NATURE 



[March i, 19 17 



known as flavine or diaminomethylacridinium 

 chloride. 



CH 



H«N 



NH, 



N 



/\ 

 CH3 CI 



The latter was originally tried by Ehrlich on 

 trypanosome infections, and was found to have a 

 very marked therapeutic effect. 



The authors claim that whereas the bactericidal 

 action of flavine is stimulated by the presence of 

 serum (Staphylococcus aureus is killed in dilution 

 of I : 20,000 in water, but in i : 200,000 in 

 serum), its power of inhibiting phagocytosis is 

 not high, a concentration of i : 500, as compared 

 with I : 625 for chloramine-T, i : 13 for eusol, and 

 I : 9 for Dakin's solution, being required. For a 

 true comparison, however, it is necessary to deter- 

 mine the relation of the bactericidal action (i.e. 

 the minimum strength of solution required to kill 

 the bacteria) to the phagocytosis action (i.e. the 

 strength of antiseptic required to reduce the 

 number of leucocytes to half that of the pure 

 serum control), and this ratio, which the authors 

 call the therapeutic coefficient, is much higher than 

 that given by any of the older antiseptics or the 

 dyes referred to. The irritating effect was com- 

 pared by placing three or four drops of the solu- 

 tion on the conjunctiva (rabbit) for three minutes. 

 Flavine produced no effect in a concentration of 

 I : 200, mercuric chloride i : 500, and chloramine- 

 T I : 25. It thus appears that though flavine 

 does not compare very favourably with chlor- 

 amine-T in its irritant action, or with the absolute 

 values of the hypochlorites in phagocytosis, its 

 interest appears to lie in its exceptional bacteri- 

 cidal properties, and more especially in the 

 enhanced effect said to be produced by the 

 presence of serum. 



The value of the antiseptic seems to centre 

 round this fact, and it will be interesting to 

 learn what special property attaches to flavine 

 whereby it is able to destroy bacteria, whilst not 

 only leaving untouched, but materiallv activating 

 the antiseptic properties of serum. 



In summarising their results, the authors claim 

 that flavine has been found to possess extremely 

 f)Owerful bactericidal and antiseptic properties, 

 which are enhanced rather than diminished by 

 admixture with serum ; that in presence of serum 

 flavine is the most f)Otent bactericide of all those 

 investigated for both Staphylococcus and B. coli, 

 and it is equally efficient for the enterococcus and 

 for anaerobes, such as B. oedematis maligni; 

 that flavine, in relation to its bactericidal power, 

 is very much less detrimental to the process of 

 phagocytosis and less harmful to the tissues than 

 the other substances ; hence much higher effective 

 concentrations can be employed without damag- 

 ing the tissues or interfering with the natural 

 defensive mechanisms. The clinical observations 

 recorded by Dr. Ligat and others at the Middlesex 

 NO. 2470, VOL. 99] 



Hospital are very encouraging, and hold out the 

 promise of an extended use of the new antiseptic. 

 It will now be necessary to find a means of supply- 

 ing the antiseptic at a reasonable cost. J. B. C. 



THE SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL STUDIES. 



THE daily papers have given a full account of 

 the formal opening, on February 23, of 

 the new School of Oriental Studies in Fins- 

 bury Circus, and have reported Sir John 

 Hewett's loyal address, the gracious reply 

 of his Majesty the King, and Lord Curzon's 

 speech describing the objects and ambitions 

 of the school. A brief mention of an occasion 

 so historic seems to be called for even in 

 the pages of a scientific journal. We are in- 

 terested in all sound and scientific teaching, and 

 the teaching of Oriental languages may ultimately 

 affect the progress of science in Asia and Africa. 



It has been objected that the opening of a new 

 and expensive school, costing 14,000^ a year, 

 besides the expense of adding a fine block of class- 

 rooms to the old London Institution, was not very 

 consistent with the economies which war has im- 

 posed upon us. The answer to this objection is 

 easy and, indeed, obvious. The scheme to estab- 

 lish an Oriental school in London fitted to be a 

 rival of the famous schools in Berlin, Petrograd, 

 and Paris was set on foot ten years ago, and the 

 funds now expended were promised or given 

 before war broke out. Moreover, war has opened 

 our eyes to the necessity of making an effort to 

 compete vigorously with the activities — political, 

 commercial, and even scientific and linguistic — of 

 the Germans in Asia and Africa. We have dis- 

 covered that their industry was rarely disinter- 

 ested, and that political propaganda was too often at 

 the root of " peaceful penetration " in the field of 

 missionary, scientific, and linguistic effort. 



Even if that were not the case, it was a re- 

 proach and a shame to us that our present 

 enemies had all but secured a monopoly in Oriental 

 learning. Our own Oriental scholars looked to 

 Berlin for recognition, instruction, and aid. 

 Many of them are justly proud of German 

 honorary degrees conferred upon them at a time 

 when Germans were admittedly at the head of 

 the Indianists of the world. They pursued and 

 rewarded not only the classical learning of the 

 East, but the newer studies, ethnological and 

 linguistic, which are scarcely known to our own 

 universities. It was an Austrian priest, Pater 

 Schmidt, who discovered that the speech of the 

 Khasis in Assam, once supposed to be as unique 

 and isolated as that of the Basques in Europe, in 

 fact extends right across the Pacific Ocean to 

 Easter Island. It was in Germany that all the 

 best research was done, all the most learned 

 periodicals printed. It was the Germans who 

 inherited the tradition of Oriental learning set up 

 by Sir William Jones. It was time that this 

 monopoly should be contested. 



It is to be hoped that the new school will act 

 in concert with indigenous scholars in India. 



