1917] VETERINARY MEDICINE. 381 



heterologous immune serum than with its own immune serum. However, there 

 is an obvious tendency for a substrate to react more often and yield stronger 

 reactions when tested against its homologous immune serum than when tested 

 against a heterologous immune serum." 



In comparing the Abderhalden test and the anaphylactic test (E. S. R., 35, 

 p. 679) with the pure vegetable proteins it was found that the results present 

 certain resemblances and also some very definite differences. " In either reac- 

 tion the more closely the proteins are allied chemically and physically the less 

 specific the reactions tend to become. On the whole, however, the results 

 obtained by anaphylaxis are much more constant and specific." 



Experiments with, the Abderhalden dialysis procedure, R. Otto and G. Blu- 

 MENTHAL (ZtscliT. Immunitdtsf. u. Expt. Ther., I, Orig., 24 (1915), No. 1, pp. 

 12-41, figs. 3). — Detailed experimental data of the examination of the sera 

 from pregnant individuals and from individuals afflicted with dementia prsecox 

 are reported. 



The results show that sera from pregnant individuals almost invariably 

 cleaved placental tissue. A positive reaction, however, is deemed only of lim- 

 ited diagnostic value, since other sera, especially those from carcinomatous 

 individuals, give a positive reaction with ninhydrin after digestion with placental 

 substrate. A negative reaction, however, may safely be taken to indicate the 

 absence of pregnancy. The sera of dementia prsecox patients (males) yield a 

 positive reaction fairly regularly with testes, often with brain, and occasionally 

 with placenta as substrate. Testes substrate is cleaved by the sera of patients 

 suffering from other diseases, and also by the sera of pregnant individuals. The 

 positive reaction with testes substrate is therefore also only of very limited 

 diagnostic value, especially in differential diagnosis. 



It is concluded that the dialysis procedure is not to be recommended for gen- 

 eral practice because of the many sources of error in its manipulation. A bib- 

 liography of 28 references cited is included. 



The coinplement content of Eck-fistula dogs, N. P. Sheewood, C. Smith, 

 and R. West {Jour. Infect. Diseases, 19 {1916), No. 5, pp. 682-687, fig. 1).— 

 "The complement content of normal dog serum may vary in the same animal 

 from i to T2 that of guinea pig serum. Immediately following the establish- 

 ment of Eck's fistula there is a temporary drop in complement, lasting not 

 more than 16 hours as a rule. There is a much greater drop in complement 

 under chloroform anesthesia than under ether anesthesia. The return to nor- 

 mal is apparently just as rapid when only sufficient chloroform is used to 

 produce the surgical anesthesia. The complement content of dog serum following 

 the establishment of Eck's fistula was normal within from 6 to 16 hours after 

 the operation and remained normal for at least 90 days (last observation) in 

 the dogs studied. 



" There is no corresponding drop in complement paralleling or accompanying 

 the degeneration of the liver. There does not seem to be sufficient evidence, as 

 yet, to warrant the assumption that the liver plays a more important role in the 

 production of complement than do other organs or tissues of the body." 



A cutaneous reaction in canine distemper, J. A. Kolmer, M. J. Harkins, 

 and J. Reichel {Jour. Immunol., 1 {1916), No. 5, pp. 501-510). — The authors 

 have prepared from a number of strains of Bacillus bronchisepticus (Ferry- 

 McGowan) an antigen for use in anaphylactic tests for which the name 

 " bronchisepticin " is proposed. Experimental data submitted indicate that the 

 highest percentage of positive reactions occurred among animals having an 

 .acute case of the disease at the time the tests were made (77 per cent) and 

 among those known to have had distemper while under observation (60 per 



