ABSTRACTS 703 



A Study of the Etiology/ of Chorea. John Lovett Morse and Cleve- 

 land Floyd. Amer. Jour. Diseases of Children, 1916, 12, 61-72. 

 Twenty-six cases of chorea were studied, of which twenty-one gave 

 no suggestive history of syphihs and only one gave a positive Wasser- 

 mann and one a doubtful reaction. This percentage is no higher 

 than that obtained among hospital children in general. It is therefore 

 concluded that syphilis probably plays no part in the etiology of chorea. 

 Seven of the patients or 37 per cent gave a history of rheumatism, six 

 of them had acute endocarditis and six chronic valvular lesions, a 

 total of 46 per cent. The tonsils were enlarged in eleven or 42 per cent 

 and had been removed in four; the teeth were carious in nineteen or 

 73 per cent, pyorrhea being present in two of these and pockets of 

 pus in three others. 



Thirty-one blood cultures were made from the twenty-six cases 

 and the cerebro-spinal fluid was cultured twenty times in nineteen 

 cases. Loeffler's blood serum, neutral and acid milk, serum water 

 glucose, lactose and sucrose, glucose bouillon and at times hydrocele 

 fluid, alone and with agar were employed, both under aerobic and 

 anaerobic conditions. In five cases organisms were obtained. One 

 was a small gram negative "diphtheroid" bacillus, which grew very 

 poorly and failed to produce any effect upon rabbits. Diplococci were 

 found in the blood smears once but did not grow. In three cases 

 streptococci were grown in the original culture but in only one were 

 transplants successful. The authors think that these organisms were 

 probably alike. The one subcultured was injected into rabbits with 

 the production of endocarditis, arthritis and a congestion and round 

 cell infiltration of the pia over the cortex and extending into the con- 

 volutions. In one of the three rabbits in which the brain was exam- 

 ined smears from the cortex revealed streptococci. 



The number of cells in the cerebro-spinal fluid taken from ten of the 

 patients was 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 10, 10, 18, 24, and 25 respectively showing 

 a slight increase in 3 or 30 per cent. 



The authors conclude that there is a definite relationship between 

 chorea and rheumatism, endocarditis and infections about the oral 

 cavity, and that their results suggest that a microorganism or group of 

 microorganisms may be the cause of chorea. — R. M. T. 



PHYSIOLOGY OF BACTERIA 



The Destructive Effects of Light and Dnjing and Other Living-Room 

 Conditions Upon Diphtheria Bacilli, Streptococci, and Staphylococci. 

 Daniel W. Poor and Charles P. Fitzpatrick. Collected Studies, 

 Bureau of Laboratories, New York City, 1914-1915, 8, 197. 

 Membranes from four cases of diphtheria, and mucus from one case, 

 with mucus from one case of scarlet fever were subjected to various 

 light and drying tests. When exposed to diffuse Hght, drying and 

 admixture of dust and other bacteria, diphtheria bacilli, staphylo- 

 cocci, and streptococci were rapidly reduced in numbers during the 



