1917] VETERINARY MEDICINE. 181 



washing the precipitate with ether, and dryinjc in vacuo. The purified material 

 thus obtained is incorporated with lactose into small tablets in such proportion 

 that each tablet contains the exact amount of mallein for one test. The test is 

 performed by placing the tablet directly into the .conjunctival sac at the inner 

 canthus of the eye, where it quickly dissolves without any apparent discomfort 

 or annoyance to the animal. 



The simplified procetlure described is claimed to fulfill the requirements of a 

 most satisfactory test, as indicated by earlier investigators. 



An atjrpical case of rinderpest in a carabao, W. H. Boynton {PJiiUppinc 

 Bur. Agr. Bid. 31 {191^), pp. 5, fig. 1). — Previously noted from another source 

 (E. S. R., 31, p. 677). 



The prophylaxis of tetanus by antitoxic serum, Yait.lard {Presse Med. 

 [Parish, No. >,9 (1916), pp. 393, 35^).— The author briefly discusses various ex- 

 periences in which tetanus develope^l months after injury and treatment with 

 antiserum. Nonmotile spores, but with apparently unlimited vitality, were 

 found in leucocytes six months after injury. These facts demonstrate that the 

 spores are not destroyed by the antiserum, but only by being incorporated and 

 digested in the leucocytes. 



A wound infected with tetanus spores may develop tetanus long after it is 

 apparently healed. The danger is greatest where an infected foi-eign body 

 remains in the muscle tissue. The results of experiments under such conditions 

 have shown it to be absolutely impossible to prevent infections with antiserum 

 injections, the only apparent result being a delay in the onset of the disease. 



The application of the experimental facts observed to the disease occurring 

 in wounded soldiers is indicated, and a few instances discussed. 



In conclusion it is emphasized that the biological phenomena are too complex 

 for any prophylactic measures to be absolutely infallible. 



Researches in trichinosis, W. LI^-TZ (Med. Rcc. [N. Y.], 90 (1916), No. 23, 

 pp. 987, 988). — This paper reports experiments in which pieces of muscle tissue 

 containing numerous living trichinje were fed to albino rats. 



" The rats as a rule became very sick 10 to 20 mimites after feeding ; they would 

 not move around, although they were very lively previous to feetling, their heads 

 w^ould droop, they refused nourishment, the breathing became very rapid, and 

 they would begin to waste away. These symptoms lasted about four days, 

 when the rats began to recover, and in two or three days appeared apparently 

 normal." 



Complement fixation in tuberculosis, H. J. Cobper (Jour. Infect. Diseases, 

 19 (1916), No. 3, pp. 315-321, figs. 2). — The studies reported show that virulent 

 cultures of tubercle bacilli, free from all foreign substances and suspended in 

 sterile salt solution, undergo autolysis at incubator temperature, the autolysis 

 reaching a maximum from the sixth to the eighth day. " During the autolysis 

 of virulent cultures of tubercle bacilli there is a coincident liberation of anti- 

 genic substances, which possess advantages over a suspension of living virulent 

 tubercle bacilli as antigen for complement-fixation tests in tuberculosis." 



The examination of 361 cases in which both an emulsion and an autolyzate 

 prepared from living virulent human bacilli were used as antigen indicated that 

 the complement-fixation test is not absolute, being positive only in about 30 per 

 cent of all the clinically definite cases of the disease, both active and inactive. 

 Active cases give a higher percentage of positive results than inactive cases. 

 The value of the test for tuberculosis lies in the fact that in conjunction with 

 other findings a definitely positive reaction makes the diagnosis certain. It is 

 of value also from a differential diagnostic standpoint in that it indicates 

 tuberculosis when positive as against other complications. 



