Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/278

 SCIENCE.

��[Vol. v.. Xo. 112.

���organisiu, and emphasisee its differences uuder culti- TaLioD from any of the otber bacteria yot compared wllb it, paying especial altentlon to the bacillus of Flnkler and Prior. To emphasize the dICereaco still he gives figures illustrating the different appear- of the cultivations of the two organisms, and the different ways in which tbey liquefy the culture- material {nahr-gelalin). This work of Johne's Is of snch special interest just at present, that we feei jastified in announcing that it may be purchased in separate form of C. W. Vogel, iu Leipzig.

Uucbner (JVuncA. iirtll. inltU., 1S85, 649) Ends a lifference between Koch's and Flnkler and Prior'a organisms under cultivation, and adds his testimony to the effect that confusion of the two should be impossible. Doyen {Soc. biol., Dec. 13, 1SS4] gives au account of various fnrros uf bacteria, oliserved microscopically and under cultivation, in cases of cholera. These mere found in the liver and kidneys; but as no data are given as lo when the post-mortem examlnatloiis were made, how soon after death, etc., and as no inoculation eiperl- ai yet announced (as far as we have seen), the author is hardly justified, from these observations alone. In heralding 'the end of the reign of llic bacillus.'

Pellenkiifer'B challenge lo Ench. for it really amounts to that (Oeutte/i. med. wochensehr,, 1861, 818), has not yet been accepted, as, (or various plain reasons, it probably will not be. This was, in effect, to produce twenty or one hundred volunteers besides himself as subjects for experimentation, to allow a preliminary gaslro-intealinal catarrh to be produced, and then to swallow any reasonable amount of a pure culture of the cholera bacillus. Such a challenge as this may be effective, but naturally is not scientific tor the reason that no such exiwrlmenta can lie carried on with precision.

Turning to subjects not immediately connected with the discussion of the specific bacterium of cholera, there have been some contributions to the literature of thesubject worthy of attention. Villiers (Cnn^ta rendu*, 18S6, 01) speaks of an alkaloid (ptomaine) found In the cadavers of two persons dead of cholera. It was found in notable quantity in the Intestines, and in much leas ainuunt in the kidneys. liver, and heart's blood. It Is liquid, has an acrid taste, and a distinct odor of bawthorn. It is alkaline, and an active base, set free by alkalies, but not by the alkaline carbonates. Iodide of mercury and of potas- sium give a white precipitate with Its solutions and those of its salts. Picric acid gives a yellow, and chlo- ride of gold a yellowish-white precipitate. Concen- trated solutions give a white precipitate with tannin and bichloride of mercury, but chloride of platinum and bichromate of potash give no precipitate. Perro- cyanide and perchlodde of iron give a very slight and •lowly appearing precipitate. Sulphuric acid placed in contact with the alkaloid gives a very fiiint and quickly disappearing violet color. The chlorhjd rate of llie alkaloid is neutral to litmus-paper. It crystal- lises iu long line transparent needles, which are ex- ceedingly deli'iuesccnt.

��Then follow certain pliysiolugical experiments, limited in number by the small quantity of the alka- loid at command. The effects produced were a remarkable variation of the pul9e-l>eat, contractions of the limbs, anorexia, and death In four days, of the animal experimented upon (rabbit). Apparently the author did not look for the reproduction of the pto- maine in the body of this animal, — an ezperimeut which would have been of interest ns tending to show whether it were connected with the growth of any special micro-organ Urn. The author proposes to c«n- luiue his Investigations as to the occurrence of other special alkaloids in acute diseases, especially In typhoid-fever. He offers a pregnant suggestion in this connection, that, if it turns out that these diseases terminate by the formation of these poisons (pto- miiines) in the system. It maybe possible to administer antidotes continuously until the cause of their pro- duction has disappeared, — thus, for cholera, the continuous administration of iodine-water to form an Insoluble compound with the alkaloid; or, if Ihia prove too irritating, the iodide of starch might be

Riviere {Cotnjifeii rendud. 1SS5, 13T) gives a shoit^ statistical review of the cholera epidemic in Paria,, From Nov. 4, IS&t, to Jan. 15, 1BS5, the daWs of the first case admitted and the last discharged from the Paris hospitals, there were 1,080 cas«B, — 636 males and 441 females. From these a small number must be deducted (or errors of diagnosis. There irei« 087 deaths, or 54.15%. Of the men, 340 died, or 6?..ie%; and of the women, 247, or 65.63%. TbcM figures reduce the percentage, as given In Sciewit (v. 33), somewhat, but at the same time show that the mortality was no lower than usual in epidemics of cholera, and certainly not so low as has been indi-

Pouchet [Comptes rendu», 1886, 220) speaks of the results of investigations upon IhemodtHcatioiis under- gone by certain secretions under the influence of cholera. He worked upon the bile, the dejections of the cold period, the urine, and the blood. He gii some further account of the ptomiilne s|>okpn above, and a very interesting history of its poisonc cfTecls upon himself during its preparation.

��FROM SUAKfN TO BERBER.

��SiNOs the repulse of the English (urces march to Khartum by the way of the Nile, attention has been drawn anew to the possibility of construct- ing and operating a railroad-tine (rom Suakiu to Ber- ber. A line of some two hundred and fifty miles in length would easily bring the produce <)t the Sudan to a seaport. And the reasons why it has not been constructed heretofore are staled to be, that "Egypt had no navy. The kbedive did not wish to put the key to the Sudan in the hands of the sulian, or of Kngland, or Italy; nor did he wish the commerce of the Sudan to be diverted from the Nile valley." Tba military necessities of the situation have now, how*

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