VETERINAEY MEDICINE. 877 



with the diluent employed; in glycerin diluted with physiologic salt solution 

 the micro-orgimisnis died much sooner than in glycerin diluted with bouillon 

 or with horse serum. In dilutions up to 50 per cent, glycerin did not destroy 

 the bacillus of anthrax in 15 days. This may be due to the presence of spores. 

 Glycerin seems to be a selective poison for the bacillus of plague, the spirillum 

 of cholera, and the bacillus of diphtheria. In 50 per cent of glycerin in 

 physiologic salt solution all the nonspore-forming organisms died in less than 

 4 days." 



Changes of bacteria on the animal body {Centbl. Bakt. [etc.], 1. Abt,, Orig., 

 74 (19U), No. 3-4, pp. 285-294; 75 (1914), No. 2, pp. 159-173; 75 {1915), No. 

 5-6, pp. 394-398; 76 (1915), Nos. 1, pp. 38-46; 5, pp. 330'-3J,2) .—The present 

 papers, in continuation of a series on the subject, include an experiment on the 

 formation of the capsule of the anthrax bacillus, by K. Rotky (pp. 285-294) ; 

 the correlation between capsule formation, spore formation, and infectivity of 

 the anthrax bacillus, by O. Bail (pp. 159-173) ; experiments on the power of 

 resistance of capsulated and capsule-free anthrax bacilli, by J. Matsui (pp. 

 394-398) ; investigations of capsule-free anthrax, by O. Bail (pp. 38-46) ; and 

 tests of the attenuation of the anthrax bacillus at 42°, by O. Bail (pp. 330-342). 



Complement fixation in varicella, J. A. Kolmeb {Jour. Immunol., 1 {1916), 

 No. 1, pp. 51-58). — While the experiments reported have shown that "an anti- 

 body in the natui'e of an amboceptor is present in the sera of persons suffering 

 with varicella which will absorb complement in the presence of an antigen 

 prepared of the cutaneous lesions of this disease, yet the percentage of positive 

 reactions and particularly the degree of complement absorption is small. While 

 immunity principles are in all probability present in the body fluids of persons 

 for years after an attack of varicella these could not be detected by the com- 

 plement-fixation tests in this study. All positive reactions were observed dur- 

 ing or soon after an attack of the disease and at the time of probable highest 

 concentration of antibodies. A more delicate technique would probably yield 

 a higher percentage of positive reactions as is usual in all complement-fixation 

 tests with bacterial antigens, but in this study this was avoided in order to 

 guard against the possibility of nonspecific absorption of complement." 



Complement fixation in vaccinia and variola, J. A. Kolmer {Jour. Immunol., 

 1 {1916), No. 1, pp. 59-81). — Experiments reported show that about 60 per 

 cent of the sera examined from patients suffering with mild smallpox yielded 

 positive complement-fixation reactions with salt-solution antigens of variolous 

 and cowpox viruses. Although the reactions in general were relatively weak 

 those with the variolous antigens w^ere somewhat stronger than those with 

 the cowpox antigens. Alcohol extracts of variolous and cowpox viruses 

 possessed little or no antigenic sensitiveness. 



" These complement-fixation reactions have demonstrated the close biological 

 relationship between the antibodies of vaccinia and variola ; it is probable that 

 complement-fixation reactions with salt-solution antigens of the contents of 

 smallpox lesions or fresh cowpox virus will prove of some value in the diag- 

 nosis of smallpox." 



The fate of various antibodies in the precipitin reaction, F. P. Gay 

 and Rttth L. Stone {Jour. Immunol., 1 {1916), No. 1, pp. 83-104). — The authors 

 were unsuccessful in an attempt to separate out antibodies in a condition 

 relatively free from other proteins. Their experiments have shown that most 

 bacteriolysins and hemolysins, when associated either with the precipitinogen 

 serum or with the precipitin serum, are not carried down in the precipitate. 

 Similar negative results were obtained with artificial bacterial agglutinins 

 and hemagglutinins. When the precipitate was produced by adding serum to 



