888 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



produced. These effects included trembling of th^ body, paralysis, especially of the 

 hind legs, and lowering of the body temperature. As a rule the animals recovered 

 from the effects of the injections after about 24 hours. It is l)elieved, therefore, that 

 the injurious effects of tapeworms are to be ascribed to the action of a special toxin 

 which is produced by the worms. 



Further experiments were conducted for the purpose of isolating, if possible, the 

 toxin which was believed to be present in the extract obtained from crushed tape- 

 worms. Experiments were made for this purpose with a large number of chemical 

 substances, and precipitates were ol)tained in a number of these experiments. All 

 precipitates were amorphous without any indication of crystalline forms. The pre- 

 cipitate which was obtained from the treatment of the extract with sulphate of mag- 

 nesia produced certain lowering of the temperature, paralysis of the hind legs, and 

 contraction of the muscles in the rabbits and guinea pigs, even when adn:iinistered 

 in small doses.. Experiments with these precipitates were made for the purpose of 

 determining their hsemolytic action. It was found that the red blood corpuscles of 

 rabbits and guinea pigs maintained at a temperature of 37° C. were entirely dissolved 

 within 10 hours by the action of precipitates. When a small quantity of the pre- 

 cipitate was injected directly into the substance of the liver of rabbits and guinea 

 pigs, a fatty degeneration of the liver was noted within 48 hours. 



The three species of armed palisade worm, A. Sticker {Deut. Tierarztl. 

 Wchmchr., 9 {1901), Nos. 33, pp. 333-336; 34, pp. 346, 347, Jigf!. &).— The author 

 gives detailed notes on the life history, habits, and parasitism of Sclerostomum 

 edentalum, S. hideniatum, and S. quadridentatum. From a critical review of the 

 literature on this subject it appears that the points requiring further study at 

 present are as to which of the 3 species occur in any given region, in what numbers 

 and in what month are they found, at what time do they become mature, and what 

 is the proportion between the numl:)ers of the 2 sexes. 



Tetanus infection supposed to follow the absorption of toxin by the 

 intestinal wall, Remono (Jier. Med. Vrl., Paris, 8. .srr., a' [1901), No. 13, pp. 412- 

 414)- — The author gives a description of a case of well pronounced tetanus in a horse 

 in which the symptoms were characteristic. The animal was given an injection of 

 antitetanic serum, but died within 20 hours after the first marked symptoms were 

 observed. A careful post-mortem examination indicated rather conclusively that 

 the infection in this case had taken place by means of the alimentary tract. The 

 author believes that this mode of infection nmst be taken into consideration in 

 accounting for epidemics of tetanus. 



Cerebro-spinal meningitis, J. Wilson {Vet. Jour., 53 [1901), No. 313, pp. 34- 

 37). — The author dintusses l)riefly the symptoms ordinarily manifested in cases of 

 this disease. According to the experience of the author, recovery will not take place 

 in more than 40 or 50 per cent of the cases. After recovery from the disease, where 

 there is a loss of coordination of muscular movements, with atrophy of the muscles, 

 good results were obtained by the application of cantharides to the loins and the 

 administration of small doses of nux vomica. 



Agglutination reaction in infections of various grades, S. J. Goldberg 

 {Centbl. Bed-, n. Par., 1. Aht., 30 {1901), No. 16, pp. .005-617).— The significance and 

 value of the agglutination test as proposed by Widal has been thoroughly interpreted 

 by different authors, and the present study was made for the purpose of gaining 

 more evidence on some of the doubtful points concerning this problem. The results 

 of inoculation experiments and blood tests indicate that in a fatal infection the reac- 

 tion of agglutination remains the same as before infection. When non-fatal doses of 

 the virus were given, an increase of the agglutinating power of the blood was noted, 

 but this reaction was by no means the same in different animals. While in the rab- 

 bit the agglutinating power became much more pronounced, no such reaction was 

 observed in guinea pigs. The reaction increases gradually in intensity, reaches a 



