2 Spirochaeta icterohaemorrliagiae 
regard to the finding of the spirochaetae in the kidneys of field rats. Of 9 rats 
taken from the right part of Segment 1 in the chart in the paper, 5 proved 
^infective to guinea-pigs. Of 6 rats from the left end of Segment 1 one com¬ 
municated the disease. The kidney of the rat was crushed and emulsified, 
and injected intra-peritoneallv into the guinea-pig. The disease in the 
infected animal was typical, and we have found the typical S. icterohaemor- 
rhagiae in the organs of the guinea-pig. Levaditi preparations of the rat 
kidney have shown the spirochaetae, and we have also found them in films 
made from an emidsion of the kidney stained by Fontana’s stain.” 
Martin and Pettit (1917) by inoculating an emulsion of the liver, spleen, 
and suprarenal body of rats, taken in the war area, into guinea-pigs produced 
all the symptoms of spirochaetosis icterohaemorrhagica. 
In America, Noguchi (1917) had similar results. He says: “ We have 
collected a large number of wild rats in this country (the vicinity of New 
York City) and removed their kidneys for purpose of ascertaining whether 
or not the organs contained the spirochaete which causes the typical experi¬ 
mental lesions characteristic of the organism of infective jaundice.” “By 
inoculating the emulsion made of the kidneys of 41 wild rats into 58 guinea- 
pigs during the last 3 months, we have been able to produce in three groups 
of guinea-pigs (four in each group) a typical icterohaemorrhagic spirochaetosis 
altogether identical with the findings in the guinea-pigs which died of the in¬ 
jections of the Japanese and Belgian strains of S. icterohaemorrhagiae. 
Since it was our practice to make an emulsion from the kidneys (eight) 
of four wild rats and inject the same into four to six normal guinea-pigs, it 
is difficult to say whether the icterohaemorrhagic spirochaetosis produced in 
some of the guinea-pigs in each group was due to one or more rats employed. 
It would have been better if we had inoculated several guinea-pigs with the 
emulsion of kidneys from each rat, but this would have involved a large 
number of guinea-pigs, and hence our method of mixing four in each group. 
Since the successful inoculation of the organisms from three of the pooled 
groups, we have resorted to individual tests, the results of which will be 
reported later.” 
Jobling and Eggstein, at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Southern Medical 
Association held in Memphis, Tenn. U.S.A. on Nov. 12th, 1917, stated “that 
their work had shown that hemorrhagic icterus was present in their community, 
and that about 10 % of the wild rats harbored the causative organisms.” 
“It was possible that we now saw the evolution of a new epidemic disease.” 
Nicolle and Blanc (1917), in Tunis, between Feb. 9th and March 6th, 
examined 91 Mus decumanus for S. icterohaemorrhagiae and 28 for the 
organisms of rat-bite fever. Guinea-pigs were inoculated, and ultra micro¬ 
scopic examinations were made in every case, but the results were invariably 
negative. The writers state that these 110 rats were obtained from the streets 
of the town and not from the sewers or the vicinity of the port and do not 
conclude that these infections are absent because of their negative results. 
