462 ABSTRACTS 



Immunization with Sensitized Bacteria. Homer F. Swift and Ralph 

 A. KiNSELLA. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol, and Med., 1916, 13, 103. 

 Two strains of green-forming streptococci were used. Rabbits were 

 injected with sensitized vaccines and compared with other rabbits in- 

 jected with unsensitized vaccines. In the latter group of animals there 

 was strong formation of antibodies in from twelve to sixteen days. The 

 animals injected with sensitized vaccines, on the other hand, showed 

 only weak agglutinins or complement-fixing bodies and the serum was 

 without protective value for mice. — W. J. M. 



Complement Fixation in Acne Vulgaris. Albert Strickler, John 



A. Kolmer and Jay F. Schamberg. Jour. Cutan. Dis., 1916, 34, 



166-178. 



The authors call attention to the indefinite bacteriology of acne 

 vulgaris and the probable etiological role of colon bacilli in this dis- 

 ease. They attempted a study of the relationship to the disease of 

 the bacillus of acne, the cocci from acne lesions and of B. communis 

 and B. communior from the feces of persons suffering with this disease, 

 by means of complement fixation tests using the same antigens with 

 the sera of normal persons and persons suffering with non-acneiform 

 diseases and controlling the results in acne by testing the serum of their 

 patients with polyvalent antigens prepared with cocci from furuncles 

 and with colon bacilli from the feces of healthy persons. 



Of 57 cases of acne vulgaris, 84.2 per cent reacted positively with an 

 antigen of B. acne; 64 per cent reacted positively with the antigen of 

 staphylococci from acne lesions and practically the same results were 

 observed with the control antigen of staphylococci; 63.1 per cent 

 reacted positively with the antigen of B. coli from the feces of acne pa- 

 tients and 32 per cent reacted positively with the antigen of B. coli 

 from the feces of normal and healthy persons. 



The sera of normal and syphilitic persons reacted uniformly negatively 

 with all antigens; the sera of persons suffering with various skin dis- 

 eases likewise reacted negatively in the majority of instances except 

 those with acne rosacea and seborrholic dermatitis. 



From these studies the authors conclude that B. acne may be an 

 etiological factor in skin diseases other than acne vulgaris; that the 

 cocci found in these lesions possess no peculiar serological characteris- 

 tics such as would differentiate them from other staphylococci found 

 in furunculosis and that B. coli appears to exert an etiological influence 

 in some diseases of the skin and particularly acne vulgaris. — J. A. K. 



The Variations in Reaction of the Blood of Different Species as Indicated 

 by Hemolysis of the Red Blood Cells ivhen Treated with Acids or Alkalies. 

 J. G. Gumming. Jour. Infect. Diseases, 1916, 18, 151-179. 

 It had been shown in earlier work that the sign of the Wassermann 

 reaction might be reversed by the influence of salts, acids and alkalies 

 on the hemolytic system. The aim of the present work was to estab- 

 lish a chemical standardization for definite hemolytic time indices of 



