ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 59 



o 



the extermination of locusts in Morocco. D'Herelle's method provokes 

 very contagious outbreaks among insects, either by the dissemination of 

 broth cultures or by contamination with aid of infected crickets. The 

 contagious enteritis provoked by the coccobacillus among the cricke-fcs 

 behaves in the same manner as other epizootic diseases. After a period 

 of incubation one observes a period in which a variable mortality occurs ; 

 then a period of decline sets in, with the diminution of morbidity, caused 

 either by attenuation or by increase of resistance of individuals. In the 

 most favourable cases one notices a mortality of 70 to 80 p.c. In other 

 cases the mortality does not exceed 20 to 25 p.c. D'Herelle's method is 

 very difficult of application, and good results can only be obtained by 

 competent technicians. Moreover, unfavourable atmospheric conditions, 

 such as rain, heavy dews, or bright sunlight, considerably hamper the 

 efficiency of the method. It would also be difficult to spread pure 

 cultures over a large tract of country. The results, however, have been 

 very encouraging, and the authors are prepared to adopt the method on 

 a larger scale. 



Bacteriology of Fseces in Diarrhoea of Infants.* — Captain W. R. 

 Logan has investigated fourteen cases of infantile diarrhoea in which 

 the patients had been fed on artificial food at the time of onset. The 

 flora of artificially fed infants differs from that of breast-fed infants 

 chiefly in a decrease of the acid-tolerant group, an increase of the 

 normal Bacillus coli group, and in the appearance of members of the non- 

 lactose-fermenting group along with some increase in cocci. The flora 

 of infants suffering from diarrhoea shows similar but more marked 

 changes, and the more severe the diarrhoea the more marked the 

 changes. It is probable that the acid-tolerant group exerts a beneficial 

 influence in restraining the growth of the non-lactose-fermenting group 

 in the intestines. Bacilli of the non-lactose-fermenting group were 

 obtained from six out of twenty-one (2<S".5 p.c.) infants and young 

 children who were free from diarrhoea. Bacilli of this group were 

 isolated from eleven out of fourteen cases of diarrhoea (78 "5 p.c). 

 Bacilli of Morgan's No. 1 group were isolated from 9 p.c. of the normal 

 children, and from 35 p.c. of the cases of diarrhoea. True, though non- 

 agglutinable, dysentery bacilli were isolated from none of the normal 

 children, but were obtained from three cases of diarrhoea with blood 

 and mucus (dysentery), or 21 p.c. of total diarrhoea cases. A certain 

 number of cases of diarrhoea of infants are therefore true bacillary 

 dysenteries, even in Scotland and in winter-time. It is doubtful 

 whether the overgrowth of non-lactose-fermeuting bacilli initiates the 

 diarrhoea, or whether it is a secondary and aggravating factor. 



Etiology of Cerebro-spinal Fever.f — E. C. Hort and A. H. Caulfield 

 have followed up the investigations of the former with regard to the 

 association of a filter-passing virus with cases of meningococcal infection. 



* Lancet, cxci. (1916) pp. 824-7. 

 t Lancet, cxci. (1916) pp. 522-4. 



