f>94 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



post mortem examination of the bodies of those who had died after eating 

 the shell-fish from the same beds. 



The authors remark that the actual proof that the bacillus they 

 isolated from the shell-fish was the cause of the fatal illness in people 

 who had eaten similar bivalves is wanting, as none of the morbid secre- 

 tions from the bodies direct were used for inoculation experiment ; but in 

 view of the fact that careful chemical analysis excluded the possibility 

 of simple poisoning, and having due regard to the pathogenic effects of 

 the bacillus they isolated, they consider they are justified in ascribing 

 the deaths to infection by their bacillus. The authors give a critical 

 analysis of 31 recorded instances of poisoning after ingestion of various 

 contaminated food-stuffs, and append a bibliography of the subject. 



Streptococcus of Scarlet Fever.* — M. H. Gordon describes the 

 Streptococcus scarlatinas, aud gives the points which differentiate it from 

 the ordinary Streptococcus pyogenes. He specially mentions the marked 

 tendency to the formation of oval and rod-shaped individuals as com- 

 pared with the strictly spherical shape of the S. pyogenes. The S. 

 scarlatinas upon gelatin and agar also grows more slowly, aud has a 

 somewhat different appearance ; it clots milk, producing a strongly acid 

 reaction in the course of its growth, and finally it is less virulent to- 

 white mice. 



The author bases his description upon ten strains isolated from the 

 tonsillar mucus of ten cases of scarlet fever ; in three cases the 

 organism was also associated with the S. pyogenes. He considers 

 that the streptococcus of Baginsky and Sommerfeld, and also that 

 isolated by Class, may simply be varieties of this S. scarlatinas. 



Bacteriology of Scarlatina.! — M. H. Gordon details his investiga- 

 tions into the bacteriology of scarlet fever, during which he isolated 

 an organism, the Streptococcus scarlatinas, from each of the ten cases 

 he examined between the 2nd and 34th days of the disease. The 

 streptococcus isolated from five of these cases was virulent for the mouse, 

 and in three cases examined on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th days respectively 

 it was associated with a virulent strain of the;#. pyogenes. In four cases 

 of suspected scarlatina investigated by the writer, two yielded evidence 

 of the presence of the S. scarlatinas, and later, desquamation proved 

 their nature ; the two remaining cases, in which the bacteriological 

 examination yielded negative results, were not followed by desquamation. 



The author isolated the S. pyogenes from the nasal discharge of five 

 out of twelve cases of scarlatina, and from the aural discharge of five 

 out of twelve cases of scarlatinal otorrhoea, and he therefore concludes^ 

 that this organism plays an important role. 



The technique adopted in isolating the organism was to collect 

 tonsillar secretion in a calibrated loop holding about ^^ ccm. Two 

 such loopfuls of the secretion were added to 2 ccm. sterile salt solution 

 and varying quantities of the dilution, equivalent to from jr J 57 ccm. to 

 tthhtdtt ccm - inoculated on to inspissated horse's serum. 



In concluding his paper, Gordon suggests that the S. scarlatinas 

 occupies a position in the bacteriological kingdom between S. pyogenes 

 and B. diphtherias. 



* Brit. Med. Journ., 1902, ii. p. 445. 



t Local Gov. Board Reps., 1900-1901 (1902) pp. 353-404. 



