June 2, 1904] 



NATURE 



117 



view it will be the aim of the school to train the children 

 carefully in habits of observation and clear reasoning, so 

 that they may gain an intelligent acquaintance with some 

 of the facts and laws of nature." The importance of 

 practical work and manual instruction is duly emphasised. 

 This recognition of the claims of natural knowledge to an 

 honoured place in the work of our primary schools will go 

 far to reward men of science for their efforts to convince 

 educational authorities of the value of scientific training. 

 It is to be hoped that elementary school teachers will take 

 full advantage of their new charter, and show by the im- 

 provement of their work that they value their new freedom 

 to educate on rational lines. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, May 5. — "On certain Physical and 

 Chemical Properties of Solutions of Chloroform in Water, 

 Saline, Serum, and Hemoglobin. A Contribution to the 

 Chemistry of Ansesthesia. — (Preliminary Communication.) " 

 By Benjamin Moore, M.A., D.Sc, Johnston Professor of 

 Bio-chemistry, University of Liverpool, and Herbert E. 

 Roaf, M.B., Toronto, Johnston Colonial Fellow, University 

 of Liverpool. 



Summary and Conclusions. 



(i) It is believed that the experiments recorded in this 

 paper justify the conclusion that chloroform forms an un- 

 stable chemical compound or physical aggregation with 

 the proteids experimented with, and that it is carried in the 

 blood in such a state of combination. Since proteids build 

 up the protoplasm of living cells, it appears to us probable 

 that chloroform, and other ansesthetics, must form similar 

 combinations with protoplasm, and that anaesthesia is due 

 to the formation of such compounds which limit the chemical 

 activities of the protoplasm. The compounds are unstable, 

 and remain formed only so long as the pressure of the 

 anaesthetic in the solution is maintained. Such compounds 

 are formed not only by haemoglobin, but by serum proteid, 

 and hence the position taken by the anaesthetic in haemo- 

 globin is not that of the respiratory oxygen. This is 

 further shown by the fact that the o.xygen-carrying power 

 of hjemoglobin is not interfered with in presence of chloro- 

 form. 



The effect of chloroform upon various forms of proto- 

 plasm will form the subject of future experiments. 



The facts upon which we rely as proofs of the formation 

 of a compound or aggregation between chloroform and 

 serum proteid or haemoglobin may be summarised as 

 follows : — 



(a) Chloroform has a much higher solubility in serum or 

 hEemoglobin solutions than in saline or water. 



(b) Even in dilute solutions at the same pressure the 

 amount of chloroform dissolved in serum or haemoglobin 

 solution is considerably higher than in saline or water. 



(c) The curve of pressures and concentrations in the case 

 of water and saline is a straight line, while in the case of 

 serum and haemoglobin solution it is a curve, showing 

 association at the higher pressures. 



(d) In the case of serum, chloroform causes a marked 

 opalescence, and also a slow precipitation at room tempera- 

 ture (15° C), and at body temperature (40° C.) a rapid, 

 though incomplete precipitation. In the case of haemo- 

 globin, 1-5 to 2 per cent, of chloroform causes a change 

 of colour and commencing precipitation at room tempera- 

 ture, which becomes almost complete in the thermostat 

 at 40° C, while 5 per cent, and over causes complete pre- 

 cipitation even at 0° C. 



(2) The relations between chloroform pressure and con- 

 centration in solution have been worked out throughout a 

 long range, from below the anssthetising values (8 to 

 10 mm.) to nearly saturation in the case of water, saline, 

 and serum. 



Attention may be directed here to the important practical 

 fact that with the same percentage of chloroform in the 

 air breathed, serum or haemoglobin, and therefore the blood 

 will take up much more chloroform than would water or 

 saline under equal conditions. Thus at the anaesthetising 

 pressure, and at 40° C, the coefficient of distribution in 

 the case of water and saline is approximately 4-6, while 



NO. 1805, VOL. 70] 



that of serum is 73 ; at room temperature (15° C.) these 

 coefficients become 8-8 and 173 respectively. 



" Note on the Lymphatic Glands in Sleeping Sickness." 

 By Captain E. D. W. Croig, I.M.S., and Lieut. A. C. H. 

 Gray, R.A.M.C. 



The authors have examined the contents of lymphatic 

 glands during life from fifteen sleeping sickness patients. 

 In all of them actively motile trypanosomes were very 

 readily found in cover-glass preparations taken from the 

 cervical glands. They were also present in other glands, 

 such as the femoral, but were not nearly so numerous. 



The authors consider that their observations throw a new 

 light upon the glandular enlargements which have been 

 so constantly noticed in sleeping sickness, and that the 

 disease is essentially a polyadenitis brought about bv the 

 arrest of the trypanosomes in the glands where many of 

 them are destroyed, but whence some escape from time 

 to time into the blood stream and thus occasion the increase 

 which has been observed in the peripheral circulation. 



They regard their observations upon the presence of 

 trypanosomes in number in the lymphatic glands of both 

 early cases of trypanosomiasis and advanced cases of 

 sleeping sickness as affording important evidence of the 

 unity of these diseases, and further proof that the trypano- 

 somes are the essential cause of sleeping sickness. 



A Note on the Action of Radium on Micro-organisms." 

 By Dr. Alan B. Green, Communicated by Sir Michael 

 Foster, K.C.B., F.R.S. 



The radium salt used in these experiments was i centi- 

 gram of practically pure radium bromide, contained in a 

 vulcanite and brass capsule fronted with thin talc. The 

 emanations applied to micro-organisms were the |3 and 

 y rays. 



(i) In the first set of experiments the germicidal action 

 of these rays on various species of bacteria was investigated. 

 A mass of bacteria was placed, as a thin layer, in a hollow- 

 ground glass slide, and the capsule containing the radium 

 was placed over the mass in such a way that the radium 

 was brought within 1-2 mm. of it. All e.xperiments and 

 controls were made at room temperature. 



It was found that the specific germ of vaccinia was killed 

 by an exposure to radium of 22 hours or less. Non-spore- 

 bearing bacteria were killed generally by 2 to 14 hours' 

 exposure to radium, while spores were not killed by less 

 than three days' exposure. It was further found that (a) 

 as the distance between the radium and the bacteria was 

 increased germicidal action became less evident and finally 

 ceased ; (b) as increased thicknesses of lead were interposed 

 between the radium and the bacteria, i.e. as the $ rays 

 were cut off, germicidal action became less and less evident. 



(2) It was ascertained that after exposure to radium at 

 a distance of 1-2 mm. for 24 to 120 hours, micro- 

 organisms themselves became radio-active. It has not yet 

 been ascertained whether living micro-organisms can exhibit 

 induced radio-activity, but micro-organisms killed by radium 

 emanations show this activity. No radio-activity was found 

 in bacteria not previously exposed to radium. The induced 

 radio-activity of bacteria was shown by the ability of a 

 mass, after exposure to radium, to photograph itself when 

 brought into apposition with the film of a sensitised photo- 

 graphic plate. The best photographs so far have been 

 (■btained from cultures containing spores. Radio-active 

 organisms have given off photo-actinic emanations after 

 three months have elapsed since their exposure to radium. 

 Photographs of such bacterial masses have been obtained 

 through a double layer of lead foil, but as the ;3 rays were 

 cut off by interposing greater thicknesses of lead the passage 

 of photo-actinic rays to the sensitised film was prevented. 



" Further Note on some Additional Points in Connection 

 with Chloroformed Calf Vaccine." Bv Dr. .Alan B. Green. 

 Communicated by Dr. W. H. Power, 'C.B., F.R.S. 



Since a former paper on this subject was read in April, 

 1903, the use within two weeks of their collection from 

 the calf of a large number of vaccine lymphs prepared by 

 the chloroform process has resulted in high " case " and 

 " insertion " success. 



The following further points in connection with these 

 vaccines have been investigated : — 



(i) The temperature at which vaccine water emulsion is 



