6io 



NA TURE 



[October 17, 1907 



bacillus in the tissues ; in chapter ii. the characters of 

 the plague bacillus are described with great fulness, 

 and many valuable hints on staining, &c., will be 

 found here. Dr. Klein believes to be erroneous the 

 view of Calmette that passage of the plague bacillus 

 through a series of animals of a species, while increas- 

 ing its virulence for that species, diminishes the viru- 

 lence for other species. The statement is made at 

 p. 29 and again at p. 47 that Hankin described long 

 filamentous modifications of the plague bacillus when 

 the organism is grown on salted media, an observ- 

 ation for which Dr. Klein claims priorilx . But surely 

 what Hanlvin did describe was the occurrence of large 

 spherical, spindle- and pear-shaped involution forms 

 on salted media (see Centr. fur Bakt. xxii., 

 p. 438). Here and in some other places references are 

 omitted, and authors' names are sometimes wrongly 

 spelt, e.g. Tideswell for Tidswell, and .Simmonds for 

 Siniond (p. 154). Chapter iii. deals with the bac- 

 teriological analysis of plague material, many valuable 

 practical hints being incorporated, and chapter v. with 

 microbes simulating the plague bacillus. Notable 

 among these are the Bacterium bristolciise and the 

 B. myxoides. The former was isolated from dead 

 rats found on a ship unloading at Bristol, which had 

 come from a plague-infected port. It caused the death 

 of guinea-pigs with a hemorrhagic septicaemia and 

 enlarged glands, and the bacilli that were present in 

 the lesions were much like the plague bacillus. As a 

 matter of fact, however, cultures showed that the 

 organism was allied to the B. coli. The B. myxoides 

 was isolated from a case of acute hemorrhagic febrile 

 disease, which had been notified as possibly one of 

 septicemic plague. The organism morphologically 

 and in staining properties presented a certain re- 

 semblance to Bacillus pcstis, but it was not pathogenic 

 by subcutaneous inoculation to guinea-pigs and rats, 

 and culturally differed from the plague bacillus. The 

 case was actually one of hemorrhagic small-pox with 

 a secondary or a terminal infection with this microbe. 

 These examples illustrate the care necessary to 

 diagnose plague bacteriologically. Plague in the rat 

 and in other rodents is discussed in chapters v. and vi. 

 Dr. Klein considers that there may be a type of B. 

 pestis occurring in the rat which is less virulent than 

 the ordinary human type. The transmission of plague 

 from one animal to another (chapter vii.) Dr. Klein 

 would ascribe principally to infection by the digestive 

 tract and not to fleas, lice, and other insects, though 

 it must be pointed out that the careful work of Tids- 

 well (Report on the second outbreak of plague at 

 Sydney) and of the Indian Plague Commission 

 {Journal of Hygiene, vi., 1906, No. 4) support strongly 

 the latter theory. 



Chapter viii. discusses the agglutination reaction 

 and its application to plague; on the whole the test 

 is difficult to apply in this di.sease, but under certain 

 conditions may be of value. The important subject of 

 preventive inoculation is dealt with in the last chapter 

 but one. The subject of the supposed danger of 

 inoculation during the incubation period is first alluded 

 to, and Dr. Klein remarks that with a prophylactic he 

 'has devised there is no risk of this sort. No refer- 

 ence, however, is made to Bannerman's statistics 

 NO. 1 98 1, VOL. 76] 



(Centr. f. Bakt., Abt. i., Bd. xxix., p. 873), which 

 seem completely to remove this objection to the use of 

 the Haffkine prophylactic. As the result of his experi- 

 ments. Dr. Klein says, " I am prepared emphatically 

 to maintain that 10 c.c. of the Haffkine prophylactic 

 is capable of fully protecting a rat against a subse- 

 quent lethal dose of living plague cullure." Impor- 

 tant testimony this to the protective power of the 

 vaccine when India is decimated with plague and the 

 author of the prophylactic treatment is under a cloud 

 in consequence of an unfortunate accident for which 

 we believe he was in no way responsible ! Dr. Klein 

 incidentally confirms much of HafTkine's work on the 

 plague prophylactic. 



The most interesting portion of this section is that 

 which deals with the preparation of a new form of 

 vaccine material devised by Dr. Klein which consists 

 of an emulsion of the dried organs of a guinea-pig 

 dead of plague. The drying deprives the plague 

 bacilli of their vitality, and it was found that 10-15 

 milligrams of the dried organ powder sufficed com- 

 pletely to protect a rat against a lethal dose of plague 

 bacilli. The final chapter is devoted to a consideration 

 of the modes for the destruction of the plague bacillus, 

 and much useful information on the action of dis- 

 infection and disinfectants on this organism is 

 included. 



The book, which lacks an index, is profusely illus- 

 trated with a number of excellent plates, and we con- 

 gratulate Dr. Klein on the amount and importance of 

 the work he has done with reference to plague and the 

 plague bacillus. R. T. Hewlett. 



MEMOIRS ON MARINE ANLMALS. 

 (i) Anurida. By A. D. Imms. Pp. viii + 99; 7 

 plates. 1906. Price 4s. 



(2) Ligia. By C. Gordon Hewitt. Pp. viii +37; 

 4 plates. 1907. Price 2i-. 



(3) Antedon. By Herbert C. Chadwick. Pp. viii 4- 

 47; 7 plates. 1907. Price 2s. bd. (London : Wil- 

 liams and Norgate.) 



THESE volumes, which form the thirteenth, four- 

 teenth, and fifteenth of the Liverpool Marine 

 Biological Committee's memoirs, are comprehensive 

 studies, admirably illustrated by lithographic plates, 

 of animals common on our shores and readily acces- 

 sible to the student. The authors and the editor. 

 Prof. Herdman, are to be congratulated on the pro- 

 duction of such excellent aids to the study of types of 

 our British marine animals. 



(i) Mr. Inims's memoir is a well-arranged and de- 

 tailed account of the interesting CoUembolan Anurida 

 maritima, which is common on the surface of the quiet 

 shore-pools and in the crevices of the rocks near Port 

 Erin and at other localities on the British coast. In 

 the description of the habits of the animal attention 

 is directed to the covering of hairs, which, when the 

 animal is submerged, retains a supply of air which 

 serves for respiration (there being sufficient to last the 

 insect five days), and also renders the bodj' incapable 

 of being wetted. Chapters follow on the external 

 characters, integument and coloration, mouth parts, 

 digestive, circulatory, nervous, excretory and repro- 



