782 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



witli magnesium sulphate, the more extensive application of this treatment 

 would be advisable in order to obtain further data from the results of a large 

 number of cases." 



The biochemisti-y and chemical properties of tuberculous sputum, R. 

 EiSELT {Ztschr. Klin. Med., 15 (1912), No. 1-2, pp. 71-92; ahs. in Zentbl. Expt. 

 Med., 2 (1912), No. 8, pp. 3^6, SJfT). — In the chemical examination of sputum, 

 a weighed amount of sputum is diluted and 100 cc. treated with 10 cc. of a 3 per 

 cent acetic acid solution ; the mucin is filtered out, the filtrate neutralized with 

 sodium carbonate, boiled, and the precipitate, which represents the protein 

 bodies coagulated by heat, collected, washed, dried, and weighed. The albumoses 

 are precipitated from the filtrate with zinc sulphate, the excess of zinc sulphate 

 removed from the filtrate by boiling with water and barium carbonate, and the 

 peptone estimated by Siegfried's iron method ; the nitrogen rest is estimated by 

 the Kjeldahl method. 



Nitrogen coagulable by heat and albumoses were present in greater quantities 

 in tuberculous sputum than in the sputum from other pulmonary diseases. 

 The residual nitrogen consisted in the greatest part of leucin, tyrosin, and 

 alanin 



In determining the presence of enzyms in the sputum, it is extracted with 

 5 times its amount of alcohol-ether (2:1) for 2 hours, and the alcohol-ether re- 

 moved by filtration. The residue is spread out on clay plates, dried, powdered, 

 and 20 times its bulk of an aqueous solution of glycerin is added. The proteolytic 

 power of the glycerin extract is then tested in an alkaline solution with casein, 

 in a neutral solution with ricin, or in an acid solution with edestin. 



Tests were also made with the optical method, and for the presence of lipases. 

 It was noted that tryptases often occur in the tuberculous sputum, but that in 

 many stages of the tuberculous process these enzyms are absent. In some 

 febrile periods antiferments are present, which probably originate as a result 

 of tlie destruction of the lung tissue. 



The amount of enzyms present in sputum is directly proportional to the 

 lipases and amino acids present, and indirectly proportional to the protein 

 coagulated by heat. 



Immunizing tests with tubercle bacilli, tubercle bacilli lipoids, and 

 lipoid-free tubercle bacilli. — Antigenic properties of lipoids, K. Meyeb 

 (Ztschr. Immunitdtsf. u. Expt. Ther., I, Orig., 15 (1912), No. 2-S, pp. 245- 

 256). — By immunizing rabbits with kiUed tubercle bacilli, complement fixing 

 antibodies are pi'oduced in large amounts. Antibody formation also takes place 

 if the animals are immunized with lipoid-free tubercle bacilli and with lipoids 

 (cephalin). When produced with the lipoids, however, the immunity is less 

 than that produced by the whole or intact bacilli, even though larger amounts 

 of antigens are necessary, as measured by the complement fixation test. Spe- 

 cific antibodies are produced by immunizing with either the lipoids or the lipoid- 

 free bacilli, and are only positive with the antigen used for immunization or with 

 the whole bacilli. The serum produced with lipoids does not react with the 

 proteins of the bacilli, and the antigenic properties of lipoids can not be due to 

 the presence of traces of proteins in the lipoid extract. 



Measles in cattle, B. H. Ransom (U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. Rpt. 

 1911, pp. 101-117, pis. 7, figs. 2; Circ. 2U, pp. 101-117, pis. 7, figs. 2).— This 

 paper discusses the life history of the unarmed or beef tapeworm (Twnia sagi- 

 nata), its occurrence, its location in the body, methods of inspection for dis- 

 covering cysticerci, diagnosis, vitality of cysticerci, disposal of infested beef, 

 and eradication of the disease. The beef tapeworm and its cystic stage, unlike 

 the pork tapeworm, are comparatively common in the United States, the ex- 

 planation being that raw or rare beef is very frequently eaten. The available 



