ABSTRACTS 



259 



Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus vulgaris may result in infection of the 

 kidney with these organisms. 



Infection travels by way of the lymphatics in the wall of the ureter 

 and not along the mucous membrane. — G. H. S. 



The Etiology of the Current Epidemic of Respiratory Infections in Chi- 

 cago. George Mathers. Jour. A. M. A., 1916, 66, 30. 

 Cultures obtained from the sputum, nasal discharge and the pharyn- 

 geal mucosa of twenty-four cases of respiratory infection revealed the 

 fact that in seventeen instances the predominating organism was a 

 hemolytic streptococcus, culturally resembling the Streptococcus pyo- 

 genes type. Pigment-producing streptococci and pneumococci were 

 uniformly found. B. influenzae and M. catarrhalis were not present in 

 any of the cultures. — G. H. S, 



The Cause of Rat-Bite Fever. Kenzo Futaki, Etsuma Takaki, Tenji 

 Takiguchi, and Shimpachi Osumi. Jour. Exp. Med., 1916, 2S, 

 249-250. 



A preliminary note in which is announced the finding of a spirochaete 

 in the skin and in a l}anph gland of patients suffering with rat-l^ite 

 fever. The skin tissue and blood drawn from a patient when injected 

 into monkeys, guinea pigs and white rats produced infection and the 

 disease could be transmitted from these to other animals. Further 

 details are promised. — B. W. 



The Etiology of Rat-Bite Fever. Francis G. Blake. Jour. Exp. Med., 



1916, 23, 39-60. 



A case of rat-bite fever coming under the author's observation, ter- 

 minating fatally and coming to autopsy, afforded an excellent oppor- 

 tunity for studying the etiology of this disease. An organism, which 

 the author identifies as the Streptothrix muris-ratti, was demonstrated 

 in a mitral vegetation and isolated in pure culture from the blood. 

 The patient's serum contained strong agglutinins for the Streptothrix.— 

 B. W. 



Influenza and Grippe in Infants and Children. Carl G. Leo-Wolf. 



Medical Record, 1916, 89, 226.' 



A discussion of influenza and grippe in children. All phases of the 

 subject, such as history, etiology, pathology, treatment, etc., are 

 treated in detail. 



Emphasis is placed upon the fact that the two diseases are mani- 

 festly distinct entities. Both are due to bacterial infection, influenza 

 being caused by the cocco-bacillus of Pfeiffer, grippe by one or more 

 of a number of bacteria-pneumococcus, Micrococcus catarrhalis, bacillus 

 of Friedlander, streptococci, and bacteria living as saprophytic para- 

 sites in the mouth. 1 1, i_ 1 -J 



In both influenza and grippe particular stress should be laid upon 



prophylaxis. — M. W. C. 



