OIG EXrERIMENT STATION KECORD. 



and guinea pigs. The organism was found in all investigated species of cold-blooded 

 animals, with the exception of carp, multiplied rapidly, and showed a wide distri- 

 l)ution in these species. 



Turtles died of niiUary tul)erculosis within periods ranging from a few weeks to a 

 few months after intraperitoneal or intrapulmonary injections. Similar conditions 

 were observed in other cold-blooded animals. Birds, dogs, rats, and white mice 

 were resistant to the organism. Guinea pigs, however, when inoculated with large 

 doses, died within 4 to 8 days and exhibited tul)erculous formation in the peritoneal 

 cavity, especially in the omentum. In cases in which guinea pigs lived for 12 to 14 

 days after inoculation true tubercles were formed. When small doses were used for 

 inoculation of guinea pigs the tuberculous processes ultimately healed and entirely 

 disappeared. 



During these investigations it was found that cultures of tubercle bacilli obtained 

 from turtles and grown at a temi)erature of 37° C. were absolutely indistinguishable 

 from human tubercle bacilli. 



The appearance of pseudo-tubercle bacilli in cattle, P. Moeller {Berlin. 

 Tierdrztl. Wchnschr., 1903, No. 10, pp. 156, 157, figs. i^). — A study of a number of 

 cases of tuberculosis in cattle showed that while the pseudo-tubercle bacilli may be 

 present in the secretions and excretions, or even in the diseased organs of tubercu- 

 lous cattle, they can not be considered as having any etiological connection with the 

 disease. 



The acid-resistant bacilli of butter, milk, and soil compared with the 

 tubercle bacillus, P. Courmont and M. Potet {ArcJi. Med. Exper. et Anat. Path., 

 Paris, 1. ser., 15 {1903), No. 1, pp. 83-128, pi. 1). — The subjects discussed in this 

 article include a general history of acid-resistant bacteria, their habitat, cultures, 

 morphology, staining characters, biological characters, and iiathogenic action. A 

 considerable variety of these organisms has been found in butter, milk, fertilizers, 

 forage, soil, and elsewhere. 



As a result of the authors' experiments, it is concluded that while under ordinary 

 circumstances it is comparatively easy to differentiate between tubercle bacillus and 

 other acid-resistant bacteria, none of the tests are universally ajiplicable. Nearly 

 all of the acid-resistant bacteria can be obtained in sufficient virulence to produce 

 typical tubercles when inoculated into experimental animals. The pathogenic power 

 of the tubercle bacilli, on the other hand, may be completely destroyed by cultiva- 

 tion under certain conditions. The possibility of relationsliip between the various 

 forms of acid-resistant bacteria is suggested. 



Lesions in the central nervous system produced by tetanus toxin, A. Zinno 

 (Arch. Med. Exper. etAnat. Path., Paris, 1. ser., 15 {1903), No.3,iyp. 335-363, fig. 1).— 

 The author conducted a double series of experiments, in the first of which portions 

 of nervous tissue were prepared according to the methods of Courmont et al., and in 

 the second of which greater care was exercised in preventing any contamination of 

 the portions of the nervous system used in the experiment. 



After animals were inoculated with tetanus toxin obtained from portions of the 

 nervous system they were killed at various periods and a microscopic study was 

 made of the nervous system. The experimental animals were dogs, guinea pigs, 

 rabbits, and pigeons. These animals were inoculated with doses of different sizes, 

 but always from a very virulent form of the bacillus. 



As a result of these experiments it is concluded that the injection of tetanus toxin 

 in ordinary experimental animals produces characteristic clinical symptoms which 

 correspond with the nervous lesions. The lesions are observed in the chromato- 

 philous cells, simultaneously in the centrosome and nucleolus. The neuroglia and 

 nerve fibers are little affected except in advanced stages of the disease. In certain 

 cases a secondary infection will spread rapidly to other organs and to other parts of 

 the nervous system than those in which the primary attack appeared. 



