24 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Jan 
thritis with fatal termination has recently been reported. 
The illness began as an ordinary pneumonia and was later 
complicated by an arthritis of the left shoulder. After 
death, possibly within one hour, the skin over the deltoid 
muscle was seared with a hot iron and a sterilized needle 
was thrust into the joint. A syringeful of thick green- 
ish, creamy pus was drawn off. This contained an abun- 
dance of pneumococci in pairs and short chains of three 
or four elements, distinctly encapsulated and in pure cul- 
ture. The leucocytes were polynuclear. The cocci stain- 
ed well by Gram’s method, and when stained by Ziehl’s 
solution and partly decolorized in one per cent acetic acid, 
the capsules were very well shown. Typical dew-drop 
. cultures were obtained on agar and blood serum. Its vir- 
ulence to mice or rabbits was not tested. 
Ray Funeus.—R. J. Godlee, detailing a series of cases 
of Actinomycosis, in London Lancet, says: ‘To the clin- 
ician the first sight of the fungus is usually obtained in 
the pus evacuated from an abscess, or in the expectora- 
tion, and it is visible to the naked eye as small, round 
granules, sometimes very minute, sometimes larger, of- 
tenest of a pale yellow color, but sometimes white, which 
are easily demonstrated by allowing the pus, or expector- 
ation to flow down the side of the test-tube while it is 
held up to the light, or to run over a microscopic slide. 
They have been compared to particles of iodoform, but 
they are obviously rounded and not of such a bright yel- 
low color. One should always be on the quz vive and get 
into the habit of looking at the pus from any abscess of 
doubtful origin from this point of view, but especially if, 
on opening the abscess, the amount of pus was less than 
was expected and the finger passes into an indefinite soft 
mass which bleeds with great freedom. The sensation 
imparted to the finger is very characteristic when one is 
accustomed to it. The hemorrhage suggests what is the 
fact, that the growth does not interfere with vessels and 
