. (Camb.). John Bale, Sons and Danielsson, Ltd., London. 1927. Price, 5s.