BY DR. OSCAR KATZ. 327 



tubercle of the hand was picked out for yielding the necessary- 

 material of blood, with which the following tubes were charged : 

 for each case, five containing peptone-glycerine-agar, solidified at 

 an inclined surface. [The composition was — meat-broth as usual ; 

 agar-agar 1 p.c, peptone 1 p.c, glycerine 6 p.c. (in weight), sodium- 

 chloride 0*6 p.c. ; reaction slightly alkaline.] 



On microscopic examination of each of the two descriptions of 

 blood, leprosy-bacilli were seen to be present in moderate numbers. 



The tubes (fourteen in all) were placed, in the evening of the 

 same day, in a thermostat, in which they were kept for a month, at 

 a temperature of about 37°C. At the end of this period the tubes 

 were still sterile ; the pocket-lens could not discover any sign of 

 growth having taken place in them. 



As to the question whether leprosy is inoculable into animals or 

 not, the opinions still differ. The possibility of its contagiousness 

 in regard to man is now proved beyond doubt. It will be remem- 

 bered that Father Damien, who died the other day, is said to have 

 contracted the disease while engaged in his mission work among 

 the lepers at Honolulu. The contagious nature of the disease has, 

 in more than one example, been made manifest, as if by experiment, 

 through vaccinating (against small-pox) with lymph derived from 

 persons who subsequently exhibited symptoms of leprosy. 



A variety of animals, such as rabbits, guinea-pigs, cats, etc., 

 have been experimented upon, in order to ascertain whether, or 

 under what conditions, leprosy, or at least something like it, can 

 be communicated to them. It seems as if in certain animals and 

 under certain conditions, leprosy-bacilli can be brought to multiply, 

 thereby causing changes similar to what takes place in leprosy as 

 it occurs naturally in human beings. 



