1898] NOTES AND COMMENTS 8 



which he increased enormously by cultivating it in the peritoneal 

 cavities of a series of rabbits. Other scrums have been prepared 

 from other sources by different workers. But antitoxic action is 

 subject to the laws of specificity to the same extent as toxic action. 

 A given antitoxic scrum will immunise against, or cure the disease 

 produced by, just that one species of micro-organism which was 

 employed in producing the serum. In the case of Streptococcus in- 

 fection, it is therefore not remarkable that while in some cases a 

 given serum will produce most striking curative results, in others it 

 is absolutely powerless. In the present state of knowledge it is not 

 possible to foresee which case will benefit and which will not. But 

 the fact that such differences exist may serve as a warning against 

 the supposed unity of certain species of Streptococcus, maintained by 

 some observers. 



The Efeects of Tropical Climate 



The exploration and first attempts at the administration of Africa 

 have been attended with so serious a loss of life from disease, that 

 it is not surprising that those interested in Africa should sometimes 

 despair of its ultimate success. They throw the blame on that most 

 indefinite of factors, the climate, and attempts to discuss tropical 

 sanitation only too often degenerate into mere denunciation of that 

 scapegoat. The afternoon meeting of the Eoyal Geographical Society, 

 which assembled on April 27th to hear Dr Sambon's paper on the 

 possibilities of the acclimatisation of the white races in tropical 

 regions, was no exception to the rule. Dr Sambon stoutly held that 

 there is no reason why wdiites should not live and thrive in the 

 tropical zone as well as they do in the temperate zones ; but the 

 meeting, in spite of Dr Manson's powerful support of Dr Sambon's 

 propositions, would not be comforted. The discussion was interest- 

 ing, as it could not fail to be when such authorities as Dr Manson, 

 Sir John Kirk, Sir Harry Johnston, and Mr J. A. Baines took part 

 in it. But the discussion was disappointing as well, for the pessimists 

 did not join issue on the material point. They denounced the 

 climate, even in places where it is described as " appearing delight- 

 ful," and they pointed to past experience, as told by the mournful 

 death roll or the degeneration of European races, such as the 

 Spaniards in South America and the Portuguese in East Africa. 

 But no one denies either the deaths or the degeneration. The 

 question is whether they are due to unalterable factors of climate, 

 or to organic diseases which may be met and defeated. Dr Sambon 

 denied the climatic theory, and went through the climatic factors 

 one by one, and show T ed that they alone are not injurious to health. 

 He challenged those who hold that it is the climate which does the 

 mischief to tell him how it acted, through what elements, and what 



