December 21, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



969 



HABBEN LECTOBES ON THE PLAGUE* 

 The first of the three Harben Lectures for 

 1900 was delivered at the Examination Hall of 

 the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, 

 London, on November 7th, by Dr. A. Calmette, 

 Director of the Pasteur Institute of Lille. After 

 a short reference to the history of plague, he 

 said it was possible for him to bring forward 

 some modern views of the disease from his re- 

 cent researches made as the result of his mission 

 to Oporto last year with Salembeni. After giv- 

 ing a description of the plague bacillus. Dr. 

 Calmette said plague assumed two principal 

 clinical forms, bubonic plague, and plague 

 without buboes. After describing the symp- 

 toms of plague he showed that the localization 

 of the lesions in the gland determined the spe- 

 cial attitude of the patient. The forms of the 

 plague without bubo occurred more rarely than 

 the classical forms of bubonic plague. Primary 

 pneumonic plague was evidently due to the 

 penetration of the microbe into the respiratory 

 channels. It could be diagnosed only by bac- 

 teriological examination of the sputa, because 

 the aspect of the sputum, the clinical symptoms, 

 and the auscultatory signs resembled those of 

 ordinary pneumonia. Another and still rarer 

 form of plague without buboes was septicsemic 

 plague or pesticsemia, which developed with 

 extreme rapidity like acute septicaemia. It 

 was caused by the rapid growth of the plague 

 bacillus in the blood and in all the or- 

 gans. It was not exactly known where the 

 virus first effected an entrance in these cases, 

 but the hypothesis was that it penetrated 

 by the gastro -intestinal tract. When plague 

 was studied in an epidemic center all the forms 

 described were met with, but sometimes it hap- 

 pened that the first cases did not present such 

 clear characteristics, and it was thus possible 

 that they might be incorrectly diagnosed. At 

 the commencement of a case of bubonic plague, 

 that is to say, at the period when there was 

 only glandular congestion and fever, to ascer- 

 tain whether the plague microbe was present or 

 not, a puncture should be made with a Pravaz's 

 syringe into the lymphatic tissues, and some 

 drops of fluid extracted. This could be inocu- 

 lated in the usual miinner and examined im- 

 * From the British Medical Journal. 



mediately after staining. To put the patient 

 beyond the danger of any possible re-infection, 

 it was only necessary, directly after the punc- 

 ture with the syringe, to inject about 5 c.cm. of 

 antiplague serum into the middle of the gland 

 or at a short distance from it. If on examina- 

 tion of the fluid the microbes were found free 

 and very numerous, tffe prognosis was serious ; 

 if the microbes were nearly all enclosed in poly- 

 nuclear cells, it might be hoped that the case 

 was non-malignant and that the infection would 

 remain localized. It was essential, in testing 

 the virulence of a plague microbe by experi- 

 ments on animals, to use a recent culture, not 

 older than twenty-four to forty eight hours at 

 the most. 



Mice, rats and guinea-pigs were very sus- 

 ceptible to plague, but it was thought that 

 many other animals could take the plague. In 

 this respect the pig, the ox and poultry had 

 been mentioned, but these animals did not take 

 the disease spontaneously. !■" .uo ,vere not 

 easily infected by plague bacillus ; the vultures 

 on the Towers of Silense near Bombay suffered 

 no ill after devouring plague corpses, but it was 

 not proved that they did not scatter the plague 

 microbe with their excreta on the surface of the 

 soil. The monkey easily contracted plague by 

 inoculation, and also spontaneously when placed 

 in a cage side by side with another infected 

 monkey. The bacilli could also be transported 

 by fleas, by the other parasites of the skin and 

 by flies. Healthy mice placed in the same cage 

 with infected mice, but separated by wire, so 

 that they could not touch each other, contracted 

 the plague at the end of a few days ; the con- 

 tamination in these cases was due to fleas and 

 flies. Professor Calmette illustrated his lecture 

 with lantern slides, depicting patients affected 

 with plague. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Professoe W. W. Campbell has been ap- 

 pointed director of the Lick Observatory in 

 succession to the late Professor James E. Keeler. 



On account of failing health Dr. Edward von 

 Mojsisovics is retiring from the post of vice- 

 director of the Geological Survey of Austria, 

 into which body he entered as a volunteer on 

 February 18, 1865, the director then being W. 



