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VKTKRINARY MEDICINE. 687 



TIh> lomplemont fixation tost for tuhrrculosis, LI. O. von Werel {Jour. 

 Iminuwtl., 3 H'J2(J). So. 2, j>p. 159-225).— Th\s is the report of an extensive in- 

 vestiKutlon of tiie ionii)leineiit tixation reaction to determine its valne as a 

 routine (lia;,Tiostic test for tuberculosis. The report includes a review of the 

 literature, a description of the technique employed in the study, and the results 

 of the study of the influence of various factors upon the test. These may be 

 summarized as follows: 



The 1-hour fixation period in the water bath at 37° C. appeared to be the 

 optimum time and temperature for the test. Untested pooled complement from 

 6 or more puinca pigs pave satisfactory results, while if but one guinea pig was 

 used special testing was required. Natural sheep hemolysin was markedly 

 thermolabile, but did not depreciate very rapidly due to aging provided the 

 .serum was kept sterile. 



Heating tubercle bacillus antigen at 100° for three hours did not seem to 

 Impair its antigenic value. The addition of 25 per cent alcohol or 0.5 per cent 

 phenol to the tinished antigen tended to make it more or less anticomplementary. 

 The best method for preparing the antigen seemed to be by killing the bacilli 

 with alcohol and sterilizing in sinall corked vials for one hour on two or three 

 successive days to kill all contaminating spores and bacteria. 



•' The increase in the strength of the fixation and the increase In the per- 

 centage of positive findings after preserving the patient's sera for seven days 

 In the ice chest is due, probably, to one or more of the following reasons : The 

 formation of thermostable antilysins in the kept sera, loss of natural antisheep 

 amboceptor due to aging, loss of natural antisheep amboceptor due to re- 

 heating, and other unknown nonspecific causes. This change in sera after 

 pre.serving in the ice chest for one week is apparently nonspecific. . . . 



"About 70 per cent of all types of tuberculosis patients except those clinically 

 healed or inactive gave positive fixation results on repeated tests. Normal 

 non tuberculous cases gave almost no positive results on repeated tests. Mod- 

 erately and far advanced cases in good condition showing constitutional symp- 

 toms gave an average of 85.2 per cent positive fixations for all six .series. 



" The complement fixation reaction will not be very valuable, as an aid in 

 diagnosis, to the tuberculosis specialist except as a confirmatory test. However, 

 a p<jsitive fixation reaction will be of very great value to t^e general prac- 

 titioner not only as a confirmatory test but also as an aid in diagno.sis and 

 prognosis." 



The transmission of human tuberculosis to fowls, M. C. Barile {Rec. 

 M6d. V6t., 96 (1920), No. ^-6, pp. 66-69).— Attention is called to the conflicting 

 views regarding the possibility of the transmission of the tuberculosis of mam- 

 mals to fowls, and observations are reported which incline the author to the 

 belief that human tuberculosis can be transmitted to fowls through ingestion 

 of sputum 



Vaccination of cattle against hemoglobinuria, Proscholdt (Berlin. Tier- 

 drztl. Wchnschr., S6 (1920), No. 12-13, pp. 1SS-1S5). —This is a brief di.scussion, 

 ba.sed on the author's experiences of the value of vaccination against hemoglo- 

 binuria. The following recommendations are made: 



The vaccination should be done in the spring before the cattle go to pasture. 

 Animals which are already suffering from hemoglobinuria should not be vacci- 

 nated. Great care should be taken in the vaccination of older animals for the 

 first time. Vaccination of these animals is not with(jut risk, yet the sickness 

 following such vaccination is not so serious as the disease itself, which they 

 are likely to contract in infected pastures. Vaccination is harmless for healthy 

 13621"— 20 7 



