48 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 2. 



He has studied the Japanese both from 

 the anthropometric and the linguistic side. 

 He points out that thej' present many and 

 positive physical differences ii-om the 

 Chinese type, and can not be classed as a 

 Sinitic people. On the other hand, the 

 measurements bring them into close paral- 

 lellism with the northern Ural-Altaic peo- 

 ples, to that gi-oup which includes the 

 Samoyeds, the Finns, the Magyars and, in 

 a less degree, the Tungoose. This affiliation 

 is strikingly supported by a carefal com- 

 parison of languages. There is not a 

 marked morphological trait of the Japanese 

 tongue which is not also found in this 

 Sibiric group. Dr. Winkler rehearses them 

 with brevity and force. What is more, in 

 the opinion of some, the material portion of 

 the language, its vocabulary and radicals, 

 present so many identities with this Ural- 

 Altaic group that their primitive oneness 

 must be conceded. 



This, however, is not to be understood as 

 if the Japanese was the Altaic Ursprache; 

 but only as one of the children of a common 

 mother, each of which has pursued inde- 

 pendent lines of development, though al- 

 ways retaining the family characteristics. 

 D. G. Beinton. 



TJNIVEESITY of PENNSYLVAlSnA 



HYGIENE. 



THE NEW SERUM TREATMENT FOR DIPHTHERIA. 



By cultivating the specific bacillus of 

 diphtheria in broth, there is developed in 

 the liquid a peculiar product, which is 

 known as the toxine of this bacillus. When 

 an extensive growth of the bacillus has oc- 

 curred, so that a considerable quantitj' of 

 this toxine is developed, the fluid is filtered 

 through a porcelain filter, which permits 

 the sohible toxine to pass through, but re- 

 tains the bacilli. 



If this filtered fluid is sufficiently strong, 

 tV of a cubic centimeter of it will kill a 



guinea pig weighing 500 grammes, in from 

 48 to 60 hours. The effect produced is in 

 proportion to the quantity injected, just as 

 for any chemical poison, differing in this 

 respect from the action of a fluid containing 

 the bacilli themselves, which might mul- 

 tiply in the body. The bacilli in the fluid 

 might be killed by heating, but this would 

 also decompose the toxine ; hence the sepa- 

 ration is effected by simple filtration, or by 

 the addition of some substance like tricresol 

 which will kill the bacilli without affecting 

 the toxine. 



If small quantities of this toxine be in- 

 jected under the skin of an animal, com- 

 mencing with a dose which is not fatal and 

 graduallj^ increasing it, the animal gi'adu- 

 allj^ becomes immune to the effects of the 

 poison and after several successive injec- 

 tions can receive a very strong dose without 

 injury. The blood serum of an animal thus 

 rendered immime against diphtheria has 

 the power to confer a similar immunity on 

 other animals if given in suificient quantity 

 in one dose, thus dojing away with the need 

 for the repeated and carefully graduated 

 injections required to produce immunity in 

 the first animal. 



To obtain such an anti-diphtheritic serum 

 to be used on man, a horse is injected with 

 the solution of toxine, commencing with 

 from 2 to 5 cubic centimeters and increasing 

 the dose at intervals until within three 

 months as much as 250 cubic centimeters 

 may be injected without producing any se- 

 rious effect. The horse is more resistant 

 than many other animals to the action of 

 the diphtheritic poison, being naturally 

 someAvhat immune. The blood serum of the 

 horse produces no harmful etFects on man, 

 if injected in small doses, and it can readily 

 be obtained in considerable quantities with- 

 out killing the animal. 



This serum, taken from a horse which 

 has thus been rendered immune, will not 

 only produce a temporary immunity in man 



