194 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Aii<rust, 



fermentation, while no destructive effect is exercised upon casts or epi- 

 thelial elements. Moreover, the organic elements collect very quickly 

 at the l)ottom of tlie glass. — Lancet. 



Local Infection with Tubercle Bacillus. — Dr. Gutzm nn, of 

 St. Petersburg, made in February, a post mortem examination of a body 

 dead of miliary tuberculosis, and, in removing the lungs, in some way 

 injured the root of his finger-nail. After the dissection he felt a prick- 

 ing sensation in the tip of his finger, but could discover no wound. 

 Nothing more was noticed in the finger till the 20th of March, when it 

 began to pain him, and soon a small abscess was found at the root of 

 the nail. From this abscess pus was taken, spread on a cover-glass, 

 and colored after Erlich's method. Upon examination three tubercle 

 bacilli were found. The wound was thoroughly scratched out and dis- 

 infected. Lymphadenitis did not show itself, nor' has there been any 

 rise in temperature. — Jo7ir. Ain. Med. Association., ^w\y 19. 1890. 



Proportion of White-Blood Corpuscles. — Seventy-two observa- 

 tions made by Remecke, of Halle, gave an average of i white-blood 

 corpuscle to 720 red, though variations as great as i to 500, or i to i ,000, 

 may be normal, and often occur in healthy individuals. — Fortsch d. 

 Med.., vii, 1SS9. 



Definitions. — Antisepsis =: fighting microbes. Asepsis = having 

 nothing: to do with microbes. 



BACTERIOLOGY. 



A Simplified Method for Discovering Koch's Bacillus in the 

 Sputum. — Dr. E. Dineur proposes a method which in his hands has 

 yielded excellent results. lie places a few drops of the sputum upon 

 a watch-glass, adds first 2 or 3 drops of a concentrated alcoholic solu- 

 tion of fuchsin, and then by means of a glass rod a drop of carbolic 

 glycerine (i part carbolic acid to 4 of glycerine). The mass is then 

 well stirred. The mixture is then exposed for a few minutes to a tem- 

 perature of 80° to 100° C, the sputum becoming appreciably thickened 

 thereby. By means of a needle a portion as large as a pin's head is 

 placed upon the slide, together with a drop of pure or diluted (i to i) 

 glycerine, and the cover-glass is then applied. At the edge of the 

 latter he places a drop of diluted (i to 5) sulphuric acid, watching 

 through the microscope the effect produced upon the preparation. 

 " The various morphological substances, the white-blood corpuscles, 

 epithelial cells, and bacteria, gradually grow pale and disappear; the 

 bacillus alone persists a sufiiciently long time, and appears stained a 

 beautiful red upon a colorless field." In this method the author em- 

 ploys the Abbe condenser. — (Jent.fiir Bak. tind Parasitenkunde. 



MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETIES. 



San Francisco, Cal., — Wm. E. Lov, Sec'y. 



Julv 23., i8go. — As manv members were away on vacation, the at- 

 tendance was light. The cabinet was enriched by contributions from 



