364 ABSTRACTS 



salts that separated from the plates (electrodes) and obtained complete 

 sterility in a few cases. He does not, however, state what material 

 composed the plates or what salts passed out into the water. The 

 report is so incomplete as to be of little value. — E. C. L. M. 



CLASSIFICATION OF BACTERIA 



Grouping of Meningococcus Strains by Means of Complement Fixation. 



Miriam P. Olmstead. (Proc. N. Y. Pathol. Soc, 1915, 15, 136- 



143.) 



Forty strains of meningococci were used but only twenty-nine were 

 completely tested by complement fixation. Of these, fourteen fell 

 into one group, eight into another, two cross-fixed with each other only, 

 two failed to fix with any other strain and three acted irregularly. 

 All strains could be clearly distinguished from the gonococcus. Cul- 

 turally they were all alike. The para-meningococci are regarded as 

 constituting a special strain among meningococci, not, however, a 

 wholly homogeneous one. — W. J. M. 



DISINFECTION 



The Standardization of Disinfectants. J. T. Ainslie Walker. (New 



York Med. Jour., 1916, 103, 500-505.) 



A critical comparison of the Hygienic Laboratory and Rideal- Walker 

 tests, leading to the conclusion that the Rideal-Walker test is superior 

 to the Hygienic Laboratory method in every one of the points discussed. 



M. W. C. 



Soap. G. K. Dickinson. (Medical Record, 1916, 89, 556-558.) 

 Work done up to the present time upon the antiseptic and bactericidal 

 action of soap has not been sufficiently uniform in conditions or methods 

 to draw from it hard and fast conclusions. 



In general, it may be said that all soaps possess some disinfectant 

 power by virtue of the alkaline reaction alone. All bacteria exposed 

 to soap solutions are not, however, killed in the same time, and a 

 considerable interval is necessary before any practical disinfection can 

 occur. Most so-called disinfectant soaps have no value beyond that 

 of ordinary soaps. A combination of soap and biniodide of mercury 

 is a useful disinfectant, but it does not produce complete sterility 



M. W. C. 



IMMUNOLOGY 



Therapy as Related to the Immunology of Tuberculosis. E. R. Baldwin. 



(New York Med. Jour., 1916, 103, 532-534.) 



A discussion of the relation of immunology to the methods of treat- 

 ment now used in tuberculosis. — M. W. C. 



