608 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



in a visit to the principal dairy countries, with suggestions for the improvement of 

 the dairy industry in South Australia. 



Modern dairying {(^aart. Rpi. Kansas State Bd. Agr., 22 {1903), No. 87, pp. 288, 

 y/c/.s-. as). — This is made up of a series of short i)opular articles reprinted from vari- 

 ous sources. In the introduction brief statements are made concerning the present 

 status of dairying in Kansas. 



VETERINARY SCIENCE AND PRACTICE. 



Infection and immunity ■with, special reference to the prevention of infec- 

 tious diseases, G. M. Sternberg {New York and London: G. 1'. FiUnam^s Sons, 1903, 

 pp. XI-{-29S). — The purpose of this volume is to treat in a systematic way the main 

 facts of infection and immunity, in so far as they may be made available in the control 

 and eradication of infectious diseases. No attempt is made to discuss controversial 

 matters relating to recent investigations and bearing upon the various theories of 

 immunity. Special emphasis is laid upon the general proposition that infectious dis- 

 eases are preventable and attention is called to the means of checking infection. 



The subjects of disinfection by heat, sunlight, gases, and various chemicals is treated 

 at some length. The discussion of specific diseases is confined largely to those which 

 affect man, but special mention may be made of the chapters on tuberculosis, tetanus, 

 and hydrophobia. 



The theory of natural antibacterial immunity, P. T. MtJLLER {Centbl. Bakt. u. 

 Par., 1. Abt., Orig., 34 {1903), Nos. 5, pp. 458-463; 6, pp. 550-556; 7, pp. 700-713).— 

 The literature of this subject is critically reviewed in connection with experiments 

 made by the author for the purpose of determining the basis of immunity in animals. 

 Attention is called to the fact that the production of antibodies takes place very 

 rapidly witiiin a few hours after infection and that the tissues which are primarily 

 affected by the disease are directly concerned in the production of these bodies. The 

 antibodies arise first at the point of infection and later appear in other organs. 



The author's experiments were made on pigeons which were artificially infected 

 with a number of pathogenic organisms. Some of the pigeons were purposely starved 

 and others were well fed during the progress of the experiments. It was shown by 

 these experiments that defective nutrition and the consequent disturbance of metab- 

 olism exercises a pronounced influence upon the production of agglutinins. Different 

 species of bacteria, however, did not react in the same way to the effect of nutrition 

 on the infected birds. The typhoid bacillus and B. pyocyaneus uniformly developed 

 a higher content of agglutinins in animals which had been partly starved than in 

 those which were well fed, while B. proteus, B. dysenierix, and cholera vibrio behaved 

 in the opposite manner. The withholding of food and other harmful interference 

 with the normal course of animal metabolism have the power of influencing the 

 production of antibodies which are associated with bacterial substances in a manner 

 which is determined by the nature of the bacteria used in the experiment. 



The study of the origin of alexins, U. Lambotte {Centbl. Bakt. u. Par., 1. Abt., 

 Orig., 34 {1903), No. 5, pp. 453-457). — The author's experiments were made on horses, 

 dogs, and chickens. The blood plasma of all these animals acted in the same way 

 toward the cholera vibrio, and the action of the serum and plasma was almost iden- 

 tical. The author believes that the bactericidal alexin, as well as the hemolytic 

 alexin, comes from the organized elements of the blood. 



Artificial immunity against staphylococci, Proscher {Centbl. Bakt. u. Par., 1. 

 Abt., Orig., 34 {1903), No. 5, pp. 437-445). — Experiments carried on by the author 

 indicated that normal goat serum has the power of agglutinating a portion of the 

 staphylococci in a given culture, but does not affect the rest. Notes are given on 

 methods of estimating the power of the immune serum of goats and horses with 

 regard to the action of such serum upon staphylococci. 



