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SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Bofcriomycss.* — Mr. J. B. Wolstenholme states that Bollinger has 
recently come to the conclusion that the causative agent of scirrhous 
cord in horses is a micrococcus which has also been found on certain 
cereals and grasses. These scirrhous cords are dense masses of fibrous 
tissue, of a pale pink hue on incision, and are often found to he riddled 
with abscesses. Microsections show fibrous tissue, granulation tissue, and 
collections of cocci. The cocci are about 3 jx in diameter. 
ITature of the Antagonism between Toxins and Antitoxins.f — 
Prof. C. J. Martin and Dr. T. Cherry made experiments to determine 
whether the action of antitoxins was direct or indirect. Both views have 
been strongly supported, the latter by Calmette, Wasserman, Buchner, 
Metchnikoff, and others; the former by Behring, Ehrlich, Kantliach, and 
others. If the action be direct, then it is to be regarded in the light of a 
chemical reaction ; if indirect, then the result is brought about through 
the intervention of the cells of the body. While the supporters of the 
indirect view interpreted the facts, as far as they went, correctly, yet they 
had altogether left out of consideration a factor of })rime importance in 
investigations of this nature ; they had failed to appreciate the value of 
time. The authors, who support the direct or chemical reaction view, 
point out that every chemical reaction has a certain definite velocity 
coefficient, and the rapidity of action under any circumstances where the 
reacting compounds are in solution, depends upon this coefficient, and 
also upon the product of the active masses of the reacting bodies present. 
They further point out that, by modification of the factors time, tempera- 
ture, and active masses, very discrepant results may be obtained. 
The authors’ experiments were conducted with the toxin of diphtheria 
and one of the constituents of the poison of the Australian tiger snake 
( Hoplocephalus curius). The antitoxins used were Behring’s No. 1 and 
serum from the Pasteur Institute, Paris. The antivenomous serum was 
obtained from the Pasteur Institute, Lille. It was first shown, by means 
of the gelatin filter, that the association of toxin and antitoxin for a 
certain length of time had resulted in an amalgamation, and that the mix- 
ture had become after two hours a harmless fluid. The results of the ex- 
periments with snake venom are given in tabular form. These are quite 
in accord with the filtration experiments with diphtheria toxin and anti- 
toxin, and are diametrically opposed to the results obtained by Calmette. 
Microbe of Progressive Cirrhosis.^ — Prof. J. G. Adami has dis- 
covered in cases of portal cirrhosis in man a microbe which, according 
to the strength of the staining, presents itself as a diplococcus or as an 
ovoid bacterium. In the infective cirrhosis of cattle a very similar 
microbe is demonstrable ; this is a polymorphic organism appearing as 
a diplococcus in liquid media and a bacillus on solid substrata. It is 
pathogenic to laboratory animals. From one case of human atrophic 
cirrhosis, the author was able to isolate a microbe quite similar in appear- 
ance and in cultural characters to that of the diplococcus found in the 
infective cirrhosis of cattle. 
This microbe, from cultures obtained from spleen, kidney, lymphatic 
gland, and blood, was found to be highly polymorphic ; on agar plates 
* Trans. Manchester Micr. Soc., 1897 (issued July 10, 1898) pp. 23-8 (2 figs.). 
f Proc. Roy. Soc., lxiii. (1898) pp. 420-32. 
X Lancet, 1898, ii. pp. 396-400 (1 pi. and 6 figs.). 
