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THE NATURE OF VIRUSES
99 .of abnormal mental development later ? The usual belief is that in childhood phantasies are normal, but that they are pathological if they continue into - adult life. The latter half of this statement may be accepted, but is the former proved ? These are only a few of the problems requiring elucidation, which -will necessitate prolonged study of individual cases through a lifetime. NARCOTIC DRUG TRAFFIC AT the last session of the advisory committee of the League of Nations (Nov. l2th-28th) on traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs the situation in -China was reported to be improving. The cultivation of the poppy had been prohibited in ten provinces and it was anticipated by the Chinese representative that in six years’ time poppy cultivation, and indeed the use of opium, would be suppressed. New regulations of Draconian severity had been promulgated and would be administered by the military courts. The illicit manufacture, transport, or sale of narcotics are even to be punishable by death. In the discussion that followed, while tribute was paid to the zeal of the Chinese government, some apprehension was.
expressed that the new system might approximate to a government monopoly with all the dangers therein involved with the likelihood of its perpetuation as yielding a welcome revenue to the State. In where illicit an factories had been occasion Bulgaria, for anxiety, it was reported that of the seven which had been discovered three had been closed, another not working, and the remaining three were under close supervision. A striking development in the shape of the setting up of narcotic factories in countries where they previously did not exist has contributed to the general tendency towards economic nationalism and self-sufficiency. The Polish representative urged that, as in the case of his own country, such factories should be restricted to production for home consumption only. The secretariat of the League was instructed to inquire and report as to the laws, orders, and regulations in force in different countries to effectuate the several conventions dealing with opium and other dangerous drugs, and also as to special police forces (where these existed) to counter clandestine manufacture and illicit traffic. The health - committee of the League was requested to report on the question of codeine being a drug of addiction. A subcommittee was appointed to study further the Indian hemp question especially in view of marijuana .cigarette smoking which (as was noted in our columns last week) had given cause for alarm in Canada and the United States. -was
THE NATURE OF VIRUSES
question whether filtrable viruses belong to the living things or are unorganised non-living one which many investigators have tried to answer. The difficulty of solution lies, of course, in the inability to cultivate viruses in a medium devoid of living cells. Many have attempted to do this and .although the majority have met with unqualified negaTHE
world of agents is
tive results, occasional successes have been claimed. None of these, however, has stood the test of time .and it looks as though this direct proof of the living nature of viruses would be denied us for some time to In the come; it might even never be forthcoming. meantime all that can be done is to continue to collect indirect evidence bearing on the problem, and much has already been done in this direction. Viruses have been shown to possess the attributes of living things, the power to multiply and to adapt themselves to alterations in environment without loss of identity.
Some of the larger ones have been identified with particles which can be stained and seen under the microscope and have the appearance of minute micro-organisms. In the case of one virus-psittacosis-its micro-organismal nature can hardly be in doubt. During development it shows a variety of forms which appear to follow one another in definite sequence-a conclusion based on the study, not only of fixed and stained preparations, but also of living virus in tissue culture. Recently Levaditi, Haber, and Hornushave advanced additional evidence in support of the living nature of viruses. They have submitted certain viruses, toxins, and enzymes to the combined action of gonacrine-a dye of the acridine series-and light. These dyes have a marked bactericidal action and, like methylene-blue, they have a photodynamic action on viruses. Further, as Galloway2 has shown in the case of rabies virus, this photodynamic action is not hindered by cell debris. Levaditi and his colleagues have found that gonacrine and light have no inactivating action on tetanus toxin and trypsin, whereas they inactivate viruses like herpes, rabies, vaccinia, and the bacteriophage. Curiously enough the virus of poliomyelitis was not affected and no reason could be found for this exception, but leaving aside poliomyelitis virus there was a clear distinction between viruses on the one hand and toxins and enzymes on the other in their susceptibility to the photodynamic action of such an acridine dye ; the viruses and the bacteriophage behaved like living things. It is true that this work does not give a final solution to the problem of the nature of viruses, as Levidati and his colleagues readily admit, but it adds to that steadily growing mass of circumstantial evidence which makes the living nature of viruses more than ever probable. FIXATION
METHODS IN
FRACTURES OF THE
MANDIBLE
MODERN methods of treating fractures of the jaws demand the cooperation of the dental surgeon. Most of the cases are compound-Henry Sage Dunning, of New York, in a series of 1065 such fractures, found 98 per cent. to be compound into the mouth 3and septic infection must always be anticipated. The methods of fixation most used at the present time are a moulded cap cemented on to the surface of the jaw and wiring together of the upper and lower jaws. I. Samuels4 strongly advocates intermaxillary wiring, under scopolamine and omnopon analgesia. The wire used is No. 24 gauge Angle’s brass ligature wire. This wire is passed round the teeth, several loops being used in each jaw, and each loop having an eyelet, produced by a twist of the wire on the cheek side of the teeth. Through these eyelets the various loops are joined in series, the fracture being held reduced by one operator. A disadvantage of the method is that during the whole time the wiring remains in situ (averaging about thirty days) the patient is unable to move his lower jaw and has to be fed on liquids. On the other hand, the mouth can be kept clean, a powerful spray being used if required ; the alignment at the occlusion is always open for inspection, and spicules of bone are free to work out through the gums ; also-and this seems to be the greatest advantage-wiring can be immediately applied, without the time lost in obtaining impressions and making splints. Mr. G. V. Watt 5 describes fixation 1 Levaditi, C., Haber, P., and Hornus, G. : Bull. de l’Acad. de Med., 1934, cxii., 573. 2 Galloway, I. A. : Brit. Jour. Exp. Path., 1934, xv., 97. 3 International Jour. of Med. and Surg., 1934, xlvii., 277. 4 Brit. Dent. Jour., 1934, lvi., 484.
5 Ibid., p. 492.
expressed that the new system might approximate to a government monopoly with all the dangers therein involved with the likelihood of its perpetuation as yielding a welcome revenue to the State. In where illicit an factories had been occasion Bulgaria, for anxiety, it was reported that of the seven which had been discovered three had been closed, another not working, and the remaining three were under close supervision. A striking development in the shape of the setting up of narcotic factories in countries where they previously did not exist has contributed to the general tendency towards economic nationalism and self-sufficiency. The Polish representative urged that, as in the case of his own country, such factories should be restricted to production for home consumption only. The secretariat of the League was instructed to inquire and report as to the laws, orders, and regulations in force in different countries to effectuate the several conventions dealing with opium and other dangerous drugs, and also as to special police forces (where these existed) to counter clandestine manufacture and illicit traffic. The health - committee of the League was requested to report on the question of codeine being a drug of addiction. A subcommittee was appointed to study further the Indian hemp question especially in view of marijuana .cigarette smoking which (as was noted in our columns last week) had given cause for alarm in Canada and the United States. -was
THE NATURE OF VIRUSES
question whether filtrable viruses belong to the living things or are unorganised non-living one which many investigators have tried to answer. The difficulty of solution lies, of course, in the inability to cultivate viruses in a medium devoid of living cells. Many have attempted to do this and .although the majority have met with unqualified negaTHE
world of agents is
tive results, occasional successes have been claimed. None of these, however, has stood the test of time .and it looks as though this direct proof of the living nature of viruses would be denied us for some time to In the come; it might even never be forthcoming. meantime all that can be done is to continue to collect indirect evidence bearing on the problem, and much has already been done in this direction. Viruses have been shown to possess the attributes of living things, the power to multiply and to adapt themselves to alterations in environment without loss of identity.
Some of the larger ones have been identified with particles which can be stained and seen under the microscope and have the appearance of minute micro-organisms. In the case of one virus-psittacosis-its micro-organismal nature can hardly be in doubt. During development it shows a variety of forms which appear to follow one another in definite sequence-a conclusion based on the study, not only of fixed and stained preparations, but also of living virus in tissue culture. Recently Levaditi, Haber, and Hornushave advanced additional evidence in support of the living nature of viruses. They have submitted certain viruses, toxins, and enzymes to the combined action of gonacrine-a dye of the acridine series-and light. These dyes have a marked bactericidal action and, like methylene-blue, they have a photodynamic action on viruses. Further, as Galloway2 has shown in the case of rabies virus, this photodynamic action is not hindered by cell debris. Levaditi and his colleagues have found that gonacrine and light have no inactivating action on tetanus toxin and trypsin, whereas they inactivate viruses like herpes, rabies, vaccinia, and the bacteriophage. Curiously enough the virus of poliomyelitis was not affected and no reason could be found for this exception, but leaving aside poliomyelitis virus there was a clear distinction between viruses on the one hand and toxins and enzymes on the other in their susceptibility to the photodynamic action of such an acridine dye ; the viruses and the bacteriophage behaved like living things. It is true that this work does not give a final solution to the problem of the nature of viruses, as Levidati and his colleagues readily admit, but it adds to that steadily growing mass of circumstantial evidence which makes the living nature of viruses more than ever probable. FIXATION
METHODS IN
FRACTURES OF THE
MANDIBLE
MODERN methods of treating fractures of the jaws demand the cooperation of the dental surgeon. Most of the cases are compound-Henry Sage Dunning, of New York, in a series of 1065 such fractures, found 98 per cent. to be compound into the mouth 3and septic infection must always be anticipated. The methods of fixation most used at the present time are a moulded cap cemented on to the surface of the jaw and wiring together of the upper and lower jaws. I. Samuels4 strongly advocates intermaxillary wiring, under scopolamine and omnopon analgesia. The wire used is No. 24 gauge Angle’s brass ligature wire. This wire is passed round the teeth, several loops being used in each jaw, and each loop having an eyelet, produced by a twist of the wire on the cheek side of the teeth. Through these eyelets the various loops are joined in series, the fracture being held reduced by one operator. A disadvantage of the method is that during the whole time the wiring remains in situ (averaging about thirty days) the patient is unable to move his lower jaw and has to be fed on liquids. On the other hand, the mouth can be kept clean, a powerful spray being used if required ; the alignment at the occlusion is always open for inspection, and spicules of bone are free to work out through the gums ; also-and this seems to be the greatest advantage-wiring can be immediately applied, without the time lost in obtaining impressions and making splints. Mr. G. V. Watt 5 describes fixation 1 Levaditi, C., Haber, P., and Hornus, G. : Bull. de l’Acad. de Med., 1934, cxii., 573. 2 Galloway, I. A. : Brit. Jour. Exp. Path., 1934, xv., 97. 3 International Jour. of Med. and Surg., 1934, xlvii., 277. 4 Brit. Dent. Jour., 1934, lvi., 484.
5 Ibid., p. 492.