JOB THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Maicli 



oxliiil l)cr()nu- iminuni/.cd ;i»i'ainst llic action of the poison. 

 Ha\in^- in \ ie\s the complications w liicli arise in cxprri- 

 iiKMits on animals, and with a \ic\v to siiljstitutinj^' as far 

 ;is possible the rea<>\'nt i^lass f(trthe animal oi'i^anism, Khr- 

 licli has experimented with I'icin, a veg"etable tox-alhiimen, 

 conceiMiini;- which, he says, there is no doul)t that in its 

 principal features, immiinitv to it is similar to immunitv 

 to tliptheria and tetanus. Ricin possesses the property of 

 coai>"ulatiny the blood. The blood of a rabl)it treated with 

 a series of mixtures of ricin in \ai"vini^' ])oi'portions, was 

 injected into six mice. In those cases where thi' mixture 

 g'ave a precipitate with blood the animals died; in one 

 case, where the precij^itate was \ ei'v slii;;ht, the result was 

 not fatal ; in the three cases where the antitoxin was(ac- 

 C(M"ding- to the blood test) present in sufficient or excessive 

 quantity to neutralize the toxin, the animal was unharmed. 

 These facts militate at>"ainst the cellular theory of Roux 

 and Buchner, and tend to coniirm the chemical co{>ulatiye 

 theory of Khrlich and Behring-. at any rate so far as ricin 

 (castor-oil I is concerned. 15. ('. I)rui4<^ist. 



The Function of the Suprarenal Bodies. Dubois has 

 shown that the })rincipal function of the suprarenal bodies 

 is to destroy toxins ]iresent in the circulation, especially 

 those resultin^j" from muscular and nei'Nous activity. 'I^he 

 glands contain a peculiar ferment w hich is cajiable of mod- 

 ifying" org"anic ])oisons developed by the tissues or of bac- 

 terial ori^"in. A considerable i| uantitv o| poisonous li(|uids 

 is found in the glands. 



Scarlet Fever by Mail. Cirasset. on in vestii^atinj;- the 

 source of infection in an instanci' in which .i child was at- 

 tacked by scarlet fever in a place where there had been no 

 case of the disease for yeais. found that, six days before 

 the child was taken sick, the ])arents had recei\H'd a letter 

 from its j^-rand-parents statiui^- that another child in the 

 famiU' had had the disease and was pei liuii-. Two flakes of 

 the convalescent's skin were enclosed in the K'tter. The 

 parents had allowed the child to jtlay with the lettei'. An- 

 nales iKHygiene Publiqui'. 



