166 

NATURE 
[ApRIL 8, 1915 

date, there have been reported only 207 cases, of 
which only 2 have occurred since January 20. And 
it must be remembered that there are effectual ways 
of dealing with both diseases—tetanus by the prophy- 
lactic administration of antitetanic serum, and gas 
gangrene by very free incisions. 
No, the deadliest enemy is the ubiquitous strepto- 
coccus, the foe that kills more than shells and bullets. 
But as it is certainly killed by undiluted carbolic acid 
or by a 5 per cent. solution in water, there is at least 
a chance that, so far as streptococci are concerned, 
wounds may be disinfected even in war, and if these 
and the other pyogenic organisms are destroyed, there 
is, as I have shown, great reason to suppose that 
sporing anaerobes like Bacillus tetani would have no 
chance of growing.” 
But it may be said: ‘“‘What about the organisms 
that have entered the lymph channel and the blood 
current? What is.the good of trying to purify the 
wound if they have already given us the slip? ”’ 
Let us see precisely what Dr. Thiele says, and 
remember that his experiments are conducted by 
injecting cultivations of micro-organisms — sub- 
cutaneously. He maintains :-— 
(1) That they travel quickly to the nearest lymphatic 
glands, where they are retarded, perhaps killed. 
(2) If not, they make their way along the thoracic 
duct to the jugular vein and enter the blood stream, 
and by that channel are conveyed, a few at a time, 
not in sufficient numbers to be detected by the micro- 
scope, to the bene marrow, the spleen, and other | 
parts where groups of cells of the phagocyte class are 
ready to deal with them. 
(3) If the enemy overpowers all these means of 
resistance they may invade the blood in _ large 
numbers and cause general blood-poisoning. 
(4) That some are quickly taken up by the blood 
without passing through the lymphatics. 
TI must again point out that, in spite of all these 
alarming facts, general septicaemia probably never 
occurs if the wound heals without suppuration. To 
take. another simile from the war, the germs that 
escape into the circulation are like enemy aliens, 
prisoners of war, or the struggling Turks who 
crossed the Suez Canal. It is not they, but the 
main body on the fighting line—that is, the wound— 
who are engaged in manufacturing the deadly 
toxins. If they can be annihilated, there is not much 
fear of mischief from the enemy in our midst. 
It has never been suggested that germs which have 
entered. the circulation from the wound go back with 
their ill-begotten progeny to make it suppurate. The 
argument, therefore, that it is useless to try to make 
wounds aseptic because some germs have already 
escaped into the circulation is no stronger than that 
founded on the resisting powers of spores to the 
action of antiseptics. Both are the arguments of the 
bacteriologist rather than of the practical surgeon, 
and, whilst being treated with all respect, they must 
not be estimated above their true value. 
I cannot hope that your patience is not exhausted. 
But I trust that you are now convinced of the real 
danger that may result from neglecting Lister’s teach- 
ing both in civil and military practice. 
As to the latter, which for the moment occupies 
almost all our thoughts, I should be the last to say 
that there is only one way of salvation—that, for ex- 
ample, corrosive sublimate is dangerous, or iodine un- 
trustworthy, or peroxide of hydrogen of little value. 
2 In using the word anaerobe I desire to own that I do not completely 
understand its meaning. It certainly has been used in more than one sense, 
and to-day bacteriologists are not agreed about the effect of oxygen on 
anaerobes. their need for it, the sources from which they obtain it, and other 
points. Wecannot divide micro-organisms by aclear cut line into aerobes 
and anaerobes. = 
NO. 2371, VOL. 95| 

Duncan. 
Still less would I say that military and civil surgery 
should be run on the same lines. But I still think 
that undiluted carbolic acid is, according to our pre- 
sent lights, the antiseptic most likely to be practic- 
ally useful in the rough-and-tumble practice of the 
battlefield. 
And whether or not this may turn out to be the 
conclusion of our gallant brethren at the front, I 
would add that the experience of the present war is 
one of the strongest arguments for rallying to Sir 
James Crichton-Browne’s  battle-cry, “Back to 
Lister.” 
Long ago it was prophesied that science would stop 
war by making it too horrible. Are we nearing that 
blessed result? One fact stands out in spite of the 
faint hopes I have expressed—that nothing can stop 
sepsis in war except stopping war altogether. 
UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 
INTELLIGENCE. 
Campripce.—Mr. W. L. Mollison has been elected 
master of Clare College, in succession to the late Dr. 
E. Atkinson. He was Second Wrangler in the Mathe- 
matical Tripos of 1876, and Second Smith’s Prizeman, 
and was elected a fellow of Clare in that year. After- 
wards he became successively junior tutor and senior 
tutor, and was at one time moderator and examiner in 
the Mathematical Tripos. He was made an Honorary 
LL.D. of the University of Aberdeen in 1897. 
Lonpon.—Mr. L. W. King, assistant keeper of the 
Egyptian and Assyrian department of the British 
Museum, has been elected professor of Assyrian and 
Babylonian archeology at King’s College. Mr. King’s 
professorship will be a part-time post, and he will 
retain his position at the museum. 
Dr. F. Wood-Jones, lecturer and head of the depart- 
ment of anatomy at the London (Royal Free Hos- 
pital) School of Medicine for Women, has been granted 
the title of professor of anatomy in the University. 

WE learn from Science that Robert Flersheim has 
left a bequest of a million marks to the University of 
Frankfurt. 
Tue Rockefeller Foundation has, says Science, made 
comprehensive plans for improving medical and hos- 
pital conditions in China. The plans are based on the 
report of the special commission sent by the foundation 
to China. To carry out this work the foundation has 
established a special organisation to be called the 
China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, 
of which Mr. J. D. Rockefeller, jun., is chairman. The 
plan outlined by the commission provides for the de- 
velopment of medical education in China as the first 
step. With the view of building up a body of Chinese 
medical men able to teach medical science, the founda- 
tion has decided to establish six fellowships, each of 
2ool, a year and travelling expenses, to enable Chinese 
graduates to study abroad. Six fellows have been 
appointed, one of whom is already studying in the 
United States. 
THE new buildings of the Mellon Institute of Indus- 
trial Research and School of Specific Industries of the 
University of Pittsburgh were formally opened on 
February 26 last. The institute, which cost 75,000l., 
was the gift of Messrs. A. W. and R. B. Mellon, of 
Pittsburgh; it is provided with complete facilities for 
the investigation of manufacturing problems and for 
conducting industrial research in accordance with the 
system of co-operation between science and industry, 
founded by the late director of the institute, Dr. R. K. 
By this system, a manufacturer having a 
