March 20, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



479 



The German emperor has approved of a 

 plan for founding an institute for advanced 

 medical education in Berlin as a memorial to 

 the late Empress Frederick. 



Senator Wm. A. Clark, of Montana, has 

 contributed $250 for the furtherance of the 

 investigations being carried on by the Univer- 

 sity of Montana Biological Station at Flat-. 

 head Lake, under the direction of Professor 

 Morton J. Elrod. This is his fifth contribu- 

 tion for this purpose. 



The consul-general for Mexico in Liverpool 

 has received official notification that the Mex- 

 ican government proposes to give an annual 

 grant of money to the Liverpool School of 

 Tropical Medicine, in vphose operations from 

 its formation they have taken a deep interest. 



The London Epidemiological Society held 

 a meeting on February 25 for the discussion 

 of the possible spread of yellow fever to Asia 

 by way of the Panama canal. The discussion 

 was opened by Dr. Patrick Manson, medical 

 adviser to the Colonial Office. A committee 

 was appointed to cooperate with American 

 societies in drawing the attention of the gov- 

 ernments of Great Britain and the United 

 States to the question. 



Professor Eussell H. Chittenden, director 

 of the Sheffield Scientific School of Tale Uni- 

 versity, has arranged the Thirty-Seventh An- 

 nual Course of Sheffield Lectures, which are 

 now being delivered on Friday evenings, at 

 8 P.M. Following is the list of lectures, with 

 their subjects : 



' Mont Pel6e and the Tragedy of Martinique ' : 

 Professor Angelo Heilpkin, of the Academy of 

 Sciences, Philadelphia. 



' Storms and Weather Phenomena ' : Professor 

 Willis L. Moore, Chief of the U. S. Weather 

 Bureau, Washington. 



' Peary's Progress to the Pole ' : Mr. Herbert 

 L. Bridgman, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 



' Our Isthmian Canal ' : General Henry L. 

 Abbott, of the U. S. Army, Retired, Cambridge. 



' Household Art in Japan ' ; Professor Edward 

 S. Morse, of Salem. 



' Recent Astronomical Photography ' : Mr. 

 George W. Ritchet, of Chicago University and 

 the Yerkes Observatory. 



' Modern Methods and Results of Exploration 

 for Dinosaurs ' : Professor Henry F. Osbokn, of 

 Columbia University. 



' The Discovery of the Use of the Arteries; or 

 Expteriment vs. Subtlety in Biology ' : Professor 

 John G. Curtis, of Columbia University. 



' The Medicine-Man ' : Professor Albert G. 

 IvELLEB, of Y'ale University. 



' Professional Codes of Ethics ' : Professor 

 Rossiter W. Raymond, Secretary of the American 

 Institute of Mining Engineers. 



' The Land of Ophir ' : Professor John Hays 

 Hammond, of the Sheffield Scientific School. 



The following cablegram has been sent 

 from Great Britain to the daily papers : Lord 

 Lister has communicated to the Royal So- 

 ciety a paper by Dr. Allan Macfadyen, director 

 of the Jenner Institute of Preventive Medi- 

 cine, setting forth a prophylactic and curative 

 treatment for typhoid fever. Dr. Macfadyen 

 found that by crushing the microscopic cells 

 of the typhoid bacillus in liquid air the cellu- 

 lar juices can be obtained apart from the liv- 

 ing organism and that these juices are highly 

 toxic. By injecting them in small, repeated 

 doses into living animal its blood serum is 

 rendered powerfully anti-toxic and bacteri- 

 cidal; that is to say, it becomes an antidote 

 alike to living typhoid bacteria and to the 

 poison that may be extracted therefrom. Dr. 

 Macfadyen explains the application of the 

 serum to animals and details his various ex- 

 periments which showed that the serum is a 

 curative of tjrphoid as well as a protective 

 against infection. The Jenner Institute is 

 now investigating the juices of other bacteria. 

 If its experiments prove, as is expected, that 

 bacterial juices in general react upon the ani- 

 mal organism in the same way as on the liv- 

 ing bacteria which produce them, the fact 

 will profoundly influence medical speculation 

 and practice. Regarding the crushing of bac- 

 teria the question naturally arises, by what 

 unimaginable accuracy of grinding can these 

 infinitesimal organisms be broken so as to 

 release their intercellular toxins. The crush- 

 ing of the bacilli is done in liquid air because 

 when thus frozen hard they become brittle 

 and, notwithstanding their almost inconceiv- 

 able minuteness, can be completely broken up 

 by trituration and will under no subsequent 

 conditions show a sign of bacterial growth. 



