Artgtist II, 1881] 



NATURE 



339 



eloquence and scientific ability. He did not confine him- 

 self to any one subject, but glanced at the progressive 

 character of science, the need for the work of all varieties 

 of minds, and the aim and purpose of science as applied 

 in the medical arts. On the same afternoon Prof. Virchow 

 discussed the value of pathological experiment in an 

 address displaying the most thorough grasp of his sub- 

 ject and vigour of thought and diction ; he attacked the 

 opponents of vivisection for their utter inconsistence, and 

 gave a very weighty protest against their claim to regulate 

 the pursuit of knowledge. The French address was to 

 have been read by Prof. Raynaud of Paris, but his sudden 

 death only a few days before the meeting prevented this 

 arrangement being carried out, and the address he had 

 already prepared was read by his friend, M. Fdr^ol : it 

 dealt with the subject of the right sphere of action, and the 

 influence of scepticism in medicine. C'n Saturday Dr. 

 Billings gave a masterly address on Medictl Literature ; 

 his tables showed a most alarming growth in the pro- 

 duction of volumes and periodicals during the past ten 

 years, but he was able to give some consokition by the 

 statement that the rate of growth had of late shown some 

 slackening : his wise and witty remarks on book-writing, 

 bibliography, cataloguing, and reference were especially 

 valuable as coming from a man of considerable experi- 

 ence in these matters, and applying equally to all varieties 

 of literature. On Monday, Prof. Vokmann, one of Mr. 

 Lister's most ardent disciples in Germany, gave an ad- 

 dress on Modern Surgery, which resolved itself into a 

 review of the progress and results of antiseptic surgery. 

 He was followed by Prof. Pasteur, who in a few moments 

 described his latest experiments, and announced results 

 which promise to have as important effects for useful 

 animals as Jenner's vaccination has for man. The final 

 g neral meeting was held on Tuesday last, when Prof. 

 Huxley addressed the Congress on the Connection of the 

 Biological Sciences with Medicine, tracing this connec- 

 tion from step to step, and pointing out the necessity for 

 a similar close union in the future. The entertainments 

 during the week have been many and brilliant, including, 

 in addition to many partly private, a soiree at South 

 Kensington Mueum, a dinner at the Mansion House, 

 reception at the Guildhall, reception by Earl and Lady 

 Granville, coiversasione at the College of Surgeons, and 

 informal dinner at the Crystal Palace. Notwithstanding 

 all these diversions the real hard work that has been 

 done every day by the great mass of the members of the 

 Congress has been very great, and this, and the free 

 interchange of ideas in conversation of many workers 

 in the same part of the field of science, must be produc- 

 tive of good, both by ita direct effect and by the stimulus 

 to work it must afford. Among the many subjects dis- 

 cussed, the germ theory and its various practical bearings 

 and outcomes, hive had a prominent share. In the 

 Surgical section there was a debate on the treatment 

 of wounds, in which it was incidentally raised, and 

 there appeared to be a general consensus of opinion 

 that particulate germs play an all-important part in the 

 production of wound diseases, though there was by no 

 means such agreement as to the best means of treating 

 wounds. In the Pathological section a long and very 

 ani nated discussion was introduced by Prof. Klebs, who 

 discussed the relations of minute organisms to certain 

 spe:ific diseases. Dr. Charlton Bastian supported his 

 well-known views, and was opposed by Lister, Virchow, 

 Pasteur, Hueter, Cheyne, and Roberts, and it was made 

 abundantly evident that the germ theory of disease has 

 not only established itself firmly in the faith of scientific 

 pathologists, but that its importance is becoming wider 

 and greater with rapid strides. By far the most valuable 

 of all the communications bearing upon this subject was 

 M. Pasteur's account of his recent "vaccination" experi- 

 ments. He has found that by a special mode of cultiva- 

 tion of the poison of chicken cholera he can obtain 



an attenuated or weakened virus, and that vaccination 

 with this attenuated virus, which merely causes slight and 

 transient local mischief, protects fowls completely from 

 the most active virus for a certain time, and enables them 

 to rjsist the disease for a far longer period. He has also 

 demonstrated that the source of the attenuation of the 

 virus is the action of atmospheric oxygen, for it is only 

 when the "genir5"are allowed to develop in the presence 

 of abundance of oxygen that the containing fluid becomes 

 less intensely poisonous. A '' vaccine" for splenic fever 

 or charbon could not be obtained in this manner, but if 

 the virus be allowed to develop in a solution at a tem- 

 perature of 42" — 43° C, with free exposure to the air, it 

 quickly becomes less active, and ultimately, at the end of 

 a few weeks, dies. Experiments on sheep have shown 

 that vaccination with this "attenuated lymph" protects 

 the animal from the action of the purer and more active 

 poison. But great as will be the value of these re- 

 searches, even if only applied to the two diseases in 

 question, it is far more important to notice their extreme 

 importance from a scientific point of view. First of all they 

 explain in part the action of oxygen in preventing septic 

 infection, and the inflammatory complications of wounds. 

 But they also excite the hope, and go far to wards showing that 

 it is not improbable, that by some special form of cultivation 

 every disease-virus may be thus attenuated and a poison 

 result, which if inoculated will produce only a transient 

 local change, but will protect from the virulent form of 

 the disease as completely as efficient vaccination protects 

 from small-pox. Prof. Pasteur referred to the germ 

 theory of disease as one which has ceased to number the 

 practical triumphs it has won ; and every day is giving 

 results to add to its importance and value. 



NOTES 



Mr. W. H. Christie, F.R.S., has been appointed Astro. 

 nomer Royal in succession to Sir George Airy, who retires after 

 having filled the ofTice for something like half-a-century. 



On October 17 next, fifty years will have elapsed since Prof. 

 Bunsen, the eminent chemist, received his doctor's diploma from 

 Gottingen University. He, however, intends to absent himself 

 from Heidelberg on the day in question, in order to avoid all 

 congratulations and speech-making. 



Mr. W. a. Forbes, B.A., Felbw of St. John's College, 

 Cambridge, Prosector to the Zoological Society, has been 

 appointed Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy at Charing Cross 

 Hospital, vice the Rev. J. F. Blake, removed to Nottingham. 



The discussion in connection with Mr. Mundella's .ible state- 

 ment on the Education Estimates had no special bearing on the 

 teaching of science in elementary schools. Steps are evidently 

 being taken to make elementary education more and more 

 efficient, to give those whose school years are short and precious 

 every opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of things that will 

 be really useful to them in after life. It is clear from the facU 

 and figure-;, as well as the tone of Mr. Mundella's address, that 

 the education of the country is safe in his hands. In the pro- 

 posals for the revision of the Code laid on the table of the House 

 are several changes for the better. In infant schools, for example, 

 part of the course provided for is a systematic^ one of simple 

 lessons on objects and on the phenomena of nature and common 

 life. Among the " Class Subjects " in boys' and girls' schools 

 are Physical Geography and Elementary Science, and among 

 the specific subjects are Mechanics, Animal Physiology, Botany, 

 Principles of Agriculture, and Domestic Economy. This is all 

 in the right direction, and is just what we should expect from an 

 Education Minister like Mr. Mundella. 



Mr. Mundella stated on Monday that Prof. Leone Levi has 

 prepared an elaborate report on technical education in Italy, 



