574 
G. Z. BAjtXES. 
such an acute course, it was thought necessary to have more 
proof that the horse had succumbed to inoculation tetanus 
and nothing else. 
Autopsy made October 7th. No special organic lesions , 
were found, but from the area of the diffused redness under 
the point of inoculation some liquid was collected with an 
aseptic instrument, and nine white mice were each inoculated 
in the subcutaneous tissue of the hip, with an amount of ma¬ 
terial varying from one-eighth to one quarter of a giain. All 
had tetanus by the 14th, and all died. Kitt concludes in his 
paper that tetanus in the horse is caused by a bacillus, identi¬ 
cal with and resembling that of human and soil tetanus. 
Another interesting contribution to the subject of tetanus 
is that of Dr. Bassano, whose elaborate work in the examina¬ 
tion of various soils for the presence of Nicolaier’s germ 
has attracted considerable attention. He secured soil from 
forty-three different countries from many parts of the world. 
The earth of twenty-seven countries gave positive results. 
The observations of Dr. Sormani on the action of gastric and 
intestinal secretions on the bacillus of tetanus deserve mention. 
He caused herbivorous and carnivorous animals to swallow 
pure cultures of the bacillus. His conclusions are, First, the 
flesh of animals that have died of tetanus can be eaten with 
impunity. Second, the microbe of tetanus can pass through 
the alimentary canal of herbivorous and carnivorous animals 
without causing any symptoms. Third, the digestive secie- 
tions of these animals neither kill nor alter in any way the 
bacillis of tetanus. Fourth, an animal can introduce into its 
stomach, with impunity, a dose of tetanic virus two thousand 
times greater than that which is sufficient to kill if injected 
subcutaneously. 
Koch’s laboratory has been giving tetanus a liberal share 
of its attention. From one of their reports it appears that 
Drs. Behring and Ketasito have made positive advances 
toward the production of immunity against tetanus. These 
two observers have been engaged for some time in a study 
of the nature of diphtheria and tetanus, and they have at last 
succeeded in not only conferring immunity in animals against 
