Ig THE BUREAU OF SCIENCE 



have been indicated. The chnical symptoms, bacteriology, pa- 

 thology, and the susceptibility of animals to pneumonic plague 

 have been studied. Protective inoculations have been found to 

 be less effective against pneumonic than bubonic plague. The 

 first outbreak of bubonic plague in Manila after the American 

 occupation w^as eradicated by the combined action of the Bureau 

 of Science and the Bureau of Health, and the last case appeared 

 in 1906. The first case of the present desultory outbreak oc- 

 curred on June 19, 1912. The control of the present outbreak 

 has been based upon the bacteriological diagnosis of the sus- 

 pected cases of human plague and the examination of many 

 thousands of rats. Investigations have been made as described 

 on page 46. 



4. Cholera. — Since July, 1911, not a single case of cholera has 

 been reported in this Archipelago. This Bureau has taken an 

 important part in its elimination by the pathological and bac- 

 teriological diagnosis of the disease, by the preparation of im- 

 mune serum for diagnosis, and by prophylactic inoculations 

 against it; the Bureau has also made many investigations on 

 the cholera organism and immunization against, and treatment 

 of, the disease, A new prophylactic, consisting of the immuniz- 

 ing substances extracted from the cholera vibrios, was devised 

 and employed in immunizing in the last epidemic of cholera. 

 Physiological and biochemical studies in this laboratory have 

 determined the efficiency of different concentrations of saline 

 solutions employed as extra venous injections in treatment of 

 collapse in cholera, have found evidence of an acid intoxication 

 in this disease, and on the basis of this evidence have proved 

 that early administration of alkalies will practically eliminate 

 death from uraemia. A new and quicker method of identifying 

 the vibrio of Asiatic cholera has been devised (see page 47). 



5. Bacillary dysentery. — Dysentery of bacterial origin, while 

 not strictly a tropical disease, is one of increasing importance 

 in warm countries. One type of the organism causing this 

 disease was discovered in the Philippines, and sporadic cases, 

 outbreaks, and epidemics are more frequently recognized. Sev- 

 eral varieties of the dysentery bacillus are known. Investiga- 

 tions have shown that all of the different types occur in the 

 Philippine Islands, and on page 47 recent isolation experiments 

 by the single-cell method are described. Bacillary dysentery 

 has been found to occur in monkeys of the Philippine Islands, 

 a fact which might, under certain conditions, play a part in its 

 spread. Infantile diarrhoeas and dysentery are an important 



