692 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Where the 2 per ceiit emulsion was used, the tabulated results show 

 but one case where a colouy grew. This was after the 15 seconds 

 exposure. Where the li per cent emulsion was employed 3 such colo- 

 nies were found, but only 1 was found in the case of the 1 per cent 

 emulsion. Where the emulsion was of A per cent strength, 5 such 

 colonies appeared after each were in the same dish. But in all the 

 series where the time of exposure was 5 minutes or more not a single 

 colony developed. From the laboratory experiment the author con- 

 cludes that creolin is a true disinfectant, and that most favorable 

 results are to be expected where the germs are few and the temperature 

 comparatively high. To test the effect of creolin on the tissues, the 

 author kept one hand immersed in undiluted creolin for 5 minutes, with 

 the result that on the following day there was scarcely any perceptible 

 effect. The small cost of the substance as well as its effectiveness 

 makes creolin one of the best disinfectants and antiseptics for general 

 use. 



The function of the white blood corpuscles, F. Friedenthal (Biol. CentM., 17 



(1897) No. 19, pp. 705-718). — The author reviews the literature relative to the subject, 

 and gathering up the threads of his argument concludes that the white blood cor- 

 puscles serve an important role in the coagulation of the blood in the body, as 

 scavengers in disease, attacking and removing foreign bodies, large and small. In 

 animals with metamorphoses they aid in breaking down the old and building up the 

 new tissues. 



An epidemic of botulism, DiNETJR (Bui. Soc. Beige. Micros., 23 (1897), No. 4-6, 

 pp. 45-66).— It is recorded that on December 5, 1896, there occurred at Antwerp an 

 epidemic of botulism which attacked 76 out of 153 men, 19 of whom were taken to 

 a hospital. Medical inquiry brought out the fact that the men had eaten sausages. 

 The meat of the sausages was superficially examiued, and as usual in cases of meat 

 poisoning no apparent evidence of anything deleterious found. A chemical exam- 

 ination brought to light a ptomaine, but in quantities too small to be followed by 

 noticeable results when injected into animals. Injections of fragments of the 

 sausage into a mouse, however, produced death, and an inoculation of another mouse 

 with cultures made from the blood of the first resulted similarly, the animal dying 

 at the end of 22 hours. A microscopic examination of the sausage brought to light 

 numbers of a coli bacillus. A brief historical resume of the subject of botulism is 

 given. In concluding, the author says, besides what has already been mentioned, 

 that it appears that the animal, the flesh of which had been used in making the 

 sausage, must have been in a bad state of nutrition, but whether this state was of a 

 morbid nature, toxic or otherwise, is undeterminable. The evil effects that followed 

 eating the sausages it was found could be avoided by heating the sausages to a tem- 

 perature of 100° C. for 5 minutes. 



Agglutination of bacillus typhosus by chemical substances, E. Mala oz (Ann. 

 Inst. Fasteur, 11 (1897), No. 7, pp. ■'iS.2-590). — From the author's experiments, it 

 appears that agglutination of this bacillus maybe produced by formalin, corrosive 

 sublimate, oxygenated water, and alcohol, when used on cultures. The concentration 

 of the substances is an important matter with these substances, but with safraniu 

 and vesuviu only very dilute solutions are necessary, 1 per 1,000 being sufficient. 

 A slight agglutinating action maybe obtained with salicylic acid and permanganate 

 of potash, while caustic soda and ammonia mixed with hard water have a strong 

 agglutinating action, but not when mixed with distilled water. The action of these 

 chemical substances was used by the author for the purpose of distinguishing the 

 typhoid bacillus from Bacillus coli communis. Formalin was used. In the typhoid 



