84 
EDITORIAL. 
Having failed to examine the stump of the leg of the patient 
after death, Mr. M. placed pieces of catgut similar to those 
which had been used in the operation, one in a tube containing 
artificial serum, another in a tube containing oxygenated 
water. In the first the catgut remained in perfect condition, 
while in the latter it was disorganized. 
The conclusions to be derived are quite positive : (i) There 
is danger in irrigating wounds of amputation (or any other, we 
should think) with oxygenated water when in those wounds 
ligatures with catgut have been applied ; (2) if for any reason 
such irrigations are to be resorted to in the course of a treat¬ 
ment, it will be prudent, during the operation, to ligate large 
vessels with other means than catgut, thick braided silk, for 
instance. 
*** 
A Fortune for a Cure for Tuberculosis. — Perhaps our 
memory is serving us poorly, but it seems to us that when we 
were young we heard of enormous prizes offered for successful 
treatment of some contagious diseases, and among them we 
think rabies and glanders were those for which the biggest 
rewards were offered. Rabies, if not curable, is, thanks to 
Pasteur, now preventable. Glanders—well, Nocard has proved 
to us that in some cases glanderous horses malleined several 
times would at last stop reacting, and at post-mortem would be 
found free from glanders. Did Pasteur and Nocard receive the 
prizes we heard of in our youth ? We do not know ; but still 
the idea of stimulating scientific labors is not extinguished, and 
as our friend Pion says in the Semaine Vetermaire: “ Physi¬ 
cians and veterinarians have urgent reasons other than glory 
alone to stimulate them in fighting the universal and fatal con¬ 
tagion of tuberculosis. The following prize is indeed worthy 
of consideration : ( Francois Joseph Audiffred Prize .—An in¬ 
come title of 24,000 francs (say $5000). This prize shall be 
given to the person who, without distinction of personality or 
profession, will in the length of twenty-five years from 1896 
discover a curative or preventive, considered efficacious and 
