348 SUMMARY OF CURKENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



(4) Staining: and Injecting:. 



Demonstrating Frog Lung-flukes.* — W. W. Cort gives the follow- 

 ing technique. The worms for sectioning were usually killed after 

 shaking in corrosive sublimate plus 1 to 3 p.c. acetic acid. The speci- 

 mens which were destined for toto mounts were usually transferred into 

 distilled water before killing, in order that part of the eggs might be 

 evacuated. After this treatment they were killed without shaking. 

 All specimens were left in cold killing fluid from six to eighteen hours, 

 but when hot fluid was used less time was required. For toto staining, 

 Mayer's paracarmin, Mayer's hasmalum, and Delafield's hajmatoxylin 

 were found most useful. The worms were much ovcrstained in 

 dilute solutions, and then very rapidly and completely detrained in 

 2 to 4 p.c. HCl in 70 to S(» p.c. alcohol. This method of differentia- 

 tion has been found useful for most toto mounts of Trematodes, since 

 in this way almost all the parenchymatous tissue is cleared of stain, so 

 that the internal organs stand out clearly. For staining sections, 

 htematoxylin with eosin as a counter is a good combination. Much time 

 can be saved by staining the worms in toto in Ehrlich's haematoxylin, 

 differentiating on the slide after sectioning, and then counterstaining in 

 the higher grades of alcohol. By this method it is not necessary to run 

 the sections on the slide through a lower grade of alcohol than 85 p.c. 

 The only difficulty in the technique of the frog lung-flukes is due to the 

 presence of great masses of eggs. In some of the largest specimens 

 sectioning became almost impossible on account of these great masses of 

 eggs. 



(6) Miscellaneous. 



Sterilized Pus as a Vaccine.f — Nesfield finds the injection of 

 sterilized pus useful in the treatment of deep-seated abscesses, septic 

 wounds, compound fractures, mastoid disease, osteomyelitis, septic opera- 

 tions, etc. The pus is taken from the patient's wound and prepared as 

 follows : wipe the interior of a 1 oz. wide-mouthed bottle with tinct. 

 iodi., and rinse out with 1 in 50 p.c. solution of phenol. Treat the 

 glass stopper in the same manner. Collect the pus in the bottle and 

 add an equal volume of 1 in 50 carbolic. Put in a piece of camphor and 

 allow the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours, or longer, in a cool 

 place. A dose of 2 min. is given on the first day, raising the dose by 

 1 mm. each day until 17 min. are given on the sixteenth day. There- 

 after, if required, 10 min. may be given on alternate days. Induration 

 may occur at the site of inoculation and a slight rise of temperature 

 may be noticed. The prophylatic dose is about 5 min. (The process 

 may be simplified in the laboratory by using vessels sterilized in the 

 ordinary way.) 



Rapid Method of Doing Widal's Reaction. J — A. C. Coles recom- 

 mends the following rapid and simple technique for the determining, or 



* Trans. Amer. Micr. Soc, xxxiv. (1915) pp. 203-40 (3 pis.). 

 t Ind. Med. Gaz., 1914, pp. 471-4. 

 : Brit. Med. Journ., i. (1916) p. 684. 



