VETEEINAEY MEDICINE. 481 



source of the bacilli was the circulating blood. See also a previous uote 

 (E. S. R., 26, p. 281). 



The specific antibodies in the blood serum of tuberculous subjects, B. 

 MoLLEKS (Deut. Med. Wchnschr., 38 {1912), No. 16, pp. l.'io, 746).— The author 

 maintains that for the early diagnosis of tuberculosis the serological tests thus 

 far proposed can not be used in actual practice, and accordingly can not sup- 

 plant the Koch subcutaneous reaction or the von Pirquet test. 



Complement fixing bodies can be artificially produced in animals sensitive 

 to tuberculosis just as they are produced in man by injecting large doses of 

 tuberculin preparations. The best method of doing this, however, consists of 

 injecting killed intact whole bacteria. The appearance of complement fixing 

 bodies in the blood serum is an indication that a change is taking place in the 

 humoral tissues, but whether this change has any significance as far as curing 

 the disease is concerned must, according to the author, remain an open ques- 

 tion. A positive prognostic significance can not be attributed to the complement 

 fixing antibodies. 



Examination of the feces of tubercular and nontubercular cattle, S. H. 

 GiLLiLAND {Ann. Rpt. Penn. Dept. Agr., 16 {1910), pp. 157-165). — These experi- 

 ments included tuberculin-reacting cattle with physical symptoms of tubercu- 

 losis, tuberculin-reacting cattle showing no physical symptoms of tuberculosis, 

 and immunized cattle free of tuberculosis. 



It was shown as a result of these tests that the microscopic examination of 

 feces or rectal scrapings of cattle is of no value for detecting tubercle bacilli, 

 because many bacteria are present in the feces which have the appearance and 

 staining properties of the tubercle bacillus but which in the end do not prove 

 themselves to be such. The animal inoculation test when applied in this 

 direction is a valuable but not an infallible test. " Of the 40 cattle included 

 in the examination, 9 (22.5 per cent) were found to be throwing off virulent 

 tubercle bacilli in the feces or rectal scrapings. Of these 9 cattle, the tubercle 

 bacilli were found virulent for guinea pigs, and in 8 of 9, the tubercle bacilli 

 were virulent for rabbits." 



Where the bacteria detected in the rectal scrapings, etc., have been proved 

 to be tubercle bacilli, proof is presented that either an open tuberculosis exists 

 or tubercle bacilli are passed through the length of the alimentary tract. " The 

 demonstration of tubercle bacilli in the feces or rectal scrapings of cattle 

 apparently free of tuberculosis, but stabled with highly infected cattle, may 

 be accepted as an indication that tubercle bacilli are passing through such 

 cattle, the tubercle bacilli being ingested and thrown off in numbers large 

 enough to be demonstrable in the feces or rectal scrapings. . . . Tuberculin- 

 reacting cattle do not necessarily throw off tubercle bacilli in the feces imtil 

 the development of ' open ' lesions of tuberculosis, in which event the condition 

 may be detected by a consideration of the history, careful observation, and a 

 complete physical examination." 



See also a previous note (E. S. R., 27, p. 382). 



Results obtained with the conjunctival reaction with tuberculin, as well 

 as the local tuberculin reaction with bovines, A. Wolff-Eisneb {Ztschr. 

 Tiermed., 15 {1911), No. 1, pp. 1-^9; ais. in Ztschr. Tuberkulose, 18 {1912), No. 

 5, pp. 494, 495). — ^After a study of the reaction with a large number of bovines 

 the conclusion is reached that it is more satisfactory than the subcutaneous 

 test. An exact statement of the procedure as followed by the author is given. 

 A 40 to 50 per cent solution of tuberculin (bovotuberculol and a dried tubercu- 

 lin) was employed. Two or 3 instillations are given for the purpose of con- 

 trolling the reaction. 



