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562 the rights of the State against the encroachments of the Church. By his death the Spanish Liberal party lost the only statesman capable of uniting it under one definite programme.

CANCER (see 5.175). No striking change was witnessed in the years from 1910 to 1921 in the general attitude of medical men to the problem of cancer. Some new considerations have been submitted, however, and some new aspects of the subject disclosed. Industrial cancers occurring in tar workers and work- ers in paraffin shale have been the subject of observation by the Home Office in England, while the association between certain of the aniline products and malignant disease of the bladder has been pointed out in connexion with the health of German dye workers. Sir George Lenthal Cheatle has published, too, some observations on the manner of invasion of breast cancers which tend to show a passage up the milk ducts.

Generally speaking, the view is still held that while cancer tends to make its appearance on areas which have been subjected to irritation of one kind or another, there remains an unknown factor which determines its actual onset. Only a small per- centage of cases which are subject to chronic irritation ever become malignant. This fact alone rules out the explanation of new growth in terms of local or even general irritation a con- sideration which applies even to cancers in radiological practice.

In these circumstances a special interest attaches to the recent experiments initiated by Prof. Fibiger of Copenhagen. In 1913 this worker obtained for experimental purposes a number of rats. On examination he found that several of these had carcinomata of the stomach and further purchases from the same dealer produced more cancers. After most painstaking investigations Fibiger found that all these rats came from a certain sugar refinery which was infested with cockroaches. He obtained some of the cockroaches and had them examined. It was then found that they were carriers of an unknown nematode worm. This worm was consequently named spiroptera neoplastica. The female is 4 to 5 cm. long by about O-2 mm. in diameter: the male less than half this size. The eggs are oval and clear and measure about 0-06 mm. and contain curled- up embryos. They can be seen in the body of the female or in the upper layers of the gastric epithelium, but occur only in that part of the stomach which is lined by squamous epithelium.

By feeding rats on the cockroaches or by giving them ova of the nematode to eat Fibiger was able to produce warty growths in their stomachs and occasionally cancers. He published a further paper in 1920 in which it was pointed out that the embryos of the worm having been hatched in the cockroach pass to the muscles of that insect and there encyst themselves. When the rat eats the cock- roach the embryos are set free. Fibiger took rats and fed them on various forms of this worm and then examined 116 of them which had survived for periods of 30 to 298 days. The stomach of each was examined in serial section. None of the rats which died within 44 days of the eating of the worm showed any signs of cancer, but of 102 rats which survived from 44 days up to 298 days no fewer than 54 showed quite typical carcinoma of the squamous-cell type in the gastric cul-de-sac. In the remaining 48 only benign proliferations and inflammations were found. These are almost invariably pro- duced by the spiroptera.

Of the rats which died with gastric cancer in from one and a half to three months after injection of the infected material 20 had very small tumours, but 5 had multiple carcinomata; of 26 which lived for from three to ten months 1 8 had tumours of fairly large size and 8 had minute nodules while 15 had multiple cancers. Finally 8 rats which lived for prolonged periods had large tumours. The tumours, too, set up metastases which as a rule tended to be localized in the animals' lungs.

Cancer of the stomach had up till 1920 been produced in 89 rats. There had also been produced in some rats cancer of the tongue. In this latter case 217 rats were experimented on, care being taken to obtain mixed breeds. A relatively small number of rats devel- oped inflammation of the tongue and a still smaller number got cancer. The inflammation began a few days after the injection of the spiroptera and in the great majority of cases was spontaneously cured in from two and a half to six months. It attacked all parts of the tongue; there was thickening of the epithelium of the organ. The cancer produced was found to be exactly similar to the cancer of the tongue found in human beings. The cancer persisted after the inflammation and all signs of the spiroptera had vanished.

The importance of this work lies in the fact that there would now appear to be a method of starting cancer de novo and so of studying it from its origin. Another parasite, cysticercus, has for many years been associated with the appearance of sarcomata in mice. Only one rat, of 2,500 examined at Copenhagen, was found to show a cysticercus sarcoma, and this curiously enough was one of Fibi- ger s animals. It was also infected with spiroptera and had, in addi- tion to a sarcoma, a carcinoma of the stomach. Thus two different worms were able in the same animal to cause two different and well-recognized types of tumour. At least 90 % of sarcomata in the liver of rats are said to contain cysticercus, and in these animals sar- comata far outnumber carcinomata. In mice, on the other hand, though the cysticercus is frequently found in the liver, sarcomata are never found. This fact must be emphasized as showing how dangerous conclusions on the subject may be. On the other hand there can be no doubt that Fibiger's experiments do throw a new light on a very baffling problem.

See Comptes Rendus de la Societe de Biologie, vol. Ixxxiii., no. 16; British Medical Journal, May 15 1920 and June 5 1920.

(R. M. Wi.)

CANEVA, CARLO (1845- ), Italian general, was born at Tarcento (Friuli) in 1845. His birthplace being under Aus- trian rule until 1866, Caneva was educated at the Military Academy at Wiener Neustadt, but he entered the Italian army on May i 1866. In 1892 he attained the rank of colonel on the general staff, and he was promoted to major-general two years later. He served in the African campaign of 1897, and in 1902 was promoted lieutenant-general. After commanding a division and an army corps, he became sub-chief of the general staff and in 1910 he was chosen to command an army in the event of war. The event came a year later, with the outbreak of war between Italy and Turkey; Caneva commanded one side in the much- discussed manucevres of 1911, his opponent being Cadorna, and the former was declared victor, though military opinion was divided. In any event, it was probably owing to the result of the manceuvres that the selection to command the Tripoli Expedi- tionary Force fell upon Caneva rather than Cadorna. Caneva was given a thankless task. He was sent to occupy the coast towns, in the belief that the Arabs and Berbers would welcome the Italian occupation, and that the Turkish garrison unsupported by the tribesmen could be brought to surrender with little or no difficulty. He was speedily undeceived, and the initial over- confidence was succeeded by a period of excessive caution. For a time Caneva could do nothing, as he had no transport, and later on he was hampered by orders from home which forbade risks or heavy casualty lists. But even allowing for his handi- caps Caneva was generally considered to have carried the waiting policy too far and clung to it too long. Although the late spring and summer of 191 2 saw a change, and several important successes were gained, Caneva was recalled to Italy on Sept. 2, and shortly afterwards retired. He presided over the commission of inquiry into the Caporetto disaster in 1917. (W. K. McC.)

CANTEEN, a generic term for the building and organization which provides for the soldier's recreation and extra-regulation comforts. The use of this term has naturally been extended to cover similar buildings and organizations which provide the same services for factory workers and others who live and work together inconsiderable numbers; but here it is sufficient to deal with canteen organization and its results in the British and American armies during the World War.

The effort which was made in most of the armies in the field to mitigate campaign hardships by canteen organization reached its highest point in the American and the British armies. The American organization was chiefly in the hands of the American Y.M.C.A. (which was also entrusted with the educational work in the American army). The British organization was, as regards the home camps, chiefly in the hands of the army and navy canteens, the Y.M.C.A., the Church Army and the Salvation Army; as regards the armies abroad in the hands of the Expeditionary Force canteens and the private agencies mentioned, whose personnel in the field were given the right to wear uniform and to use military transport and billets.

As regards the British army, the Expeditionary Force canteen in 1918 was a vast organization operating in every theatre of war. It provided for officers and men cheap shops, good rest and recreation centres, and for officers excellent hotels. From the Expeditionary Force canteens the soldier could buy cigars, cigarettes, chocolate, sweets and all kinds of canned goods, duty free, and at prices far lower than those of the London shops. Whisky, wine and beer could be bought duty free, under some restrictions.

The Expeditionary Force canteens organization was formed first in 1915. Its operations commenced in France, but were subsequently extended to all theatres of war. The undertaking was from its commencement conducted by Sir Alexander W. Prince and Colonel F. Benson. In due course the organization took on various other