44 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1411 



The chemical and the histological work still 

 remained to be done. 



J. A. Ambler, of the Color Laboratory of 

 the Department of Agriculture, with the ap- 

 proval of Dr. Ball, offered the resources of 

 this laboratory to help in the work and under- 

 take to make chemical analyses of samples 

 that had already been tested by the Society of 

 American Bacteriologists. 



Drs. McClung, Harper and Hazen stated 

 that some of the samples which were very 

 satisfactory to bacteriologists did not give good 

 results in eytological or histological staining, 

 and agreed that considerable work was neces- 

 sary to standardize the stains for this purpose. 

 They offered to take steps to secure the active 

 interest of their respective societies in this. 

 It was pointed out that the zoologists had al- 

 ready appointed Dr. S. I. Kornhauser to as- 

 sist in the work and that Dr. Victor C. Vaughan 

 as chairman of the Division of Medicine had 

 given assurance of the interest and support of 

 that profession. Drs. Harper and McClung 

 were appointed to act as a temporary com- 

 mittee with Dr. H. J. Conn on the organization 

 of further plans including the nomination of 

 a standing committee to the National Research 

 Council. Such a committee has since been 

 authorized to function under the Division of 

 Biology and Agriculture, with the Division of 

 Medicine cooperating, the membership of which 

 is: H. J. Conn, Geneva, N. Y. (Chairman); 

 S. I. Kornhauser, Denison University; L. W. 

 Sharp, Cornell University; Frederick G. Novy, 

 University of Michigan; F. B. Mallory, Boston 

 City Hospital. The Chemical Foundation of 

 New York City has agreed to support the 

 undertaking, and has already deposited with 

 the treasurer of the National Research Council 

 $500. 



INTERNATIONALIZING SERA STANDARDS 



Cooperation of the foremost laboratories of 

 the world, including the United States, for the 

 unification of international standards of anti- 

 toxic sera has been begun on a large scale by 

 the League of Nations Health Committee. Two 

 preparatory conferences have been held; the 

 worlv has been divided amongst the various 

 national laboratories, and the individual studies 

 have been begua. 



The United States has agreed to cooperate 

 through the United States Public Health Ser- 

 vice at Washington, and through the presence 

 at the conference of Dr. Rupert Blue, assistant 

 surgeon general, stationed at Paris. German 

 scientific men, as well as Japanese, and repre- 

 sentatives of all the greater European medical 

 services will take part. 



Up to the present there has been much con- 

 fusion in the various national standards of 

 measuring the strength of anti-toxic sera for 

 diseases such as dysentery, tetanus, diphtheria, 

 syphilis, etc. This has had two serious effects. 

 Men of science have been handicapped in 

 studying' methods of treatment of various vital 

 diseases abroad, because of the different stand- 

 ards of measuring the strength of the anti- 

 toxic sera employed; secondly, as international 

 trade in sera is increasing, it represents not 

 only an inconvenience, but a positive danger 

 to have their strengths listed at varying stand- 

 ards. 



In order to obviate these difficulties, the 

 Health Committee of the League of Nations 

 began a series of studies last October, which 

 resulted in an international conference at Lon- 

 don in December, to prepare plans for the 

 first joint experimental inquiry of the sort 

 ever attempted. A program was adopted 

 whereby the study of the effects of the various 

 standards was divided according to diseases 

 amongst the various laboratories represented. 

 To the Hygienic Laboratory at Washington 

 it was proposed to allocate the study of te- 

 tanus and diphtheria. As soon as these stud- 

 ies have been completed, they will be coordi- 

 nated through the State Serum Institute at 

 Copenhagen. 



Other bodies which will cooperate in the 

 work are the Medical Research Council of 

 Great Britain, The Pasteur Institute of France, 

 the State Institute of Italy, State Institute 

 of Warsaw, Hygienic Institute of Basle, 

 Pasteur Institute of Brussels, Kitasato Insti- 

 tute of Japan, as well as Austrian and Ger- 

 man organizations. 



RELIEF WORK OF BRITISH UNIVERSITIES 



Maurice de Bunsen, chairman of the uni- 

 versities' committee, writes in Nature concern- 



