July 24, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



101 



In the discussion one of the members 

 stated that another sample, drawn from 

 the same locality but at a different time, 

 was found by him to be of normal com- 

 position. 

 On the Relation of the Specific Gravity of 



Urine to the Solids Present: J. H. Long. 



(By title.) 



Cereal Foods: Edwakd Gudeman. 



Analysis of a large number of samples 

 from forty-three different manufacturers 

 shows an average composition of 



Ash 0.3 



Fioer 0.5 



Fat 0.7 



Proteids 10.5 



Carbohydrates (by difference) 88.0 



100.0 



The Determination of Starch: "NV. A. 



NoYES and K. B. Arnold. 



One of the objects of this work was to 

 determine the best conditions for hy- 

 drolysis. One hour is the most favorable 

 length of time with 0.5 per cent, acid at 

 a temperature of 100°, or half an hour at 

 111°. Solutions giving 2 per cent, glucose 

 give better results than those giving 0.5 

 per cent, glucose. In neutralizing the acid, 

 it is much more desirable to stop a little 

 short of the exact point rather than to 

 overstep it. The greatest hydrolysis that 

 could be obtained was 96-99 per cent, of 

 the theoretical. 



Austin M. Patterson. 



THE CASE FOR VACCI?!ATIOy. 

 The recent appearance of an admirable 

 book entitled 'A Concise History of Small- 

 pox and Vaccination in Europe,' by Ed- 

 ward J. Edwardes, has aroused new en- 

 thusiasm among British sanitarians in 

 their efforts to undo the evil eft'ects of the 

 last Vaccination Act, which permitted the 

 exemption of those persons known as 'con- 

 scientious objectors.' Its lesson is equally 



salutary in this country, where the vaccina- 

 tion laws are at present far too lax, and 

 where the opponents of vaccination are 

 conducting an active campaign for their 

 repeal. 



It should be frankly acknowledged that 

 the responsibility incurred by the state in 

 compelling its citizens to submit to the in- 

 troduction of vaccine matter is a grave one. 

 It is, in the first place, a serious infringe- 

 ment of personal libei-ty ; and, in the second 

 place, it must be owned that the process is 

 attended with a certain, though an almost 

 inappreciable, amount of danger. Wheu 

 arm-to-arm vaccination was practised, loath- 

 some diseases were occasionally conveyed 

 from one human being to another, but the 

 general introduction of calf lymph now 

 prevents the possibility of any such con- 

 tingencj". The transmission of tuberculosis, 

 too, is eft'ectually precluded by the tests 

 to which the calves are submitted and by 

 the addition to the lymph of glycerin. 

 Erysipelas and tetanus, on the other hand, 

 still sometimes follow vaccination. In a 

 very large majority of cases these complica- 

 tions are due to secondaiy infection by the 

 removal of dressings from the vaccination 

 wound; in a few instances they have been 

 traced to infection of the lymph itself. 

 The extent of these dangers is, however, 

 very slight. Dr. McFarland* in a careful 

 review of all previous medical literature, 

 was last year only able to find 95 cases of 

 tetanus recorded as due to vaccination. 

 The total number of deaths from erysipelas 

 in the United States in 1900 was 2,861, and 

 the total number from tetanus, 1,664, in a 

 population of 75,994,575 with 1,039,094 

 deaths from all causes; and it can scarcely 

 be claimed that any large proportion of 

 this insignificant number was due to vac- 

 cination. 



On the other hand, the benefits which 

 * ' Tetanus and Vaccination,' Journal of Med- 

 ical Research, VII, 1902, p. 474. 



