the epidemic of typhoid fever at lynn

1200 THE BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE BLOOD.

pure fluid difficult or impossible. From the calf he obtainedfrom 20 to 60 c.cm. of the fluid contained in the sub-arachnoid

space. The fluid was limpid and colourless, of slightlysaline taste, and contained neither flocculi nor coagula.Under the microscope isolated red and white blood cor-

puscles were frequently visible, probably driven in by theneedle. The fluid was feebly alkaline and became opalescenton boiling. On the addition of a small quantity of acetic acida finely flocculent precipitate was thrown down. On theaddition of solution of soda and a trace of copper sulphatein seven out of twenty experiments a slight violet colorationwas observed; in the remaining thirteen there was none. In

all instances a positive result was obtained by the use ofTrommer’s test. No response was obtained from Nylander’stest. In the cases in which the phenyl-hydrazin test wasapplied the results were positive. The doubtful and con-

flicting statements of writers in respect to the nature of thereducing substance Dr. Nawratzki believes to be due to thesmall quantity of fluid at their disposal. He accordinglymixed the fluids obtained from no less than 85 calves, andthus collected more than two litres, which were acidifiedwith acetic acid and mingled with a considerable quantityof alcohol. The mixture was then divided into four portions.These were severally tested for a copper-reducing substanceand for pyrocatechin, and the results of his experiments werethat in opposition to Hoppe Seyler and Ransom he finds thatin health a substance is present which in all its propertiesagrees with grape sugar. The percentage amount is smallerthan that in blood, varying in different classes of the animalkingdom from one-tenth part to two-tenth parts per cent.,whilst pyrocatechin is entirely absent.

A NEW LOCAL ANÆSTHETIC.

OF the making of new local anesthetics there appears to beno end. The latest claimant rejoices in the name " p amido-m-oxy-benzo-methylic ether." The German chemists, Einhornand Heinz, who have experimented with this substancehave adopted for it the more convenient term "ortho-

form." It is a white crystalline powder and is with-

out odour or taste ; it is but slightly soluble. However, itforms soluble salta with acids which, while they possessdistinctly anæsthetic properties, are rather irritating whenapplied to mucous membranes. The powdered orthoformplaced upon the surface of an ulcer or inflamed mucous mem-brane produces, it is said, insensibility of the part and itsanaesthetic action persists for some time. It possesses the

advantage of being non-poisonous, and so can be freelyapplied to the surface of burns and painful cancerous andother ulcers. It has been given internally in gramme dosesin cases of gastric carcinoma. Its insolubility appears to bea drawback to its employment as a local anaesthetic for

surgical work, but successful results appear to have followedits use at Munich for surgical operations.

FREE SHOOTING.

MATTERS in the County of London are rapidly approach-ing the happy state of things which used to exist inCalifornia and Australia in the " fifties," when the custom ofshooting on sight was looked upon as laudable and justifi-able. Four cases of shooting came before the courts on

Nov. 2nd, another one on Nov. 3rd, and it has become quitea common thing for gangs of boys aged about fifteen years toperambulate the East End and Clerkenwell armed withrevolvers. When thee gangs meet there is trouble. State-ments have appeared in the lay press to the effect thatten cases of shooting have been attended to at the RoyalFree Hospital within the last ten months. This is a

slight exaggeration, the correct number being eight up toOct. 31st. Unfortunately education as given in elementary

schools where we suppose these enterprising youths havebeen brought up does not as yet include revolver practice, so’that harmless passers-by are often hit and sometimes killed.If only members of the gang suffered no one would object.Seriously though the custom must be put down at

all costs. A licence to sell pistols or revolvers should bemade to cost a large sum and a licence to carry one stillmore. The sooner the defunct Pistols Bill is brought inagain and passed the better, for it is perfectly intolerablethat in the greatest city in the world and after nearly thirtyyears’ working of the Education Act a state of mattersshould be allowed worthy only of a frontier settlement. Themagistrates, also, are much to blame for the ridiculouslyinadequate penalties they inflict when an offender is broughtup for punishment; retribution, heavy and swift, shouldfollow any case of shooting in the streets, except perhaps inthe very exceptional case of the use of a revolver by a.policeman. -

THE EPIDEMIC OF TYPHOID FEVER ATLYNN.

THE outbreak of enteric fever at Lynn still pro-gresses. Already the attacks number about 300, andsome ten fresh cases occur daily. There can be but littledoubt that the washing of filth into the Gaywood river,whence the corporation derive their water, is the cause

of the outbreak, just as it was in 1892. Unfortunately, too,the ratepayers are themselves responsible for the largeamount of disease which has occurred, for a majority ofthem persistently opposed new waterworks, and at

last the Local Government Board had to intervenewith a peremptory order. The delay occasioned by thetownspeople prevented the new works being available beforethe beginning of this epidemic. Dr. Frederick St. George.Mivart, of the Local Government Board, has been for somedays past conducting an inquiry into the causes and meansof spread of the disease. Oar Special Sanitary Commissioneris making a detailed report for our readers, the first instal-ment of which will be found on page 1218.

THE BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THEBLOOD.

IN recent years bacteriological examination of the bloodduring life has become more frequent.. The American

Jou,rnal of Medical Sciences for October, 1897, contains asummary of the results obtained by Dr. John Slade Ely. As

a diagnostic aid such examinations have proved disappoint-ing ; the proportion of cases in which positive results areobtained is very small. As a means of throwing light onpathology, on the contrary, they are very valuable, explain-ing the occurrence of complications in diseases which usuallyare localised. Pyogenic germs have been detected in theblood during life in pyasmia, osteomyelitis, puerperal fever,erysipelas, and infective endocarditis ; the pneumococcusin pneumonia and infective endocarditis; the bacillus colicommunis in cystitis with a pyasmic condition; the gono-coccus in infective endocarditis following gonorrbcea; the-

tubercle bacillus in tuberculosis ; and the typhoid bacillus intyphoid fever. Some investigations by Kohn published in

the present year are of great interest. In pronounced’sepsis a positive result was always obtained, and in somecases the bacteria were present in large numbers. In a.

case of acute ulcerative endocarditis plate cultures of theblood yielded 200 colonies of streptococci and severalof staphylococci. In 32 cases of pneumonia a positiveresult was obtained in 9. Of the latter 7 were fatal,and the 2 which recovered were complicated respec-tively with pneumococcus empyema and pneumococcusabscesses. Of the 23 negative cases 18 recovered. Of the

remaining 5 the fatal result was due in 2 to secondary