I7 8 MEDICINE 



stone cowman. There is every reason to believe that to this man might be attributed 

 64 per cent of the cas.es of enteric fever that occurred in Folkestone during the period 

 1896-1909; the total number of cases during this time was 222." A similar case, in 

 New York, was that of " Typhoid Mary," to whom many cases of typhoid were traced; 

 she was compelled therefore to submit to a very long period of isolation. But the 

 authorities are not agreed that every typhoid carrier is dangerous to the community: 

 and much may be gained by enforcing strict rules of personal cleanliness, and by prevent- 

 ing any handling of other people's food. It seems not improbable, also, that proper 

 treatment may make the typhoid carrier a safe member of society. 



Vaccine-Therapy. Two recent contributions, of special interest, to the literature of 

 vaccine-therapy, are (i) " Vaccine-therapy : its Administration, Value and Limitations," 

 Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., October 1910: Special Supplement; (2) Report of the Inoculation 

 Department, St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, 1912. 



Among recent extensions of this method of treatment, we have to note Gabritschew- 

 sky's streptococcus- vaccine as a protective against scarlet fever (see Boston Med. & 

 Surg. Journ., Feb. 24, 1910). This method was used in several Russian towns and 

 villages during outbreaks of the fever; and the results appear to be very good. Thus, of 

 528 persons " vaccinated " once, 8 subsequently had the fever: of 106 " vaccinated " 

 twice, and of 149 " vaccinated " thrice, none had it. In villages without this protective 

 treatment, 16 per cent of the children had the fever: in villages with the treatment, 1.4 

 per cent. 



For the cure of certain infective diseases, vaccine-therapy has by this time won 

 general recognition as a safe and efficient method, and, in some large groups of cases, as 

 one of the best of all methods: e.g. in many cases of streptococcic or staphylococcic 

 infection of the skin. Good results have also been obtained with a vaccine-treatment in 

 cases of pneumonia and of typhoid fever. (Reference has already been made to tuber- 

 culin, which is a vaccine.) Good results are reported (Zieglcr, Brit. Med. Journ., Nov. 

 13, 1009) from a vaccine-treatment in a case of chronic glanders. In cases of hay-fever, 

 benefit has been gained by what may be called a vaccine-treatment with pollen-extract, 

 given some time before the hay-season. The advantages of vaccine-therapy, with its 

 autogenous vaccines, over sero-therapy, are obvious: but, till science is able to give us a 

 vaccine treatment for diphtheria and epidemic meningitis, we must be content to be 

 thankful for the serum-treatment of these infections. 



Conclusion. Finally, a few points of special interest to the medical profession in 

 Great Britain may be noted. 



The final Report of the British Royal Commission on Vivisection, issued on March 

 12, 1912, was the result of five and a half years of enquiry. Happily, it is unanimous: 

 there are " reservation memoranda," but there is no minority report. The Commis- 

 sioners are all agreed " that experiments upon animals, adequately safeguarded by law, 

 faithfully administered, are morally justifiable, and should not be prohibited by legisla- 

 tion." They recommend certain additional safeguards; which come within the power 

 of the Home Office, and do not require the intervention of Parliament. They are all 

 agreed that, by experiments on animals, " Valuable knowledge has been acquired in re- 

 gard to physiological processes and the causation of disease, and useful methods for the 

 prevention, cure, and treatment of certain diseases have resulted." Of certain state- 

 ments made to them by " anti-vivisection " witnesses, they say: " After car.eful con- 

 sideration of the above cases we have come to the conclusion that the witnesses have 

 either misapprehended or inaccurately described the facts of the experiments. . .1" . 

 So far as we can judge, we believe that holders of licences and certificates, with rare 

 exceptions, have endeavoured with loyalty and good faith to conform to the provisions 

 of the law." And they give an emphatic warning to the public: 



"We desire further to state that the harrowing descriptions and illustrations of operations 

 inflicted on animals, which are freely circulated by post, advertisement, or otherwise, are in 

 many cases calculated to mislead the public, so far as they suggest that the animals in 

 question were not under an anaesthetic. To represent that animals subjected to exper- 

 iments in this country are wantonly tortured would, in our opinion, be absolutely false." 



