482 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 38 



much stronger antiseptic and disinfectant than mercuric chlorid, while the 

 precipitating effect on human serum is much less. 



Annual report of the civil veterinary department, Bihar and Orissa, for 

 the year 1916—17, D. Quinlan (Ann. lipt. Civ. Vet. Dept. Bihar and Orissa, 

 1916-17, pp. 4+8-\-XVI +2). —The usual annual report (E. S. R., 36, p. 879). 



Annual report on the Punjab Veterinary College, civil veterinary depart- 

 ment, Punjab, and Government Cattle Farm, Hissar, for the year 1916-17, 

 C. A. H. TowNSEND, H. T. Pease, and J. Farmer {Ann. Rpt. Punjab Yet. Col. 

 and Civ. Yet. Dept., 1916-17, pp. II+2+15+XYIII).— The usual annual report 

 (E. S. R., 37, p. 78). 



Infection and immunity, V. O. Vaughan (Chicago: Amer. Med. Assoc., 

 1915, pp. 238). — This monograph is a part of the Commemoration Volume, issued 

 by the American Medical Association as a tribute to the medical sciences 

 " which made possible the building of the Panama canal." The purpose of the 

 author is to " state the essential facts of infection and immunity accurately 

 and simply, so that they may be understood by the intelligent, nonprofessional 

 man." 



The section on infection includes a historical review of the development of 

 the germ theory, chapters on the general characteristics of bacteria and avenues 

 of infection, and separate chapters on 19 diseases of infectious origin, describ- 

 ing briefly the history, organism, and the sources and avenues of infection. 

 The section on immunity includes chapters on phagocytosis, precipitins, agglu- 

 tination, opsonins, and germicidal sera. The volume closes with a discussion 

 of the general principles and mechanism of infection and immunity. 



The intracutaneous absorption of antigen, G. H. Smith and M. W. Cook 

 {Jour. Immunol., 2 {1917), No. 3, pp. 269-281, fig. 1). — By anaphylactic and 

 precipitin reactions with sensitized, normal, and immunized guinea pigs sub- 

 jected to intracutaneous injections of antigen, the authors conclude that the 

 absorption of antigen from the cutaneous tissues of specifically immunized 

 animals is much more rapid than in normal animals. The absorption in sensi- 

 tized is less than in immunized but greater than in normal animals. 



The specificity of intracutaneous absoi*ption, G. H. Smith and M. W. Cook 

 {Jour. Immunol, 3 {1918), No. 1, pp. 35-42). — In this article the subject of 

 intracutaneous absorption of antigen, noted above, is discussed from the stand- 

 point of specificity. Guinea pigs immunized to one antigen were tested by the 

 intracutaneous injection of the specific and of a heterologous antigen to deter- 

 mine the relative rate of absorption of antigen. Precipitin and agglutination 

 reactions were employed. The possibility that normal animals possess a selec- 

 tive action for a certain antigen was disproved by a series ot tests with 

 various antigens, no difference in elimination of antigen being noted. 



From the results of their experiments the authors conclude that "ft-om the 

 point of view of absoi-ption of antigen, the immune state with the changes 

 dependent upon it is the result of a heightened reactivity for the specific antigen 

 only, and does not stimulate the mechanism of elimination of heterologous 

 antigens." The nonspecific antigen is, moreover, not removed so rapidly from 

 an immunized animal as is the same antigen from a normal animal. 



Preparation of protein extracts for diagnostic cutaneous tests, N. S. Fekby 

 {Jour. Lab. and Clin. Med., 2 {1917), No. 9, pp. 655-657).— The following method 

 has been successfully used by the author : 



The protein is first extracted with sterile water containing just enough of 

 an oil of high efficiency to act as a preservative. Glycerin is added and the 

 solution evaporated to a standard strength. Sufficient boric acid is added to 

 the extract to make a heavy paste. This is put up in small collapsible tubes 

 and applied with a sterile toothpick. By this method the proteins are thor- 



