886 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 40 



are brought about by reinoculation, the incubation period in an animal sensi- 

 tized by a previous inoculation being much shorter. Animals affected with 

 natural or experimental lymphangitis acquire after about 50 days an immunity 

 to the disease to the extent of contracting on infection only a benign form of 

 the disease which heals spontaneously. 



Treatment of ulcerative lymphangitis by vaccines made from the Prelz- 

 Nocard bacillus prepared with ethyl chlorid, R. H. Knowi.es (Jour. Compar. 

 Path, and Ther., SI (1918), No. 4, pp. 262-272) .—For the treatment of ulcerative 

 lymphangitis the author recommends the use of a vaccine made from the 

 Preiz-Nocard bacillus, but in which ethyl chlorid is employed in place of alcohol 

 and ether, as recommended by Truche (E. S. R., 37, p. 5S3). 



The technique of the preparation of the vaccine is given in detail and results 

 of its use in varying doses are reported. The vaccine is considered by the 

 author to be superior to other vaccines. Whether it produces any immunity 

 against a natural attack or against a recurrence of the disease lias not yet been 

 determined. 



A glycerin " extract " of tubercle bacilli as an antigen in complement 

 fixation, S. A. Petboff (Amer. Rev. Tuberculosis, 2 (1918), No. 9, pp. 5 

 524). — The following antigen is recommended as giving the most reliable re- 

 sults of any single antigen: Tubercle bacilli are grown in 4 per cent glycerin- 

 beef broth for from four to six weeks, after which the cultures are filtered 

 through several thicknesses of filter paper, washed clear of broth with sterile 

 water, dried in a desiccator over sulphuric acid, and pulverized for several 

 weeks in a ball mill. One gm. of the pulverized bacilli is triturated in a mortar 

 with 100 cc. of a 25 per cent solution of glycerin, and boiled slowly for one 

 hour in a flask having a return condenser. After the clumps have settled, 

 the supernatant solution Is removed and used as the antigen, 0.1 cc. of a 1:20 

 dilution representing one-sixth of the anticomplementary point. 



The advantages claimed for this antigen are that it is easy to prepare, there 

 is no danger of infection in handling it, and it Is less anticomplementary than 

 antigen which has not been boiled. 



The clinical value of complement fixation in pulmonary tuberculosis based 

 on a study of 540 cases, L. Brown and S. A. Petroff {Amer. Rev. Tuberculo- 

 sis, 2 (1918), No. 9, pp. 525-5^0, fins. 9). — A report is given of the value of the 

 complement fixation test in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis, as based 

 upon the results obtained in a study of . r »40 cases. 



Of the 478 in which a positive diagnosis of tuberculosis was made, a positive 

 complement fixation test occurred in 72 per cent. Positive tests were obtained 

 in 51 per cent of the incipient, 73 per cent of the moderately advanced, and 

 81 per cent of the far advanced cases. The complement fixation test did not 

 run a parallel course with the intradermic and subcutaneous tuberculin 

 reactions. Many patients reacted to the tuberculin and had a negative com- 

 plement fixation test, and the opposite also occurred. 



A comparative study of the "potato-filtrate" and sodium hydroxid antigens 

 and the glycerin extract described above led to the conclusion that while the 

 glycerin extract gives the greatest number of positive results it should not be 

 used to replace the others exclusively, but that it is safer to use all li 

 each in turn has failed to give a positive test in some cases in which one of 

 the others did so. 



The complement fixation test for tuberculosis, L. B. I,ange (Amer. h'< r. 

 Tuberculosis, 2 (1918), No. 9, pp. 541-545).— A study is reported of the com- 

 plement fixation test on a total of Sot', sera, using four different antigens, the 

 bacillary suspension of Miller and the sodium hydroxid extract, the methyl 

 alcohol extract, and the potato broth culture filtrate of Petroflf. 



