190 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 41 



The diffusibility of rabic virus, P. Remlinger {Ann. Inst. Pasteur., 3.3 

 (1919), No. 1, pp. 28-52). — Experiments are reported showing that rabic virus 

 is capable of diffusing from the head of a dog or rabbit into physiological salt 

 solution or glycerin, and subsequently into a new head, kidney, or liver im- 

 mersed in the liquid. The author discusses the bearing of this phenomenon on 

 the natiire of rabic virus, and proposes the theory that filterable viruses occupy 

 an intermediate position between the visible microorganisms and the colloids, 

 diastases, or toxins. The lessened virulence of rabic virus on passage through 

 a filter of very fine pores is due, acording to the theory proposed, to a change 

 into the finer colloidal form. 



A new immunity reaction in experimental trypanosome infection; the 

 blood platelet test, H. Uieckexberg {Ztschr. Immunitdtsf. u. Expt. Ther., I, 

 Orig., 26 (1917), No. 1, pp. 53-^4).— If blood from a rat infected with experi- 

 mental trypanosomiasis is mixed with citrate bouillon before coagidation, and 

 this mixture is inoculated with trypanosomes from the original cultures, the 

 trypanosomes in a few minutes become covered with a thick conglomeration 

 of blood platelets so that their movement is almost entirely impeded. The reac- 

 tion is said to be .specific, and to be given in all cases in which an immunity 

 to trypanosomes has been established. 



Further experiments on the influence of protein intoxication on tubercu- 

 lous infection in guinea pigs, A. K. Krause and H. S. Willis {Amer. Rev. 

 Tuhercidosis, 3 {1919), No. 3, pp. 153-11)5). — In continuation of work pi'eviously 

 noted (B. S. R., 35, p. 883), further studies are reported in a controlled inves- 

 tigation of the influence of protein hypersensitiveness and intoxication upon 

 tuberculous infection. 



The results obtained indicate that frequent injections of protein over a long 

 period of time reiider an animal abnormally susceptible to tuberculous infec- 

 tion, but that repeated injections of protein or repeated anaphylactic shock 

 after tuberculous infection is established do not appreciably influence the 

 course of the infection. Intensive and frequently repeated applications of 

 tuber culo-protein fail to produce a state of cutaneous hypersensitiveness in 

 animals in which no tubercles are present, and have no effect on the cutaneous 

 hypersensitiveness in animals in which tuberculous infection has been estab- 

 lished. 



The complement fixation reaction as applied to tuberculosis, P. A. Lewis 

 {Amer. Rev. Tuberculosis, 3 (1919), No. 3, pp. 129-152; abs. in Jour. Amer. Med. 

 Assoc, 12 {1919), No. 23, p. 1100). — This paper reports an application of quan- 

 titative methods to the study of the reaction of complement deviation iii 

 tuberculosis. 



The results confirm the observations of others that certain tuberculous 

 individuals give strong deviation reactions while others do not, and that cer- 

 tain apparently normal individuals also give strong reactions. The author 

 concludes that, while continuous applications of the reaction throughout the 

 course of the disease may in the future develop importance, at present " the 

 numerical relations are such as to make it unsafe to apply the complement 

 deviation reaction to the diagnosis of tuberculosis except as a matter of the 

 most limited confirmatory interest." 



Certain inherent defects in the method of performing the test for comple- 

 ment deviation are said to have been remedied to a considerable extent by 

 increasing the time of the primary incubation to four hours and by employing 

 several quantities of either complement or antigen simultaneously. It has 

 been found that the extractive antigens of the tubercle bacillus so far examined 

 contain as a prominent feature of their make-up, alcohol-soluble, thermostable 

 substances. 



