ABSTRACTS 253 



Vaccine Therapy. G. A. Ehret. Medical Record, 1916, 89, 328. 



Bacterins were used in a variety of infections — colon cystitis, bron- 

 chopneumonia, lobar pneumonia, chronic gonorrheal cystitis and pros- 

 tatitis, gonorrheal arthritis, chronic articular rheumatism, neuritis, 

 bronchial asthma, and otitis media — with successful results in every 

 instance except one case of bronchial asthma. In the majority of 

 cases, stock vaccines were used. The number of administrations and 

 duration of treatment varied with the character of the case. — M. W. C. 



Immunological Studies in Pneumonia. Richard Weil and John C. 



ToRREY. Jour. Exp. Med., 1916, 23, 1-10. 



The authors injected guinea pigs subcutaneously with 4 cc. of the 

 inactivated serum of pneumonia patients and from two to six days later 

 tested the animals for hypersensitiveness by applying a pneumo- 

 coccus autolysate to the excised uterus according to the method of Dale. 

 The tests were controlled with serum from normal individuals or from 

 patients suffering from diseases other than pneumonia. Of twenty 

 cases of pneumococcus infection only two failed to produce sensitiza- 

 tion, while in none of the control cases was a positive reaction obtained. 

 The sensitizing antibody is present in the blood early in the disease 

 and is found rarely after crisis. From the results it would appear that 

 while the reaction is specific for the genus it cannot be used for group 

 differentiation. — B. W. 



Progress in the Treatment of Skin Diseases. G. M. MacKee. New 



York Med. Jour., 1916, 103, 441-444. 



An interesting summary is given of the progress made during the last 

 few years in the treatment of skin diseases. 



Most important advances have been made in work upon the etiology 

 of many of the dermatoses, particularly eczema. 



The results reported with vaccine treatment are not uniform. Vac- 

 cine therapy has met with success in ringworm of the scalp, and in 

 some cases,' though not generally, in acne vulgaris. Bazin's disease, 

 known as erythema induratum, and lupus vulgaris have been aided by 

 tuberculin therapy. 



TubercuUn is of no service, however, in the tubercuUdes nor in lupus 

 erythematosus. — M. W. C. 



The Treatment of Typhoid Fever with Bacterins. Edward Waitz- 



FELDER. New York Med. Jour., 1916, 103, 407. 



Of sixteen cases of typhoid fever fourteen were treated with bac- 

 terins while two were used as controls and treated symptomatically. 

 The bacterins used were prepared by the New York City board, of 

 health and were given intramuscularly in doses varying from 66 to 100 

 millions. It was found that the larger doses were the more effective. 



The treatment was successful in that in the bacterin treated cases 

 thfixe was less fever, cardiac weakness, delirium, and exhaustion than 



