92 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEAllCHES RELATING TO 



of scarlet fever. In all cases typical throat symptoms were found — in 

 one or two instances erythena, local or general, proceeding in one case 

 to a typical scarlatiniform rash, was observed. Inoculations with the 

 streptococcus scarlatinge produced only local suppurative lesions, and 

 experiments upon the lower monkeys gave no satisfactory results. The 

 authors conclude that this streptococcus, although associated with scarlet 

 fever, is not the true causal agent, and that the organism responsible for 

 this disease is still undiscovered. In conclusion, reference is made to 

 the recent work of J. Cantacuzene and of G. Bernhardt. These authors 

 both record successful infections of the lower apes, and the latter states 

 that the causal agent of the disease is a filter-passer. The writers of the 

 present paper do not confirm these observations. 



Cell-inclusions in Scarlet Fever.* — Dohle has found that blood- 

 films from cases of scarlet fever show, in many cases, the presence of 

 leucocyte inclusions. These bodies are most numerous in early cases, 

 being present in great numbers in blood examined on the first day, and 

 being absent after the fourth day of the disease. Cell inclusions asso- 

 ciated with this disease have been described by Bernhardt and Hofer, 

 but these bodies differ from those described by the present author. For 

 the demonstration of these inclusions, two staining methods are recom- 

 mended. The film dried in air, and fixed with 96 p.c. alcohol, is stained 

 with a mixture of 2 parts of G, Hoppe-Seyler's reagent in 100 parts 

 of distilled water and G parts of Michaelis azure blue. Time of stain- 

 ing varies from 6 to 24 hours. The film is then washed in water. The 

 second method is more complicated, but may give better contrast stain- 

 ing between the cell-nucleus and the inclusion. The alcohol-fixed film 

 is stained for some hours in a mixture of acid orcein and acid Ehrlich's 

 hsemotoxylin in equal parts, and then placed in GO p.c. alcohol, contain- 

 ing 1 p.c. hydrochloric acid. After washing in tap water the film is 

 stained in the mixture, described in the first method, for 24 hours, 

 and then washed. 



Distribution of Bacillus proteus in Nature. f — C. Cantu has in- 

 vestigated air, water, soil, and foodstuffs for the presence of this organism. 

 Its isolation was readily effected. If a tube of gelatin inoculated with 

 foodstuff or other substance showed any liquefaction, a drop of the lique- 

 fied gelatin was inoculated into the condensation water of an agar slope. 

 If Bacillus proteus was present it would grow over the surface of the slope 

 and, owing to its extreme motility, could outstrip other bacteria and 

 reach the top of the slope in a pure state. It was found that the 

 organism was invariably present wherever putrefaction was taking place. 

 It was cultivated frequently in raw sausages. Milk properly handled 

 was free from it. Vegetables, excepting those in contact with the soil, 

 did not show this organism. 



Bacteriology of Leprosy. $ — T. S. B. Williams advances the view 

 that the lepra parasite is not an acid-fast bacillus belonging to the fission 



♦ Centralbl. Bakt., Ite Abt. Orig., Ixi. (1911) pp. 63-8. 

 t Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xxv. (1911) pp. 852-64. 

 X Brit. Med. Journ. (1911) ii. pp. 1582-5. 



/ 



