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NEW CENTRE FOR CANCER RESEARCH
1206 successive donations he might develop a tolerance These possibilities though not peror sensitivity. haps important nevertheless mean that for the use of heparin to become established it will have to show distinct advantages over the convenient, safe, and cheap citrate salt.
work the discoveries of Haworth and Hirst are complementary to those of Szent-Gyorgyi rather than of Karrer, though Karrer did also make some contribution to confirming the correct formula for ascorbic acid. PAINT-BRUSH FOR SCALPEL THE Royal College of Surgeons has assembled a remarkable collection of works of art by fellows andl members. Properly enough, the two most skilfull are by a surgeon who made art his profession-theI late Henry Tonks-but there are several that runl them close and none are without interest. Like mostj other exhibitions of pictures this one illustrates the3 difficulty of achieving a genuinely personal style, and one welcomes the planned individuality of Mr. T. H. Somervell’s three studies. With less striving for independence fine work has been done by Mr. Foster Moore, Prof. John Hay, Dr. E. W. Twining, and severalL others among the water-colourists ; Dr. HaroldL Hodgson’s architectural detail, for example, is beautiful of its kind. The pictures of wind and trees byr Dr. E. B. Waggett, the late Sir Squire Sprigge, and. Dr. L. W. Scargill form an instructive contrast, and. much may be learnt from the handling of pastels by various contributors. Among the more ambitious of the oil-painters, Dr. A. C. D alzell uses a now familiar style with outstanding success, and Dr. A. B. Hewlett, employing a somewhat similar technique, is both , .
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.
.
:
decorative and convincing. Sir Leonard Hill, F.R.S., shows a fine self-portrait which places him in achievement outside the class of successful amateurs ; and there are features of the work of Dr. John Rammell, Dr. W. G. Barnard, Dr. Helena Wright, and (especially) Prof. C. A. Pannett, organiser of the exhibition, that make one wish their painting had not been merely a pastime. Unfortunately only seven works of sculpture are shown : Dr. Leo Spira’s, with their strength and spirit, are nearly very good indeed ; Dr. Edward Tait’s recumbent figure is charming. The exhibition, which remains open till Nov. 27th, provides unexpected information about the personalities of many distinguished members of our profession, and it is a pleasure to meet them in their happiest moments. NEW ANTICOAGULANT IN BLOOD TRANSFUSION
IN this country and in the United States sodium citrate is widely used as an anticoagulant in blood transfusion. The indirect transfusion of citrated blood has definite advantages, for both operator and donor, over the direct arm-to-arm technique with whole blood, and it is extremely doubtful whether a small addition of this anticoagulant salt (0-3 g. per 100 c.cm. of blood) is deleterious to the recipient of transfused, blood. Such reactions as may occur from time to time are more probably dependent on factors such as atypical agglutinins, uncleanliness of apparatus, the presence of bacterial protein in the distilled water or saline used, and products of metabolism in the donor’s circulation. Some observers, however, still maintain that whole blood-i.e., blood without additions or subtractions-should be used in transfusion, and Dr. Hedenius has described an ingenious way of overcoming the usual technical difficulties of Before the transfusion whole-blood transfusion. he injects a preparation called Heparin into the donor so as to reduce the coagulability of the blood, and on p. 1186 he is able to report excellent results from this procedure. The only objections that appear are that the donor might run some small risk by the temporary lengthening of his coagulation-time, that he might be unduly apprehensive about this risk, or that with
NEW CENTRE
FOR CANCER RESEARCH
WE are informed that the Chicago lumor institute, which has been established, not for profit, to conduct research on cancer and to instruct and assist physicians, surgeons, clinics, and hospitals in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, will open next March. It is to be directed by a scientific committee consisting of Dr. Max Cutler (Chicago), Dr. Henri Coutard (Curie Institute, Paris), Sir Lenthal Cheatle (London), Dr. Arthur H. Compton (physicist, Chicago), and Dr. Ludvig Hektoen (Chicago). Dr. Coutard has been granted leave of absence for three months to work with the million-volt X ray machine in the laboratory of Prof. R. A. Milliken at Pasadena, California, but will return to Chicago next spring. Sir Lenthal Cheatle is now in Chicago and it is stated that he will spend most of his time there in laboratory research and post-graduate instruction. Although the scope of the activities of the new institute will be national, the funds have been raised entirely by citizens of Chicago.
VASODEPRESSION NOT DUE TO HISTAMINE SOME of the difficulties that may arise in using biological tests are illustrated by the work of Kinard and Martin1 on the vasodepressor activity of the blood of normal and burnt dogs. Solutions prepared by the method of Best and McHenry2 were injected into anaesthetised cats. Normal dog’s or cat’s blood and egg-albumin solution all produced a fall in blood pressure, but the time of onset and the duration of this fall were quite different from those obtained by giving a dose of histamine sufficient to cause an equivalent depression. The blood of burnt dogs gave a greater fall than normal blood, but this might be because of concentration of protein in the blood from loss of fluid. Injection of atropine into the test animal reduced the fall due to blood extracts but did not affect that due to histamine. It was concluded that the vasodepressor action of these test solutions was probably attributable to a protein split-product formed during preparation, and not to
histamine. THE Hamburg School of Tropical Medicine has awarded centenary medals in England to Dr. Philip Manson-Bahr, senior physician to the Hospital foi Tropical Diseases, London, and Dr. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., emeritus professor of biology at Cambridge. The medal is named after Dr. Bernhard Nocht of the Hamburg school, who has been celebrating his
eightieth birthday. ON Thursday, Dec. 2nd, Sir Charles Gordon-Watson will deliver the Bradshaw lecture of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He will speak on the origin and spread of cancer of the rectum in relation to surgical treatment. On Dec. 9th and 16th Sir Charles Sherrington, O.M., will deliver the Thomas Vicary lecture in two parts. His subject will be Jean Fernel with special reference to his work in astrology. All the lectures will be held at the college at 5 r.M. and fellows and members are invited to attend. Other medical practitioners and students will be admitted on presentation of their card. 1
Kinard, F. W.,Martin, F. N.,Amer. J. med. Sci. Oct., 1937, p. 560. C. H., and McHenry, E. W., J. Physiol. 1930, 70, 349.
2 Best,
work the discoveries of Haworth and Hirst are complementary to those of Szent-Gyorgyi rather than of Karrer, though Karrer did also make some contribution to confirming the correct formula for ascorbic acid. PAINT-BRUSH FOR SCALPEL THE Royal College of Surgeons has assembled a remarkable collection of works of art by fellows andl members. Properly enough, the two most skilfull are by a surgeon who made art his profession-theI late Henry Tonks-but there are several that runl them close and none are without interest. Like mostj other exhibitions of pictures this one illustrates the3 difficulty of achieving a genuinely personal style, and one welcomes the planned individuality of Mr. T. H. Somervell’s three studies. With less striving for independence fine work has been done by Mr. Foster Moore, Prof. John Hay, Dr. E. W. Twining, and severalL others among the water-colourists ; Dr. HaroldL Hodgson’s architectural detail, for example, is beautiful of its kind. The pictures of wind and trees byr Dr. E. B. Waggett, the late Sir Squire Sprigge, and. Dr. L. W. Scargill form an instructive contrast, and. much may be learnt from the handling of pastels by various contributors. Among the more ambitious of the oil-painters, Dr. A. C. D alzell uses a now familiar style with outstanding success, and Dr. A. B. Hewlett, employing a somewhat similar technique, is both , .
.
.
.
:
decorative and convincing. Sir Leonard Hill, F.R.S., shows a fine self-portrait which places him in achievement outside the class of successful amateurs ; and there are features of the work of Dr. John Rammell, Dr. W. G. Barnard, Dr. Helena Wright, and (especially) Prof. C. A. Pannett, organiser of the exhibition, that make one wish their painting had not been merely a pastime. Unfortunately only seven works of sculpture are shown : Dr. Leo Spira’s, with their strength and spirit, are nearly very good indeed ; Dr. Edward Tait’s recumbent figure is charming. The exhibition, which remains open till Nov. 27th, provides unexpected information about the personalities of many distinguished members of our profession, and it is a pleasure to meet them in their happiest moments. NEW ANTICOAGULANT IN BLOOD TRANSFUSION
IN this country and in the United States sodium citrate is widely used as an anticoagulant in blood transfusion. The indirect transfusion of citrated blood has definite advantages, for both operator and donor, over the direct arm-to-arm technique with whole blood, and it is extremely doubtful whether a small addition of this anticoagulant salt (0-3 g. per 100 c.cm. of blood) is deleterious to the recipient of transfused, blood. Such reactions as may occur from time to time are more probably dependent on factors such as atypical agglutinins, uncleanliness of apparatus, the presence of bacterial protein in the distilled water or saline used, and products of metabolism in the donor’s circulation. Some observers, however, still maintain that whole blood-i.e., blood without additions or subtractions-should be used in transfusion, and Dr. Hedenius has described an ingenious way of overcoming the usual technical difficulties of Before the transfusion whole-blood transfusion. he injects a preparation called Heparin into the donor so as to reduce the coagulability of the blood, and on p. 1186 he is able to report excellent results from this procedure. The only objections that appear are that the donor might run some small risk by the temporary lengthening of his coagulation-time, that he might be unduly apprehensive about this risk, or that with
NEW CENTRE
FOR CANCER RESEARCH
WE are informed that the Chicago lumor institute, which has been established, not for profit, to conduct research on cancer and to instruct and assist physicians, surgeons, clinics, and hospitals in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, will open next March. It is to be directed by a scientific committee consisting of Dr. Max Cutler (Chicago), Dr. Henri Coutard (Curie Institute, Paris), Sir Lenthal Cheatle (London), Dr. Arthur H. Compton (physicist, Chicago), and Dr. Ludvig Hektoen (Chicago). Dr. Coutard has been granted leave of absence for three months to work with the million-volt X ray machine in the laboratory of Prof. R. A. Milliken at Pasadena, California, but will return to Chicago next spring. Sir Lenthal Cheatle is now in Chicago and it is stated that he will spend most of his time there in laboratory research and post-graduate instruction. Although the scope of the activities of the new institute will be national, the funds have been raised entirely by citizens of Chicago.
VASODEPRESSION NOT DUE TO HISTAMINE SOME of the difficulties that may arise in using biological tests are illustrated by the work of Kinard and Martin1 on the vasodepressor activity of the blood of normal and burnt dogs. Solutions prepared by the method of Best and McHenry2 were injected into anaesthetised cats. Normal dog’s or cat’s blood and egg-albumin solution all produced a fall in blood pressure, but the time of onset and the duration of this fall were quite different from those obtained by giving a dose of histamine sufficient to cause an equivalent depression. The blood of burnt dogs gave a greater fall than normal blood, but this might be because of concentration of protein in the blood from loss of fluid. Injection of atropine into the test animal reduced the fall due to blood extracts but did not affect that due to histamine. It was concluded that the vasodepressor action of these test solutions was probably attributable to a protein split-product formed during preparation, and not to
histamine. THE Hamburg School of Tropical Medicine has awarded centenary medals in England to Dr. Philip Manson-Bahr, senior physician to the Hospital foi Tropical Diseases, London, and Dr. G. H. F. Nuttall, F.R.S., emeritus professor of biology at Cambridge. The medal is named after Dr. Bernhard Nocht of the Hamburg school, who has been celebrating his
eightieth birthday. ON Thursday, Dec. 2nd, Sir Charles Gordon-Watson will deliver the Bradshaw lecture of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He will speak on the origin and spread of cancer of the rectum in relation to surgical treatment. On Dec. 9th and 16th Sir Charles Sherrington, O.M., will deliver the Thomas Vicary lecture in two parts. His subject will be Jean Fernel with special reference to his work in astrology. All the lectures will be held at the college at 5 r.M. and fellows and members are invited to attend. Other medical practitioners and students will be admitted on presentation of their card. 1
Kinard, F. W.,Martin, F. N.,Amer. J. med. Sci. Oct., 1937, p. 560. C. H., and McHenry, E. W., J. Physiol. 1930, 70, 349.
2 Best,