October 12, 1905 J 



NA rURE 



58; 



pseudo-acid-fast bacilli resist for much shorter 

 periods. 



During^ the discussions on serotherapy it was stated 

 that good results had been obtained by treatment with 

 filtered broth cultures of tubercle bacilli as employed 

 by Prof. Denis, of Louvain, with a new variety of 

 tuberculin extracted from tubercle bacilli by means of 

 a 1 per cent, solution of orthophosphoric acid intro- 

 duced by Dr. Beraneck, of Neuchatel, and with the 

 anti-toxic serum invented by Dr. Marmorek. The 

 latter observer had made a medium of leuco-toxic 

 serum, obtained by injecting goats with leucocytes of 

 other animals, and spleen bouillon, and inoculated 

 ihis from the very edge of young cultures of tubercle 

 bacilli. These showed a rapid growth, and the pro- 

 ducts of their growth in this medium were injected 

 into horses in repeated small doses ; when these horses 

 had been sufficiently immunised their blood was used 

 as a source for the serum. This serum had given its 

 best results in cases of surgical tuberculosis, i.e. 

 diseases of joints and the like, but the effects in 

 pulmonary tuberculosis were held to be such as to 

 justify a more extended trial being given to this 

 method. 



In the subsection on therapeutics various methods 

 of treatment were put forward, amongst others the 

 intravenous injection of iodoforin in suspension in a 

 mixture of ether and liquid paraffin which had been 

 tried with some success by Dr. Dewar, of Dunblane. 



Several communications were made on the re- 

 spiratory changes in the subjects of pulmonary tuber- 

 culosis, the general conclusion being that they in no 

 wise differed from those in normal or slightly febrile 

 individuals. A series of reports was made on the 

 early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by radio- 

 graphy, cytoscopy, blood counts, and other methods. 

 Dr. Theodore Williams pointed out that the time had 

 not )-et come for supplanting the ordinary methods 

 of auscultation and percussion, an opinion strongly 

 agreed to by Prof. Grancher and Dr. Turban, of 

 Davos. 



In the third section abundant evidence was given 

 of the necessity of proper care being taken of children, 

 especially to avoid infection, great stress being laid 

 on the danger of their occupying the same room as 

 a subject of pulmonary tuberculosis, and the absolute 

 necessity for a properly supervised milk supply. In 

 a general resolution of the congress it was decided to 

 recommend the periodical Government inspection of 

 all dairies, and that no public institution should make 

 use of milk that had not either come from cows which 

 had passed the tuberculin test or had been Pasteurised 

 or boiled. 



In the fourth section Dr. Newsholme directed atten- 

 tion to the diminution in the death rate from pul- 

 monary tuberculosis which had followed the replace- 

 ment of domestic by institutional relief. 



A discussion on the relative merits of sanatorium 

 and dispensary treatment resulted in the conclusion 

 that each had its place, and that the educational 

 factor must not be forgotten, since the diminution of 

 tuberculosis depended more on prophylaxis than on 

 individual treatment. The advantages of the French 

 dispensaries over the out-patient departments of most 

 English hospitals were that since one or more of 

 these are situated in each district of Paris and other 

 cities, patients have not far to come, and domiciliary 

 visits could be made to encourage the carrying out 

 of anv precautions recommended. Owing to the 

 distance from which patients come this was at present 

 quite impossible to organise for London hospitals. 

 Such a system had, however, been organised in con- 

 nection with the dispensary attached to the Victoria 

 Hospital in Edinburgh, and had been productive of 

 most excellent results. It was in matters connected 



with hygiene and social factors generally that the 

 most good resulted from the London congress, and 

 it is to be hoped still more will follow the narration 

 of the experience gained since that time. The real 

 hope for the community as a whole would appear to 

 lie in the protection of the individual, and more 

 especially of the child, if Prof. Behring's views on 

 latency and intestinal infection hold good, from in- 

 fection rather than in the treatment of those already 

 tuberculous, since even if treatment restore the latter 

 to some degree of working capacity, and the average 

 sanatorium result is put at five to seven years' pro- 

 longation of active life, they but serve as foci for 

 fresh infection. 



In addition to the actual scientific papers brought 

 forward, perhaps the greatest and best work of the 

 congress consisted in the private interchange of views 

 between workers of different nationalities, and in the 

 visits to various institutions, sanatoria, and hospitals 

 in and around Paris. 



The Pasteur Institute, the veterinary college at 

 .\lfort, the Boucicaut Hospital and the sanatoria at 

 Bligny, Angicourt, and Ormesson were among those 

 inspected by the greatest numbers. 



At the concluding seance it was announced that the 

 next congress would be held in America in three years' 

 time. 



THE BRITISH .\SSOC\.\TlON IN SOUTH 

 .iFKIC.i. 



THE association party left Maritzburg early on 

 Saturday morning, August 26, and proceeded 

 through the upland districts to Colenso, where a halt 

 of special interest had been arranged. Arriving at 

 that now historic centre with some hours of daylight 

 to spare, a visit was paid to the site of several 

 battles and engagements connected with the attempts 

 to relieve Ladysmith. 



The next morning, .August 27, the trains slowly 

 steamed through one of the passes leading into Lady- 

 smith, where evidence of the severity of the struggle 

 of a few years ago was seen on every side in groups 

 of graves and monuments. Ladysmith was left in 

 the evening, and Majuba and Laing's Nek, with the 

 scenes of struggles in the late war in northern Natal, 

 were passed in the darkness. Daylight revealed 

 Standerton in the Transvaal at hand, and Johannes- 

 burg was reached amid exclamations of wonder at 

 the gigantic heaps of tailings from the gold work- 

 ings which were passed during the last few miles 

 of the journey. 



Of the work done in Johannesburg in connection 

 with the sections little need be said here, but the 

 attendances were certainly remarkably good, and the 

 discussions revealed a high average of capacity to 

 discuss the various problems which were presented 

 by the papers read. Prof. Darwin's own words at 

 the close were felt to be fully deserved when he 

 observed, in bringing the formal work to a close, that 

 the meeting of the association in Cape Town and 

 Johannesburg constituted one of the most remarkable 

 and one of the most successful of the long series held 

 in various centres in Great Britain, Ireland, and the 

 colonies. 



The more social functions connected with the visit 

 to Johannesburg must be described as brilliant 

 successes. These commenced with a reception by the 

 mayor and town council at a conversazione held at 

 the Wanderers' Club. His Excellency the High 

 Commissioner, Lord Selborne, was present, and 

 graciously received many of the more distinguished 

 of the visitors and those who had been most 

 prominent in preparing for the visit of the association 

 in the different South African centres. 



NO. 1876, VOL. 72] 



