January 2, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



All these four mice remained in good health. Control-mice, 

 on the contrary, which were at the same time inoculated 

 with .0001 of a cubic centimetre of the original culture, suc- 

 cumbed within thirty-six hours. 



All the mice mentioned in each of the above series of ex- 

 periments have been subjected to repeated injections with 

 the tetanus bacilli, and have shown themselves to be perma- 

 nently and completely immune. 



This result is the more remarkable in that up till now, in 

 spite of innumerable attempts, no one has ever succeeded in 

 making any animal whatever immune against tetanus. A 

 theory of the nature of acquired immunity which at once 

 led to a method of treating the disease which is easy to un- 

 derstand, harmless to the animal, and certain in its effect, 

 must surely possess some basis in fact. 



Naturally every kind of control experiment with serum of 

 normal rabbits has been carried out with uniformly nega- 

 tive results. Serum of cattle, horses, and sheep has also been 

 found to have no action on the tetanus poison. The living; 

 blood and tissues of an animal which has not been made im- 

 mune, likewise show no power of destroying the tetanus 

 poison, as appears from the following experiment, which has 

 been many times repeated: — 



Rabbits into which .5 of a cubic centimetre of a germ-free 

 tetanus cultui'e is injected subcutaneously, succumb after 

 showing typical tetanus symptoms. Almost always a serous 

 transudation is to be found in the thoracic cavity. Of this 

 ti'ansudation .3 of a cubic centimetre is, on the average, 

 enough to kill a mouse with typical tetanus symptoms. The 

 same is true for the blood. 



The authors close their paper by pointing out the possibil- 

 ity that their method of curing tetanus and diphtheria which 

 they have used with such brilliant results on animals so 

 highly susceptible to these diseases as mice and rabbits, may 

 also be used for the far less susceptible hospital patient. 

 They also note the possible influence of their work on the 

 practice of blood-transfusion. 



E. H. Hankin. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



Risks to Health in East Africa. 



The colonizing wave setting steadily from Europe to East 

 Africa gives peculiar interest to Dr. Kohlstock's experience of the 

 risks to health and the chances of longevity among his compa- 

 triots in that region. As director of the sanitary arrangements at 

 the German headquarters, says the Lancet, he has had excellent 

 opportunity of forming his opinions, and the sense of responsibil- 

 ity with which he gives them to the world is in some measure a 

 guaranty of the care with which he has collected his facts and 

 drawn his conclusions. The first note he strikes is one of warn- 

 ing. Let no one, in any stage of phthisis, even the pre-tubercu- 

 lar. think of settling in East Africa, if he does not want to leave 

 his bones in its soil. At first this danger was not appreciated in 

 the Fatherland, and the inspection of oSicers setting out with 

 colonizing parties was carried out in somewhat perfunctory 

 fashion. But the climatic conditions of the region soon made 

 their effects apparent, and nine subalterns had to be sent home, 

 — precisely those in whose families pulmonary phthisis had pre- 

 vailed. For a man of thoroughly sound constitution the two 

 diseases to be dreaded are dysentery and malaria. The former, 

 in Dr. Kohlstock's experience, responds satisfactorily to the 

 measures usually taken in European centres in the East, the 

 disease among the German troops running generally as favorable 

 a course as in French or English garrisons. The latter is danger- 

 ous only when the patient is precluded from taking rest, and 

 compelled to continue at work; as, for instance, on necessarily 

 forced marches. Even so, but three fatal cases have as yet been 

 recorded among the German troops in East Africa as due to 



malaria. As a rule, under conditions of rest the malaria patient 

 soon gets well. In stubborn cases he has to be transferred to the 

 sanatorium; the transferrence hitherto being effected on ship- 

 board, in the absence of railways. Very often the change of 

 locality, coming after the voyage, has sufficed to restore the 

 patient's health. A liberal allowance of fresh butcher's meat has 

 proved the most efficacious diet in malaria: indeed, the risks 

 arising from the disease have been greatly reduced by the excel- 

 lent nursing and accommodation now enjoyed by the patient. 

 Dr. Kohlstock holds it to be a mistaken practice to complete- 

 ly cut off alcohol as a prophylactic against malaria: he would 

 rather, within the limits of temperance, that the German in East 

 Africa should hve, as far as possible, as he did at home. The 

 necessary upturning of the soil for purposes of tillage is, in such 

 virgin territories as that of German Africa, the most prolific 

 source of malaria; and, at that inevitable stage of colonizing 

 operations, the sanatoria must be in constant requisition, and 

 their treatment supplemented by change of locality for the con- 

 valescent. So well, however, have these measures been under- 

 stood and carried out, that Dr. Kohlstock can point to a steady 

 diminution in the statistical returns of malaria cases; the places 

 where the disease has been most pronounced being, naturally 

 enough, those like Mpwapwa, where the earth exhalations from 

 the disturbance of long inert soil have been the most extensive, 

 while no good water-supply has been obtained by boring. Soon, 

 however, a marked reduction of the malaria returns will, it is 

 hoped, be effected even in that locality. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*** Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's nam e 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



Tlie editor xoill be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character 

 of the journal. 



On request, twenty copies of the number containing Ms communication will 

 be furnished free to any correspondent. 



A New Kansas Meteorite, 



The year 1890 has brought to scientific knowledge a larger num- 

 ber of tangible celestial visitants than all preceding years com- 

 bined. Up to this year the Waconda meteorite was the only rep- 

 resentative from Kansas on the list of authentic meteoric falls. In 

 March of this year the now famous group of irons from Kiowa 

 County was made known to science; and on June 25, 1890, the 

 Washington County aerolite was heard and seen to fall at mid- 

 day by thousands of Kansas citizens; and now, just at the close 

 of the year, I have the pleasure of announcing a third fall of un- 

 known date. This may be called the Tonganoxie meteorite. So 

 far as now known, this fall consists of a single specimen, weigh- 

 ing 26^ pounds. It is an iron of the ordinary character (not a 

 pallasite). It is of an irregular shape, and is thought by the owner 

 to resemble a lion couchant. It is 9f inches long, 6| inches wide, 

 and 3i inches deep. 



This meteorite is the property of Mr. H. C. Fellow, principal, 

 1887-90, of tha Friends' Academy at Tonganoxie, in Leavenworth 

 County, now pursuing a post-graduate course of study in the Uni- 

 versity of Kansas. Mr. Fellow bought it in the spring of 1889 of 

 Mr. Quincy Baldwin, who found it upon his farm, one mile west 

 of Tonganoxie town, in 1886. Mr. Baldwin was not aware of its 

 true ciiaracter, although he had manufactured a fish-hook from 

 a small fragment of the iron. He considered it to be a piece of 

 iron ore, and proposed to start an iron-mine upon his farm; but 

 this fragment proved to be the only " indication," and the mining 

 project was reluctantlj abandoned. This meteorite is now depos- 

 ited in the museum of the University of Kansas, but is still the 

 property of Mr. Fellow. A preliminary analysis shows the pres- 

 ence of iron, nickel, and cobalt. Professor E. H. S. Bailey wiU 

 soon publish a complete analysis. 



A small portion of the surface has been polished, and exhibits 

 very distinctly the Wiedmanstanten figures Careful search has 

 recently been made for other fragments of this meteorite on the 

 Baldwin farm and vicinity, but without success. 



F. H. Snow. 



Lawrence. Kan , Dec. 27. 



