I< 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIX. No. 47^ 



the temperature of the patient had fallen, he found the bacilli in 

 groups of five to fifty. In three of these six cases the temperature 

 of the patient did not rise again after it had fallen, and the bacilli 

 found at the time of the fall of temperature, or shortly after, dis- 

 appeared after three to six days. The bacilli have not been ob- 

 served in other conditions, as shown by many control observations 

 made of the sputa in cases of bronchial catarrh, pneumonia, 

 tuberculosis, etc., and they have never been demonstrated in the 

 blood under other circumstances. 



Diagnosis of Influenza by the microscopical examination of the 

 blood in obscure cases. Canon - has been able to diagnose obscure 

 cases of influenza, especially where no cough or expectora- 

 tion existed, by means of the microscopical examination of 

 stained blood preparations. The reliability of the microscopical 

 examination was demonstrated in six cases by culture control ex- 

 periments — the bacilli in the cover-glass preparations being but 

 few and isolated. 



Morphology. The bacilli are very minute non-motile rods, one- 

 half as broad as they are long (of the same width as B. murisep- 

 ticus. about 0.2 fi) and occur in chains of three to four individ- 

 uals. 



Staining. The bacilli are stained by means of dilute Ziehl 

 solution (carbolic acid, five per cent solution in distilled water, 100 

 cubic centimetres; alcohol, 10 cubic centimetres; fuchsin, 1 gram) 

 or heated Lofiler's methylene-blue, and, in consequence of the fact 

 that the ends of the bacilli take up the stain more intensely than 

 the rest of the organism (polar staining), they present the appear- 

 ance, unless deeply stained (Canon), of diplococci when single, or 

 of streptococci when several bacilli are united to form a chain. 

 The bacilli do not stain well with basic anilins and the Gram 

 method (Pfeiffer). They may be demonstrated in the blood of 

 influenza cases as follows: A drop of blood flowing from the 

 pricked finger tip, is brought in contact with a cover-glass and 

 spread by means of a second cover-glass which is placed over the 

 first. The cover-slips are then drawn apart, and we have two films 

 of blood covering the surface of each, which we proceed to dry at 

 room temperature. Place the cover-glass thus prepared five mi- 

 nutes in absolute alcohol, and from this into Czenzynke's solution 

 (concentr. methylene-blue solution, 40 grams; one-half per cent 

 eosin solution, in 70 per cent alcohol, 30 grams; aq. dest. , 40 

 grams) for three to six hours at 37" C. On removal from the 

 stain, wash with water, dry, and mount in balsam. This stain 

 shows the red blood corpuscles red, the leucocytes and bacilli blue 

 (Canon). 



Cultivation of the bacillus of influenza. Tlie bacillus requires 

 28° to 37" C. for its development. On 1.5 per cent sugar-agar 

 Pfeiffer could not succeed in causing more than a second genera- 

 tion to grow, though minute characteristic colonies at first devel- 

 oped. On glycerine-agar Kitasato has succeeded in maintaining 

 cultures alive up to the tenth generation. The colonies formed by 

 the growth of the influenza bacillus on agar slant-cultures appear 

 like minute watery drops, ^vhich are so small that they are easily 

 overlooked. In a second culture, moculated from the first, the 

 tendency for the colonies to remain separate and distinct is more 

 evident, this growth being regarded as perfectly characteristic. 

 The colonies are observable by means of a hand-lens when 24 hours 

 old. 



In bouillon the growth at the end of 24 hours is poor, appearing 

 first in the form of small particles suspended in the perfectly 

 clear fluid. These small bacterial masses gravitate, forming a 

 flocculent deposit and leaving the supernatant fluid clear. This 

 mode of growth, as we know, shows them to be non-motile organ- 

 isms. 



Canon, in his first communication, stated that he had been un- 

 able to obtain a growth of the bacilli derived from the blood, either 

 in bouillon, plain agar, sugar or glycerin agar. In his second 

 publication- he describes a successful method he has employed 

 for the isolation of the organisms. On account of the diminutive 

 size of the colonies formed by the growth of the bacillus, their 



' Canon, P., Ueber Zuohtung des InfluenzabacUlus aus dem Blute Influen- 

 za^ranken (Jan. 21). Deutsche Med. Woclienachi*., 1892, No. 3, p. 48. 



2 CanoD, P., IJeber Ziiohtung des Influenzibaclllus aua dem Blute Influen- 

 zakranken (Jan. 14). Deutsche Med. Wochenschr., 1892, No. 3, p. 43. 



comparatively small number in the blood, and the fact that the 

 blood in coagulating prevents a proper isolation of the colonies,^ 

 Canon proceeded as follows: The use of Esmarch roll cultures- 

 was abandoned in favor of cultures on Petri dishes. Into the 

 latter, not only was it possible to introduce a larger amount of 

 blood and thus increase the number of colonies obtained, but also 

 such cultures offered the advantage of being readily examined for 

 the minute colonies of the bacillus by means of the microscope. 

 The blood of influenza patients was obtained in the usual way 

 from the finger-tip, which had been sterilized with sublimate and 

 dried with alcohol and ether, and pricked with a needle or pen- 

 point previously sterilized in the flame. An assistant watches 

 that the blood as it wells forth does not coagulate, but that the 

 drops are spherical in form. Eight to ten drops are smeared over 

 the surface of the dish, and the latter placed at 37" C. The 

 colonies are best seen along the margins of the smeared blood 

 (" Impfstrich "), or in places where relatively little blood has been 

 smeared. 



Pathogenic qualities. Monkeys and rabbits are susceptible when 

 inoculated with this organism. Guinea-pigs, rats, pigeons (Pfeiffer), 

 and mice (Pfeiffer, Canon) are refractory. 



George H. F. Nuttall. M.ID., Ph.D. (Gottingen)., 



Assistant in Hygiene and Bacteriology., 

 Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, 

 Baltimore, Md. 



The Question of the Celts. 



It would interest me very much, and I believe it would many 

 readers, if Dr. P. Max Foshay will adduce any positive evidence, 

 linguistic, craniological, or artistic, to show, 1, That we have any 

 means of deciding about the language of the Ligurians; 2, That 

 the descendance of the Auvergnats from the Ligurians can be 

 traced; or, 8, That the Euskarian dialects are related to the Ural- 

 Altaic group. According to Dr. Heinrich Winkler, probably the 

 highest living authority on the Ural-Altaic -languages, the Eus- 

 karian or Basque language has absolutely no relation to any mem- 

 ber of the group. D. G. Brinton, M.D. 



Philadelphia, March 39. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



In thejuext number of The Illustrated American. So. Ill, dated 

 Saturday, April 3, will be commenced a series of illustrated arti- 

 cles by Professor Warren K. Moorehead, on the ancient and ex- 

 tinct race of people known as the Cliff Dwellers, formerly inhab- 

 iting that part of the country of the upper Colorado, the San Juan,, 

 and its tributaries. This scientific expedition has been sent out 

 under the auspices of The Illustrated American. The progress 

 and result of this expedition will be published from time to time- 

 in the columns of that excellent weekly. 



— F. A. Davis. Philadelphia, has recently issued a book, by Hart- 

 vig Nissen, entitled " A B C of the Swedish System of Educational 

 Gymnastics." Mr. Nissen is instructor of physical training in the- 

 public schools of Boston, and has been connec;ted in a similar 

 capacity with many of the leading educational institutions of this 

 country and Europe. Since the Swedish system of educational 

 gymnastics has been introduced into the public schools of Boston, 

 it has become a necessity to have a practical hand-book, both for 

 the teachers and the many homes where gymnastics are practised. 

 It is with the purpose of giving plain answers to the most frequent 

 questions that this book has been written. 



— With the April number ihe Review of Reviews enters upon its 

 second year. It has had an exceptional, if not an altogether 

 unique, history. One year ago it was known only to a few dis- 

 criminating readers, and its subscription list and news-stand sales- 

 required only a few thousand copies. Its edition the present 

 month is 70,000 copies, and it is eagerly read in every State and 

 Territory in the Union and in every part of Canada. No extraor- 

 dinary efforts have been made to push the magazine. There has 

 been very little canvassing done for it; no chromos have been 

 given to its subscribers; no special inducements, such as an ency- 

 clypsedia or a parlor organ thrown in as a gratuity or oB'ered at 

 half-price, have been offered by the publishers. The magazine- 



