1916] VETERINARY MEDICINE. 281 



With Cases of Infantile Paralysis May Transmit This Disease, by C. Ten Broeck 

 (pp. 558-577) ; and A Study of an Epidemic of Infantile Paralysis (Acute Epi- 

 demic Poliomyelitis) Occurring in the Southern Connecticut Valley District 

 from November 1, 1911, to November 1, 1912, by J. V. W. Boyd (pp. 578-601), 

 in which is given a brief account of a contemporary animal sickness among 

 horses and an epidemic of paralysis among birds. 



The experiments reported by Rosenau, carried on in 1912 and 1913, failed to 

 corroborate the earlier experiments and give no evidence that the stable fly 

 transmits infantile paralysis. In the experiments by Ten Broeck 48 animals 

 were received and the material from 30 of these, including 4 rats, 7 fowls, 9 

 cats, 3 horses, 4 swine, 1 dog, and 2 cows, was injected into monkeys, but in no 

 case did the monkeys inoculated show any signs of a paralysis or symptoms 

 which would indicate that they were infected with poliomyelitis. 



Present views in respect to modes and periods of infection in tuberculosis, 

 M. P. Ravenel (Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 66 {1916), No. 9, pp. 613-618).— " The 

 evidence at hand indicates that in the majority of cases the respiratory tract 

 is the route of infection in tuberculosis. The alimentary tract is a frequent 

 portal of entry for the tubercle bacillus. The tubercle bacillus is able to pass 

 through the intact mucous membrane of the alimentary tract without produc- 

 ing a lesion at the point of entrance. This takes place most readily during 

 the digestion of fats. The bacilli pass with the chyle through the lacteals and 

 thoracic duct into the blood, which conveys them to the lungs, where they are 

 retained largely by the filtering action of the tissues. Infection through the 

 alimentary tract is especially frequent in children. 



" Infancy and childhood are preeminently the periods of life when the indi- 

 vidual is susceptible to tuberculous infection, and the majority of cases of 

 infection occur during these early years. Any campaign against tuberculosis 

 which leaves out of consideration the protection of children against infection 

 will fail of success. Tuberculous infection in adult life occurs, but not so 

 frequently or readily as generally believed. Tuberculous infection may occur 

 at any age." 



Experimental investigations on the determination of the smallest number 

 of bacilli which will produce tuberculosis in the guinea pig'; first communi- 

 cation, I. Thoni and A. C. Thaysen (Centbl. Bakt. [etc.], 1. Abt., Orig., 77 

 (1916), No. 4, pp. 308-319). — The authors were unable to confirm the findings 

 of earlier investigators that so small a number as from 10 to 20 bacilli were 

 sufficient to initiate the disease in the guinea pig. In one test series of 19 

 animals in which a highly virulent culture in doses of from 10 to 76 bacilli 

 was used it was possible to establish a tuberculosis infection in only one animal 

 after a period of 41 days. In a second series of 22 animals inoculated with 

 doses of from 99 to 343 bacilli the results were entirely negative. 



The technique for counting the number of micro-organisms used was the 

 India-ink staining procedure of Burri. 



The tubercle bacillus and arsenic, Charpentiek (Ann. Inst. Pasteur, 29 

 (1915), No. 9, pp. U3-458).— In the investigation it was demonstrated that an 

 active growth of the tubercle bacillus took place in a bouillon containing so- 

 dium arsenate or atoxyl. The growth was less active in the presence of sodium 

 methyl arsenate and difficult in the presence of sodium cacodylate. The or- 

 ganisms absorbed arsenic from solutions of sodium arsenate and atoxyl. The 

 virulence of the organisms was not changed by such treatment, since they 

 produced an active infection when injected into guinea pigs. It is indicated 

 that the presence of the arsenic in the bacilli probably increases their resist- 

 ance to destructive agencies. Similar results were obtained with other organ- 

 isms, viz, Aspergillus, Bacillus coli, B. subtilis, and yeasts. Injections of so- 



