and Laboratory Methods. 1349 



bacillus which the authors regard as the true coli bacillus. Finding this bacillus 

 in such large numbers, the authors were led to experiment with it, and suc- 

 ceeded in demonstrating that cultures of the bacillus were pathogenic for the 

 horse. By the use of these cultures, partly with food and partly by intravenous 

 inoculation, they succeeded in reproducing the disease in experimental animals. 

 They are of the conclusion, therefore, that the widespread coli bacillus is 

 occasionally the cause of serious and fatal epidemics among horses. 



H. w. c. 



Bienstock. Du role des Bacteries de I'intestin. The author gives a very suggestive 

 Ann. de I'lnst. Past. XIV, p. 71:0, iqoo. .1 r • r ^1 



paper upon the functions of the or- 

 dinary intestinal bacteria. He has previously shown in the intestine of animals 

 the presence of a Bacillus putrificus, which produces a putrefying action on 

 proteids. He now finds that, under normal conditions, such putrefaction of the 

 contents of the intestine does not occur. This fact seems surprising, inasmuch 

 as B. putrificus is constantly present in the intestine, and the conditions are 

 apparently proper for its growth. Bienstock is of the opinion that putrefactive 

 action is checked by the presence, in the intestine, of certain aerobic bacteria, 

 such as lactic and the coli bacilli. Experiments show that the putrefaction 

 produced by B. putrificus does not take place when a quantity of these aerobic 

 bacteria are present. The author concludes, therefore, that these aerobic bac- 

 teria, which are uniformly found in the normal intestine, are of direct value to 

 the human body in preventing the putrefaction of the intestinal contents. He 

 points out the fact that sterilized, and even pasteurized, milk is not so readily 

 digested as raw milk, especially by persons with intestinal disturbances, and 

 this he attributes to the fact that since the heat has destroyed the lactic organ- 

 isms, these organisms are not present in the intestine to prevent the putrificus 

 from producing putrefaction. In short, the author concludes that the reason 

 why ordinary micro-organisms are needed in the intestine is to prevent the 

 putrefaction which would otherwise occur in the intestinal contents, owing to the 

 presence of certain putrefying micro-organisms which are always found. 



H, w. c. 



Reed, Carroll and Agramonte. The Etiology These authors have presented a further 

 of Yellow Fever. Med. Rec, Feb. 16, 190 1. ^gp^j.^ ^p^^ their conclusions in regard 



to the relation of yellow fever to mosquitoes. The results reached are of 

 immense importance and are too numerous to be summarized. The most 

 important are, that the disease is transmitted from yellow fever patients to 

 healthy persons by the bites of mosquitoes, there being a period of incubation 

 from 41 hours to 5 days. They have repeatedly succeeded in reproducing 

 the disease by allowing mosquitoes (culcx fasciatus) to bite patients and, subse- 

 quently, healthy individuals. They find that an attack of yellow fever conveyed 

 by a mosquito bite confers immunity against disease. A house is only infested 

 with yellow fever when containing no mosquitoes. Yellow fever is not dis- 

 tributed by soiled articles of clothing or bedding, as has been supposed. The 

 spread of yellow fever may be most effectually prevented by protecting the 

 patient from mosquito bites. These conclusions, which represent only a few of 



