132 



NA TURE 



[December 9, 1897 



ever, the auxiliary scientific investigations which call for 

 more special notice in these columns. 



The several cases of Asiatic cholera that occurred in 

 this country during 1893, 1^^ the Local Government 

 Board to keep a diligent watch in the subsequent year 

 over any cases that presented symptoms of a choleraic 

 nature, and Dr. Klein gives an account of the bacterio- 

 logical examination made by him in twenty-nine in- 

 stances. The comma bacillus was not found in any of 

 the cases ; they therefore proved to be examples of 

 cholera nostras, or English cholera. This conclusion is 

 a further confirmation, if that were needed, of the 

 diagnostic value of Koch's methods. When Dr. Klein 

 says, " if the vibrio of Koch could be demonstrated in 

 the bodies of persons not connected in any way with the 

 cholera localities of 1893, the bacteriological test as an 

 important help in distinguishing between Asiatic cholera 

 and cholera nostras would become practically worthless," 

 he is surely suggesting a doubt that does not exist 

 amongst the great mass of observers. In a number of 

 the cases the bacillus coli. was found to be the pre- 

 dominant micro-organism. Of fresher interest is Dr. I 

 Klein's description of an organism isolated from cases of 

 diarrhoeal illness due to the consumption of milk, and 

 named by him, " Bacillus enteritidis sporogenes." There 

 is a niisleading sentence on p. 196: "ordinary milk, such 

 as is bought in many a shop in London, contains as a 

 rule an abundance of bacillus coli, and if put aside it 

 will rapidly 'sour' and coagulate spontaneously owing 

 to the multiplication of bacillus coli." This might lead 

 most readers to assume that the ordinary " souring " of 

 milk is due to bacillus coli, and not, as is the case, to 

 one or other of a considerable number of lactic acid 

 producing organisms. Dr. Klein proceeds to a further 

 report on prophylaxis in diphtheria, in which are mainly 

 detailed the results of injecting living diphtheria cultures 

 into the horse with the view of obtaining antimicrobic 

 substances in the blood. The experiments do not appear 

 to have brought out results of practical value, either with 

 his own "antimicrobic" serum, or with antitoxic serums 

 obtained from various sources. Dr. Klein also con- 

 tributes a " Further Report upon Protective Inoculations " 

 which will be read by all interested in the subject of 

 which it treats. 



" Snake venom in its prophylactic relations with 

 * poison ' of the same and of other sorts," is the subject 

 of a lengthy comnjunication by Dr. Kanthack. The 

 work of Calmette and others upon the effect of cobra 

 antitoxic serum upon the poison of snakes other than 

 the cobra is discussed, and there follow observations 

 upon the nature of the immunity of certain snakes to 

 certain snake poisons. Dr. Kanthack has not been able 

 to confirm Calmette's statement, that the injection of 

 solutions of chlorinated lime have value as a curative or 

 immunising agent. On the other hand, as Calmette 

 states, an antitoxic serum can be produced in rabbits by 

 administration of the cobra poison itself, and still better 

 results are obtained by using the mixture of venom and 

 chlorinated calcium. The inhibitory influence of different 

 antitoxic serums upon cobra venom is next dealt with. 

 The experimental data given are in many respects^in- 

 complete, and it would perhaps have been well to wait 

 till the experiments were finished before publishing any 

 conclusions from them. 



Dr. Kanthack instances the marked retarding influence 

 of liver extracts on the action of cobra venom. This 

 most interesting statement is supported by three ex- 

 periments, and their continuation left for a future date. 

 There follow notes on " immunising serum." It is again 

 disappointing to find experiments quoted with the 

 addendum, "the number of my observations are too 

 limited." Attention should be drawn to an experiment 

 Dr. Kanthack performed on himself with most remark- 

 able results. In the course of nine days Dr. Kanthack 



NO. 1467, VOL. 57] 



swallowed 51*4 cc. of living and dead broth cultui'es of 

 the cholera vibrio, and a solution of sodic carbonate to 

 neutralise the gastric acidity. A week later blood was 

 obtained from the arm, and 3 cc. of the separated blood 

 serum was injected into each of three guinea-pigs 

 intraperitoneally. Four days later the guinea-pigs were 

 respectively inoculated witli B. prodigiosus, B.pyocyaneus 

 and V. cholerce — only the guinea-pig inoculated with 

 cholera remained alive. The immunisation Dr. Kanthack 

 had effected on himself ^<?r os^ was apparently transmitted 

 by means of his blood serum to the guinea-pig. 



The paper concludes with notes upon Pfeiffer's, 

 Bordet's, and Durham's tests for the cholera and typhoid 

 organisms. It would have rendered the description 

 clearer in one or two instances if it had been explained 

 what actually was seen, instead of expressing the results 

 as "not quite negative " and "did not react absolutely 

 negatively." Dr. Kanthack considers that " a general 

 conclusion at this stage as to the specificity of antitoxic 

 or immunising serum would be premature," though 

 the facts so far obtained tend to support this conclusion. 

 The paper is one more adapted for perusal by specialists 

 intimately acquainted with the subject than by the 

 general reader, who might be apt to carry away false 

 notions as to the finality of a number of the results ob- 

 tained. One cannot resist the impression that the 

 material for half a dozen researches has been crowded 

 into the space of one paper. 



The difficult subject of food poisons is considered from 

 the bacteriological aspect by Dr. Cautley. The object of 

 the inquiry was to ascertain whether the multiplication 

 or pathogenic properties of bacteria normally present in 

 the digestive tract, viz. B. coli and Proteus vulgaris^ are 

 influenced by association with the non-pathogenic or- 

 ganisms to be commonly met with in food. Dr. Cautley 

 was able to demonstrate that the virulence of the above 

 bacilli is increased by simultaneous injection with certain 

 food organisms into animals. On the other hand, feeding 

 experiments on similar lines gave negative results. Dr. 

 Monckton Copeman and Dr. Blaxall contribute reports 

 on the advantages of glycerinated vaccine lymph. The 

 volume, like its predecessors, contains much of interest 

 and value to sanitarians and bacteriologists. 



THE ARCTIC WORK OF MR. R. E. PEARY. 



ON Monday evening Mr. R. E. Peary, U.S.N., pre- 

 sented to the Royal Geographical Society a state- 

 ment of the results of his Arctic explorations and of his 

 plans for continuing these. 



Mr. Peary has been engaged in exploring Northern 

 Greenland for the greater part of the last ten years, 

 and in the course of his sledge journeys he has had 

 more opportunities of studying the inland ice than 

 has fallen to the lot of any other explorer. The most 

 remarkable journey of the series was that of 1892, when 

 he crossed the ice-cap from Inglefield Gulf and dis- 

 covered Independence Bay on the north-east coast of 

 Greenland. This journey showed that the inland ice 

 terminated to the north, and that there was no road that 

 way to the pole. Land was seen to the northward, 

 which Mr. Peary believes to be separated by a channel 

 from Greenland, and to extend probably some distance 

 beyond the furthest north attained by Lockwood on 

 Greely's expedition, 83° 24'. A second journey to In- 

 dependence Bay in 1893 was frustrated by the un- 

 exampled severity of the weather ; the party, which started 

 with forty-two dogs returned with only one. In 1895 

 another attempt was more successful, but the resources 

 of the expedition and the transport available were in- 

 sufficient to allow any advance beyond the position of 



1892. . ., ^ 



After this journey Mr. Peary resolved to wait until the 



