1919] VETERINAKY MEDICINE. 85 



The spirochete of infectious jaundice (Spirochseta icterohsemorrhagiae, 

 Inada; Leptospira, Noguchi) in house rats in Chicago, A. Otteraaen {Jour. 

 Infect. Diseases, 24 {1919), No. 5, pp. 485-488). — " Spirochetes resembling those 

 described as the cause of acute infectious jaundice were demonstrated in only 

 two Chicago house rats of 30 examined (or 6.6 per cent), indicating that the 

 spirochetes probably are not present in a high percentage of such rats. The 

 spirochetes were demonstrated in material from the mouth and in tissue from 

 the kidney. 



" Because of the presence of spirochetes in the mouth of rats it is possible 

 (hat at the time of the bite organisms may be carried into the wound by the 

 saliva or teeth, and disease in this manner transferred directly from the rat 

 to man." 



Scrapie, J. M'Fadyean {Jour. Compar. Path, and Thcr., 31 {1918), No. 2, pp. 

 102-131, figs. 2). — The author here records experiments with scrapie which 

 have been carried out at the Royal Veterinary College at London during the 

 last seven years. 



Attenuation of human, bovine, and avain tubercle bacilli, N. Raw {Lancet 

 [Londo7i], 1919, I, No. 10, pp. 376, 377). — Pure cultures of human, bovine, and 

 avian tubercle bacilli subjected for 12 years to continuous subculture on 

 artificial media containing glycerin are said to have retained all their char- 

 acteristic and selective appearances but to have undergone a gradual decrease 

 in virulence, becoming almost nonpathogenic to animals. Reports are given 

 of several cases of active glandular and pulmonary tuberculosis which have 

 been apparently cured by injections of mixed attenuated bacilli, the cultures 

 being raised to a temperature of 220° F. for two minutes before injection. 



It is the opinion of the author that the careful use of such attenuated bacilli 

 may have the effect of controlling and probably preventing tuberculous infec- 

 tions in the human body. 



Bovine tuberculosis in children, R. S. Austin {Amer. Jour. Diseases Chil' 

 dren, 17 {1919), No. 4, pp. 264-269).— A study is reported of 24 c*5ses of tuber- 

 culosis in children, ranging in age from 2^ months to 11 years, all but 3 cases 

 of which ended fatally. Clinical, bacteriological, and post-mortem findings 

 indicated that 7 of the cases were of bovine origin. The importance of this 

 variety of the tubercle bacillus in tuberculosis of children and the necessity of 

 home pasteurization of cow's milk are emphasized. 



A characteristic localization of Bacillus abortus in the bovine fetal mem- 

 branes, T. Smith {Jour. Expt. Med., 29 {1919), No. 5, pp. 451-456, pis. S).— The 

 author reports a characteristic localization of B. abortus in the epithelial 

 covering of the chorion, the cells of which in cases of infectious abortion have 

 been found to be densely filled with minute bacilli. Fetal membranes at the 

 end of the normal period of gestation which are macroscopically without patho- 

 logical changes have been found uniformly free from such cell contents. 



The author concludes that " the significance of this invasion of the chorionic 

 epithelium from the standpoint of pathogenesis can not be properly evaluated 

 until a more complete history of the successive localizations of B. abortus 

 has been obtained. It is safe to assume that this particular cell parasitism is 

 but one of a series of localizations and centers of multiplication in the fetal 

 membranes, although evidence points to it as perhaps the earliest stage in 

 which the organism gains by rapid, unchecked multiplication a considerable 

 advantage over the host. The local destruction of an epithelial covering by an 

 infectious agent when other miscellaneous infectious agents are absent may 

 or may not be of much importance, for it would depend on the regenerative 

 activity of the epithelium, the tendency to the gathering of injurious transu- 

 dates, and the toxic substances associated with the bacilli." 



