Attempts to demonstrate reversed passive anaphylaxis in the guinea-pig with crystalline egg albumin as sensitizing antigen have been uniformly negative.

When purified anti-pneumococcal antibody globulin was used as sensitizing antigen, reversed anaphylactic shock could be elicited in guinea-pigs by the intravenous injection of precipitins for the antibody globulin.

The mild reactions which could be elicited when the total globulins from the serum of normal rabbits were used as sensitizing antigen are probably dependent on the presence of small amounts of y globulin.

Reversed passive anaphylaxis, like direct anaphylaxis, is dependent on a cellular mechanism, and the success of experiments in which rabbit antibody globulin was used as sensitizing antigen depends on the acceptability of the antibody to the cells of the guinea-pig's tissues.

Antigenic differences between antibody globulins and total normal globulins from rabbit serum are noted.

1. The types of strains of tubercle bacilli isolated from fifty cases of non-pulmonary tuberculosis in children, 0–14 years of age, in Eire have been determined. In cervical gland disease ten (71·4%) out of fourteen strains were bovine, in bone and joint disease four (18·2%) out of twenty-two were bovine and in meningitis three (25%) out of twelve were bovine. Only two cases of primary abdominal tuberculosis were examined. Both yielded human strains.

2. The difficulties in assessing the true significance of the results recorded are briefly discussed.

3. The technique used and some bacteriological observations made are described.

1. 656 samples of sera taken at random from natives in Southern Rhodesia were examined for the presence of typhoid Vi agglutinins.

2. Forty-nine or 7·47% were shown to contain Vi agglutinins in titres of 1 in 5 to 1 in 12·5.

3. Samples of faeces and urine from twenty-six of the positive Vi reactors were cultured for Bact. typhosum, which was isolated from only one individual who was shown to be a chronic urinary carrier.

4. The significance of these findings is discussed.

A simple modification of Wilson & Blair's medium for the isolation of typhoid and paratyphoid bacilli has been evolved.

1. Instead of the original six ingredients, this modification contains only three, namely, brilliant green, bismuth-ammonium-citrate and sodium sulphite, and may therefore be conveniently termed “B.B.S. medium”.

2. The glucose, sodium phosphate and ferrous sulphate of the original medium are eliminated. The bismuth-ammonium-citrate solution is made without caustic soda.

3. The B.B.S. medium keeps well for several weeks. Deterioration can easily be detected and readily rectified.

4. The inhibitory action towards B. aerogenes is greatly improved in the B.B.S. medium. This is particularly advantageous in countries where this organism is frequently encountered.

5. B. typhosus and B. paratyphosus grow readily. The colonies are sufficiently characteristic and can be picked out early for confirmatory tests.

6. Using B.B.S. medium a complete diagnosis should be possible within 48 hr.

1. An analysis by the “generation mortality” method of the specific mortality rates of the urban and rural areas of Scotland for various calendar periods from 1871 onwards shows that the “diagonal law” previously demonstrated for the population of Scotland as a whole, as well as for certain other European countries, holds for these two subdivisions of the community.

2. Reasons are given for the assumption that the normalized “generation mortality coefficients” (α values) may be taken as a rough measure of the “healthiness” of the environmental conditions which obtained during the childhood of the generation to which they refer. This affords a basis for the comparison of the “healthiness” of the environment of town and country at different periods in the past.

3. Whereas in the earlier half of the nineteenth century the ratio of the α values of country to town was in the neighbourhood of 0·6, indicating that the health conditions in the country might be said to be almost twice as good as in the towns, in 1931 it had risen to almost unity, showing that by that time the town had almost if not quite made up on the country. During this period both town and country conditions showed remarkable improvements, which are reflected in falls of the respective α (× 1000) values in the country from about 12 and in the town from over 20 in 1841, to a common level of about 4·7 in 1931.

4. The essential vagueness of the conception of the “healthiness” of an environment is emphasized. It is consequently necessary not to attach too great importance to the estimate of the date, but the figures given in Table 5 confirm the conclusion that, as regards “healthiness”, between 1930 and 1935 conditions in town and country had become nearly equal.

1. A carcinogenic Persian spindle grade oil recovered after 4 days from the peritoneal cavities of injected rabbits showed indications of reduced carcinogenic activity for the skins of mice.

2. The activity of a carcinogenic shale oil recovered after 7 days from the peritoneal cavities of injected mice was found to be considerably reduced. The reduction in refractive index and potency of the recovered shale oil showed an obvious parallel to that resulting from certain chemical treatments, namely, treatment of the oil with a certain quantity of sulphuric acid or extraction with alcohol.

This limited investigation shows that the diet of some miners differs substantially from that of the general population, in that the vitamin A intake is high.

This high intake, which in view of the nature of their work is of considerable theoretical importance, appears to be to some extent conditioned by their manner of working, and therefore less susceptible than might have been anticipated to changes in income.

The largest single source of vitamin A is the butter eaten by the men, which varies from ½ to 1 lb., the higher figure being the more frequent and probably the more representative. The large consumption of butter is associated with a large consumption of bread and, except in certain individuals, probably does not vary greatly from person to person, or from season to season.

The next most important source of vitamin A is liver, but great differences occurred in its intake. Its great value as a food, which could be readily admitted into his dietary, has as yet barely been appreciated by the average miner.

The addition of further quantities of vitamin A to the diet, in the shape of Prepalin, occasioned no discomfort, but produced no material improvement in the miners' power of dark adaptation.

The excellent health of the group of miners investigated and freedom from nystagmus or other defects of vision appears to be good reasons for endeavouring to maintain in the miner a relatively high daily intake of 6000–7000 units of vitamin A.

The suspicion, long entertained, that the grey or white deposit on a large amount of worn footwear, returned with complaint of “spewing salt” on the vamps, had its origin in the action of foot perspiration, has been confirmed during the last ten years.

1. Histological methods show four layers in the intact shell of the hen's egg, namely, cuticle, spongy layer, mammillary layer, and inner shell membrane. Distinct channels or pores may be found in the spongy layer, but these tend to disappear in the mammillary layer in which only a network of much finer channels can be observed.

2. Viscometric measurements of the passage of water and air through the shell show that

(a) shells vary widely in their porosity, even when taken on successive days from the same hen;

(b) there is no correlation between porosity so determined and the number of pores counted by staining methods;

(c) the rate of flow is slower from the interior to the exterior than vice versa, and the pore count by staining methods also less on the inside than on the outside.

3. A rough correlation exists between porosity as determined viscometri-cally and the evaporation of water during storage.

4. If the temperature of the egg is higher than a fluid containing bacteria in which it is immersed, the latter are readily drawn through the shell by simple suction as the egg cools down, a point of great significance in the washing of eggs.

1. Some simple “field” work on the disinfestation of empty, bug-ridden houses by means of liquid insecticides and a simple experiment with an occupied house are described.

2. A method of obtaining an estimate of the number of bugs killed by the application of liquid insecticides is given as well as some information about the number of bugs found in houses. More than 2000 dead bugs were found in one small house.

3. The aliphatic thiocyanate, β-butoxy-β′-thiocyanodiethylether, was tried in four different oil carriers and gave good results as a 3% solution (6% Lethane). A pyrethrum preparation in a heavy oil carrier also showed promise. A mixture of the two toxic substances was tried and found to be effective.

4. The methods of applying the insecticides are described. Good results were obtained with an ordinary hand sprayer of the horticultural type, giving a continuous spray. The premises were not sealed, but on a few occasions wood fittings were eased or removed.

1. Coramine increases the sensitivity of the central nervous system, particularly the centres situated in the medulla.

2. In large doses, Coramine increases the activity of the spinal cord, producing muscular twitchings of the limbs and body which, when severe, take on the character of convulsive movements.

3. There is a wide margin of safety between the therapeutic and lethal doses.

4. Lethal doses produce convulsions and respiratory failure owing to the involvement of the muscles of respiration.

5. Coramine acts as a powerful respiratory stimulant and is able to over-come the depressant effects of morphine on the respiratory centre in the medulla.

6. Small doses of Coramine raise the blood pressure which is due to a peripheral vasoconstriction. This is partly due to a stimulating effect of the drug on the medulla and to some extent to a peripheral action on either the vasoconstrictor nerves or the arterial muscle. Slightly larger but moderate doses sometimes cause a primary relaxation of the arterioles lasting a few seconds, which may cause a small short-lived fall in blood pressure which is never serious in the normal animal. The rise in blood pressure may last ¼–2 hr., according to the dosage employed.

7. Small amounts of Coramine may increase the amplitude and stroke volume of the heart. This effect was never constant. Larger but moderate doses always produced a diminution in cardiac stroke volume with a decrease in cardiac output. The same effect is seen when large doses are employed. This appears to be the cause of the prolonged lowering of the blood pressure following the administration of large doses of Coramine.

8. Coramine dilates the coronary vessels of the myocardium producing an increase in coronary flow.

9. Coramine lowers the pressure in the right auricle of the heart and the pulmonary artery.

10. Coramine has no effect upon intestinal movements except, when large doses are employed, it causes a slight diminution in the amplitude of the movements with a small increase in muscular tone.