568 ABSTRACTS 



cated that copper is unreliable as a bactericide and as a fungicide, al- 

 though some organisms are more susceptible than others. Long time 

 experiments were more satisfactory than short time tests. It is said 

 that solutions representing one part of the metal (2.5 parts of the 

 chloride or 4 parts of the sulfate) to the million kill the ordinary water 

 organisms B. coli and B. typhi, but do not injure the health. One 

 part to 100,000 was found to inhibit the growth of B. tuberculosis in 

 vitro. The therapeutic value of copper salts is discussed. — P. G. H. 



IMMUNOLOGY 



Immunity, Natural and Acquired. W. H. Porter. (Medical Record, 



1916, 89, 983-987.) 



A theory of immunity which bases the formation and activities of 

 antibodies upon the metabolic processes of the body proteins. — M. W. 

 C. 



The Production of a Hyperimmune Serum for Infectious Abortion in 

 Mares. E. S. Good and Wallace V. Smith. (Jour. Infectious 

 Diseases, 1916, 18, 347-401.) 

 The authors report on the production of a serum which protected 



rabbits from the lethal dose, but did not protect a mare from artificial 



infection. In a guinea pig the time for abortion was lengthened. — P. 



B. H. 



Complement Fixation in Vaccinia and Variola. John A. Kolmer. 



(Journal of Immunology, 1916, 1, 59.) 



The sera of vaccinated rabbits and of a few recently vaccinated hu- 

 man beings gave complement fixation with salt solution extracts of 

 variola virus and vaccine virus. Positive reactions were also obtained 

 in 9 out of 17 smallpox patients. Alcoholic extracts of the virus could 

 not be used as antigens as they gave no reactions with these sera. — J. 

 G. H. 



Complement Fixation in Varicella. John A. Kolmer. (Journal of 



Immunology, 1916, 1, 51.) 



Kolmer obtained weak complement fixations in 7 out of 24 cases of 

 chicken pox, the antigen used being a saline solution of the contents of 

 the varicella vesicles. — J. G. H. 



The Agglutinability of Blood and Agar Strains of Typhoid Bacilli. C. 



G. Bull and I. W. Pritchett. (Jour. Exp. Med., 1916, 24, 35- 



40.) 



Cultivation on 10 per cent rabbit blood agar did not affect the agglu- 

 tinability of fifty-seven strains of typhoid bacilli. The authors were 

 unable to confirm the observations of Gay and Claypole on the varia- 

 tion in agglutinability caused by cultivating the typhoid bacillus on 

 blood agar. A typhoid bacillus showing irregularity in fermentation, 

 agglutination, and indol production is described. — B. W. 



