chaetosis- 



cvntinued 



KEVIEW — TKOriCAL MEDICINE, ETC. 187 



if not identical with, that described by Vincent, but notes certain difi'erences between his Spirochaetes 

 three tonsillar cases and those described by that author. These were ; — and Spiro 



1. FcEter was evident in Vincent's cases, while this was absent in all enumerated in 

 Bousfield's article. 2. Vincent's cases were practically all unilateral, while of Bousfield's, two 

 out of three were bilateral. This point is of importance, for H. W. Bruce states that mild 

 cases are invariably unilateral. 3. Vincent mentions that bacilli fusiformes were sometimes 

 unassociated with spirochastse and often outnumbered them. In these cases the two were 

 always associated with one another, and the spirochaetse usually enormously outnumbered the 

 bacilli. 4. Pyogenic cocci were almost invariably present in Vincent's cases, while in several 

 cases of this series the infection was practically pure with spirochsetae and bacilli 

 fusiformes. 5. Vincent mentions extension to the soft palate and uvula, and in none of 

 Bousfield's cases was this present, perhaps owing to the cases being seen early in their 

 course. 6. Vincent makes no remark about the urine, but Bruce mentions albuminuria in 

 one out of ten of his cases. Albumin was present in two out of three cases of tonsillitis 

 mentioned in Bousfield's article. 



Some of the latter's cases showed ulcers in the buccal cavity. Bousfield has also found 

 spirocheetes in destructive ulcer of the penis along with B. fusiformis and cocci. 



Schellachi* has made important researches on the spirilla of European, African and 

 American relapsing fever. 



lu order to obtain exactly comparative results, very careful precautions were taken by the author, the spirilla 

 being observed in the living state always in the first stage of injection in rats, mice and monkeys, while the stains 

 and fixations employed were always applied under uniform conditions. 



The flexibility and activity of movement of the Russian species are greater than in the American, but less 

 than in the Afi-ican species. Very exact details are given of the length and regularity of the spirals, and the 

 characters of the motion, corkscrew- wise, lateral bending, bending through a circular arc, and the special 

 movements of the ends of the spirals. 



The thickness of these species is especially difficult to measure, but the author gives the diameter in microns 

 as 0-4.5, 0-31 and 0-39 for the African, American and Russian forms, respectively, in specimens stained by Giemsa's 

 method. The African form is about 24 n at the most, with 8 to 12 undulations; the American, 17 to 20 fx with 

 6 to 8 undulations; and the Russian, 19 to 29 jj, with 8 to 10 undulations. 



In spirochsetes, whose vitality has been diminished by washing and centrifugiug, or by prolonged keeping in 

 serum, the spirals are more rigid and regular, and seem dependent on the structure of the organism. 



The author believes that in all three forms transverse division is the only method ; Y-shaped forms are 

 exceptional, and can only be regarded as an appearance due to commencing division. Forms may also be met 

 with still, joined by a thin filament of protoplasm, with, for example, in .S'. dutloni, only four to six, or half the 

 adult number of undulations, whereas the full number of turns would be preserved if the method of division 

 were longitudinal. 



One of the ends of the spiroohEetes terminates in a filiform prolongation some five /u long, which grows as the 

 rest of the organism does, while the other, though pointed, ends abruptly. The existence of a lateral membrane 

 could not be verified in either species; like Prankel, he was able to demonstrate lateral cilia by Zettnow's 

 method, but considers them to be the artificial result of the numerous washings, centrifugings, etc., involved in 

 the method. 



Deep staining by Giemsa's method brings out certain coloured granules, but no difference between the 

 species could be demonstrated in this respect. 



Lastly, some six pages are devoted to the distribution of the parasites in the organs and tissues of infected 

 rats, and the conclusion is reached that, unlike S. jMllidti, which is a tissue parasite, the spirochsetes of relapsing 

 fever are true hsematozoa. These bring about necrosis of the liver and spleen, but in the intervals between the 

 attacks are not quartered specially in the spleen, but equally divided amongst the organs generally. 



Like Manteufel, he is sceptical as to the destruction of the parasites taking place by phagocytes, but states 

 that extra-cellular destruction is effected in the liver and spleen. Lebert proposed, in 1874, the name of 

 Protoiiiycetmii rccurrentis for the Russian species, while Colin, in 1875, proposed that of S. obermeieri. 



According to the rules of nomenclature, therefore, the name should stand as S . rccurrentis (Lebert). ^ The 

 African species should stand as .S'. duUinil (Novy), while for the American the author proposes .S'. nooji, which, if 

 accepted, would thus stand .S'. ■noviii (Schellach). 



Manteufel,-* working with the spirilla of relapsing fever, found apparently that the 

 spirochaetes can penetrate the shaven but unbroken skin of a rat and produce infection. He 

 conducted agglutination experiments and found that, contrary to what is seen in bactericidal 

 infections, a serum which is extremely active in agglomerating living and active spirilla is 

 quite inert in the case of the same spirilla which have been killed by heating to 45° C. 



' Schellach, C. (1907), " Morphological Researches on the Spirilla of European, African and American 

 Relapsing Fever." Arb. a. d. Kaiser! drsundheitsamte, Bd. XXVIL, Heft-. 2. Quoted in Jauriwl of Tro2ncal 

 Medicine mid Hygie-ne, March 16th, 1908, Vol. XI. 



^ Loc. cii. 



* Article not consulted in the original. 



