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THE FAILURE OF FUMIGATION AS A DISINFECTANT.
873 under service conditions. They secured two rooms over three or four as it is noticed that be effected, exactly alike in the Newton Hospital. One was may years in these cases there is a notable lessening of the sealed and fumigated and the other used as a attacks. Less effective than the pollen extracts is control. Inoculations were made upon compresses calcium lactate given in large doses, which also of cotton, linen, gauze, and sometimes on the wall. lessens to some extent the sensitiveness to hay They were put on the floor, table, chairs, mantelfever. It is remarked that this effect is more piece, window-sill, bed, and at various other places readily produced in well-nourished individuals. and elevations. Similar inoculations were made One point hitherto not explained in relation to hay in the control room. Laboratory cultures were not fever is that people may be affected even when used, because of the possibility of their being living in a big city. But it has been discovered attenuated, but smears and swabs were taken that even in these places the pollen can be found from noses, throats, and ears in the contagious Thus wards and from suppurating wounds. in the air in appreciable quantity. live, virulent organisms were obtained. Every ordinary method of fumigation was used--sulphur EXPERIMENTAL DIETS CONTAINING IMPURE
that with continuous treatment a cure
candles, sulphur powder, formaldehyde candles,
MILK-SUGAR.
ACCORDING to
an
interesting research
the apparatus for generating formaldehyde gas from 40 per cent. formaldehyde solution, potassium permanganate and formaldehyde in the proportion of 1 to 2, and a mixture of aluminium sulphate, formaldehyde, quicklime, and water. Fumigation was carried out for periods varying from 24 to 72 hours. All the proprietary preparations were tried under the same conditions. Every morning cultures taken from the fumigated room When they were found dead were examined first. it looked as if fumigation had done some good, but when the control cultures were examined they were also found dead-apparently they had died a natural death. On the other hand, in the case of a proprietary preparation of which one candle was guaranteed to kill every germ in a room, a little shrine was made of these candles and the inoculation placed in the centre. The germs lived through the experiment. The experiments were carried out for nearly a year, and the conclusion was reached that fumigation has no consistent effect upon cultures. The city of Newton therefore made fumigation optional, and ceased to perform it as a matter of routine. Other cities, such as Boston and New York, then discontinued it. Dr. Walcott says that all that is necessary is that the sick room be scrubbed, scoured, painted, and papered, but if this is not possible a good safe rule is to scrub with yellow soap and hot water as high as a man can reach.
carried out
by Mr. J. C. Drummond in the biochemical laboratory of the Cancer Hospital Research Institute, London, it would appear that milk-sugar under certain circumstances
may contain effective amounts growth-promoting factor. The results are published in the March number of the Biochemical Journal, just issued, and they are in entire agreement with those published in a paper by of
a
Mr. E. U. McCollum and Mr. M. Davis in the same journal in 1915. The suspicion was entertained that in many cases the experimental diets, presumably free from indispensable accessory substances, afforded a satisfactory diet because impure milk-sugar had been used and the impurity was an As Mr. Drummond now accessory substance. points out, our knowledge of the action of these unknown factors is so slight that we shall be forced to reconsider many of the conclusions which have been drawn from the results of feeding experiments, involving the use of diets which appear now not to have been pure. By " pure," of course, is meant that the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats present in the diet are free from those indispensable accessory substances to which the It is desirable, name vitamines has been given. that the where therefore, experiments impure milk-sugar was included in the diet should be repeated with milk-sugar about the purity of which there can be no doubt. It is significant that samples of milk-sugar obtained from reliable English firms as "pure"show the presence of a nitrogenous body, the average amount of nitrogen found being 0’024 per cent. There can be no doubt that on the one hand the failures to obtain body-growth with artificial food rations proves that purified elements in the diet were being dealt with, while on the other, when growth was established in similarly prepared diets, the impurities were not completely removed, and these impurities contained the growth-promoting The use of impure milkaccessory substance. sugar is a case in point.
____
MIDDLE-EAR
DISEASE DUE TO VINCENT’S ORGANISM.
Vincent’s angina is recognised as a fairly common throat affection; microscopical examination of the exudate reveals the small spirillum characteristic of this condition. There is also a certain tendency for the naso-pharynx to be involved. It has only recently been noted, however, that Vincent’s spirillum may be responsible for certain cases of Dr. J. A. Mulholland has middle-ear disease. in Annals the of Otology, Rhinology, and reported Laryngology 16 cases of this disease. In 13 the seat of the infection was in the middle ear and auditory meatus; in 3 more cases this was associated THE FAILURE OF FUMIGATION AS A with mastoiditis with much necrosis, and two of DISINFECTANT. these cases succumbed. The onset of the disease IN the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of is insidious and not associated with any pyrexia or March 9th, Dr. W. W. Walcott, State District any marked degree of pain; there is only a free Health Officer of Massachusetts, describes some discharge of pus from the external auditory meatus. experiments which he made five years ago in con- It is significant that in very many of the cases junction with Dr. Curtis, chairman of the Newton there was a history of " running ears " for months Board of Health, from which he concludes that or even years; in some, considerable disease of fumigation for the purpose of disinfection is useless. the teeth was present. Examination shows much Onlooking up the literature of the subject he found greenish pus, and on the walls of the auditory that most of the experiments had been done under canal is seen a greyish membrane, which on laboratory conditions. Dr. Walcott and Dr. Curtis removal leaves a bleeding surface. PerforaThere may be arranged to carry them out as nearly as possible tion of the drum is frequent.
I
that with continuous treatment a cure
candles, sulphur powder, formaldehyde candles,
MILK-SUGAR.
ACCORDING to
an
interesting research
the apparatus for generating formaldehyde gas from 40 per cent. formaldehyde solution, potassium permanganate and formaldehyde in the proportion of 1 to 2, and a mixture of aluminium sulphate, formaldehyde, quicklime, and water. Fumigation was carried out for periods varying from 24 to 72 hours. All the proprietary preparations were tried under the same conditions. Every morning cultures taken from the fumigated room When they were found dead were examined first. it looked as if fumigation had done some good, but when the control cultures were examined they were also found dead-apparently they had died a natural death. On the other hand, in the case of a proprietary preparation of which one candle was guaranteed to kill every germ in a room, a little shrine was made of these candles and the inoculation placed in the centre. The germs lived through the experiment. The experiments were carried out for nearly a year, and the conclusion was reached that fumigation has no consistent effect upon cultures. The city of Newton therefore made fumigation optional, and ceased to perform it as a matter of routine. Other cities, such as Boston and New York, then discontinued it. Dr. Walcott says that all that is necessary is that the sick room be scrubbed, scoured, painted, and papered, but if this is not possible a good safe rule is to scrub with yellow soap and hot water as high as a man can reach.
carried out
by Mr. J. C. Drummond in the biochemical laboratory of the Cancer Hospital Research Institute, London, it would appear that milk-sugar under certain circumstances
may contain effective amounts growth-promoting factor. The results are published in the March number of the Biochemical Journal, just issued, and they are in entire agreement with those published in a paper by of
a
Mr. E. U. McCollum and Mr. M. Davis in the same journal in 1915. The suspicion was entertained that in many cases the experimental diets, presumably free from indispensable accessory substances, afforded a satisfactory diet because impure milk-sugar had been used and the impurity was an As Mr. Drummond now accessory substance. points out, our knowledge of the action of these unknown factors is so slight that we shall be forced to reconsider many of the conclusions which have been drawn from the results of feeding experiments, involving the use of diets which appear now not to have been pure. By " pure," of course, is meant that the carbohydrates, proteins, and fats present in the diet are free from those indispensable accessory substances to which the It is desirable, name vitamines has been given. that the where therefore, experiments impure milk-sugar was included in the diet should be repeated with milk-sugar about the purity of which there can be no doubt. It is significant that samples of milk-sugar obtained from reliable English firms as "pure"show the presence of a nitrogenous body, the average amount of nitrogen found being 0’024 per cent. There can be no doubt that on the one hand the failures to obtain body-growth with artificial food rations proves that purified elements in the diet were being dealt with, while on the other, when growth was established in similarly prepared diets, the impurities were not completely removed, and these impurities contained the growth-promoting The use of impure milkaccessory substance. sugar is a case in point.
____
MIDDLE-EAR
DISEASE DUE TO VINCENT’S ORGANISM.
Vincent’s angina is recognised as a fairly common throat affection; microscopical examination of the exudate reveals the small spirillum characteristic of this condition. There is also a certain tendency for the naso-pharynx to be involved. It has only recently been noted, however, that Vincent’s spirillum may be responsible for certain cases of Dr. J. A. Mulholland has middle-ear disease. in Annals the of Otology, Rhinology, and reported Laryngology 16 cases of this disease. In 13 the seat of the infection was in the middle ear and auditory meatus; in 3 more cases this was associated THE FAILURE OF FUMIGATION AS A with mastoiditis with much necrosis, and two of DISINFECTANT. these cases succumbed. The onset of the disease IN the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal of is insidious and not associated with any pyrexia or March 9th, Dr. W. W. Walcott, State District any marked degree of pain; there is only a free Health Officer of Massachusetts, describes some discharge of pus from the external auditory meatus. experiments which he made five years ago in con- It is significant that in very many of the cases junction with Dr. Curtis, chairman of the Newton there was a history of " running ears " for months Board of Health, from which he concludes that or even years; in some, considerable disease of fumigation for the purpose of disinfection is useless. the teeth was present. Examination shows much Onlooking up the literature of the subject he found greenish pus, and on the walls of the auditory that most of the experiments had been done under canal is seen a greyish membrane, which on laboratory conditions. Dr. Walcott and Dr. Curtis removal leaves a bleeding surface. PerforaThere may be arranged to carry them out as nearly as possible tion of the drum is frequent.
I