VETERINARY MEDICINE. 875 



Digest of comments on the Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America 

 and on the National Formulary, M. (I. .Mottkr and M. I. Wilbert (Pub. Health 

 Serv. U. S., Hyg. Lab. Bui. OS {1914), pp. 578).— This deals with the data 

 acquired from the literature for the calendar year ended December 31, 1913. 



Biological products {Pub. Health Rpts. [U. S.], 30 (1915), No. Jf, pp. 256- 

 258). — A list is given of the establishments licensed for the preparation and 

 sale of viruses, sera, toxins, and analogous products. The products which 

 may be sold under the law are mentioned. 



The formation of antibodies in rats fed on pure vegetable proteins 

 (Osborne-Mendel stunting food), L. Hektoen {Jour. Infect. Diseases, 15 

 (1914)- No. 2, pp. 279-2S2. figs. 2). — The purpose of the study was to determine 

 whether or not the formation of antibodies proceeds in tlie usual way in rats 

 whose growth is arrested by feeding vegetable proteins but in which no dis- 

 turbance of general health is observed. Two sets of experiments were carried 

 out, each involving a group of stunted and normal rats. Similar results were 

 obtained in each case. " It appears, then, that so far as the results of these 

 experiments indicate, the arrest of growth in rats by the Osborne-Mendel method 

 does not cause any disturbance in the production of antibodies." 



Serodiagnosis of pregnancy, E. Abderhalden and A. Fodor {Munchen. Med. 

 Wchnschr., 61 {1914). No. I4, pp. 765-167; ubs. in Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., 62 

 (1914), ^^f- 20, p. 1591). — Besides the optic and dialysis methods a third method 

 for diagnosing pregnancy has been evolved, viz, the determination of the 

 nitrogen in the dialyzate, the results with which compare favorably with the 

 former two methods. The ferments may be demonstrated by the refractometer, 

 the ultramicroscope, polarization, etc., and possibly by staining. 



Diagnosis of pregnancy in horses, cows, and goats by the dialysis method, 

 F. Rehbock {Arch. Wiss. n. Prakt. Tlerheillc, 40 {1914), ^o. 4-5, pp. 324-354).— 

 The diagnosis of pregnancy in the horse, cow, and goat is deemed possible by 

 the Abderhalden method (E. S. R.. 31, p. 278) ; with it pregnancy may be 

 diagnosed 12 to 20 days after conception. When the fetus dies negative 

 results are obtained. 



The use of Abderhalden's test for diagnosing pregnancy in animals, 

 ScHATTKE {Ztschr. Veterinark., 25 {1913), No. 10, pp. 425-431; abs. in Berlin. 

 Tierdrztl. Wchnschr., SO {1914), No. 23, p. ^0^).— The method was tested with 

 particular reference to its value for diagnosing pregnancy in cows. With 54 

 cows, all pregnant, the test showed positive every time, and with 54 non- 

 pregnant animals it was negative. The dialysis method is said to be a reliable 

 test, but it can only be conducted in a well-arranged laboratory. 



Experience with the Abderhalden serum test for pregnancy, J. Rosen- 

 BLOOM {Biochem. Bui., 3 {1914), No. 11-12, pp. 373, 37^).— Uniformly successful 

 results were obtained with the method. The author is firmly convinced of its 

 reliability. 



On the specificity of placental proteins in skin reactions of the human 

 body, F. H. Falls and F. K. Bartlett {Amer. Jour. Obstet., 70 {1914), No. 6, 

 pp. 910-918; abs. in Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 64 {1915), No. 2, p. 176).— K local 

 reaction was obtained with placental protein (E. S. R., 32, p. 579) in non- 

 pregnant and pregnant individuals. " The difference in the reaction, however, is 

 neither great nor constant enough to be of value in the diagnosis of pregnancy. 

 This speaks against the theory that the pregnant woman is specifically sensitized 

 to placental proteins. The lack of a general anaphylactic reaction also speaks 

 against the view that the pregnant woman is in fact a sensitized woman. We 

 realize that the method of preparation of the proteins is open to the objection 

 that our manipulations may have so changed the substrate that the specific 



