ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

THE COMPLEMENT TEST IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE.

UNDER the direction of Professor Klimmer the author undertook the task of testing the value of the fixation of the complement method of serum­diagnosis in bovine tuberculosis. The following conclusions were arrived at :-

I. The sera of animals that are free from the disease, of those that are slightly affected, and of those that are seriously affected, behave in exactly the same manner.

2. Even the occasional occurrence of higher fixing power of serum is not specific, for such fluctuations are met with in non-tuberculous as well as in tuberculous animals.

3. No conclusions can be drawn from the results of the tests as to the presence or the extent of tuberculous lesions in cattle, and this method of serum-diagnosis is useless for the recognition of tuberculosis in the live ox. (Bach, Illaug. diss. Leipzig, 19°9; ex. Berl. Tier. l{/ochells., No. IS, 1910, p. 372.)

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION AND CAUSE OF GOITRE.

THE connection between the drinking water and the disease in many goitre districts is proved by the fact that when water is supplied from a goitre-free district the number of cases of goitre and cretinism decreases. H. and E. Bircher consider that goitre occurs specially on the marine deposits of the palreozoic, triassic, and tertiary periods, while the volcanic formations, the crystalline rocks, the deposits of the Jura, and chalk in general are free from it. Wilms suggests the following hypothesis. The fauna of the sea must be imprisoned by the sedimentation and drying of the deposits. The water that passes through these rocks impregnated with organic materials is able to dissolve and wash out decomposition products of these substances. Such products existing in the water as toxins or ferments may be the cause of goitre. Experiments should be carried out upon animals with water from the so-called goitre springs. In this way obvious swelling of the thyroid and consequently genuine goitre production could be observed without dIfficulty in dogs and rats. FIltration of the water through a Berkefeld filter is of no use in this connection. It has been shown that the noxious substances present in solution in water from goitre springs are not removed by ordinary filters, whereas it has been proved in experiments on rats that by heating the water to a temperature above 70° C. the noxious substance, which must therefore be of an organic nature, is destroyed. Some specific toxin or toxalbumen should therefore be looked for as the cause of goitre, the assimilation of which throws a greater strain on the thyroid gland in rendering them innocuous. Goitre in the rat closely resembles struma in the human subject. A marked feature of goitre in rats is nodular hypertrophy, with cavernous dilatation of the blood vessels. Turbid water produces far fewer alleged cases of goitre, and this may be accounted for by the deposition of the lime carrying the poisonous material with it. As in the endemic disease, the cause of sporadic goitre is probably to be looked for in decomposed organic substances dissolved in the water. (Wilms, Deutsch. Mediz. IVochells., 1910, 36 Jahrg., p. 664; ex. Bed Tier. Wochells., No. IS, p. 372.)

ABSTRACTS AND REPORTS.

THE COMPLEMENT TEST IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF TUBERCULOSIS IN CATTLE.

UNDER the direction of Professor Klimmer the author undertook the task of testing the value of the fixation of the complement method of serum­diagnosis in bovine tuberculosis. The following conclusions were arrived at :-

I. The sera of animals that are free from the disease, of those that are slightly affected, and of those that are seriously affected, behave in exactly the same manner.

2. Even the occasional occurrence of higher fixing power of serum is not specific, for such fluctuations are met with in non-tuberculous as well as in tuberculous animals.

3. No conclusions can be drawn from the results of the tests as to the presence or the extent of tuberculous lesions in cattle, and this method of serum-diagnosis is useless for the recognition of tuberculosis in the live ox. (Bach, Illaug. diss. Leipzig, 19°9; ex. Berl. Tier. l{/ochells., No. IS, 1910, p. 372.)

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION AND CAUSE OF GOITRE.

THE connection between the drinking water and the disease in many goitre districts is proved by the fact that when water is supplied from a goitre-free district the number of cases of goitre and cretinism decreases. H. and E. Bircher consider that goitre occurs specially on the marine deposits of the palreozoic, triassic, and tertiary periods, while the volcanic formations, the crystalline rocks, the deposits of the Jura, and chalk in general are free from it. Wilms suggests the following hypothesis. The fauna of the sea must be imprisoned by the sedimentation and drying of the deposits. The water that passes through these rocks impregnated with organic materials is able to dissolve and wash out decomposition products of these substances. Such products existing in the water as toxins or ferments may be the cause of goitre. Experiments should be carried out upon animals with water from the so-called goitre springs. In this way obvious swelling of the thyroid and consequently genuine goitre production could be observed without dIfficulty in dogs and rats. FIltration of the water through a Berkefeld filter is of no use in this connection. It has been shown that the noxious substances present in solution in water from goitre springs are not removed by ordinary filters, whereas it has been proved in experiments on rats that by heating the water to a temperature above 70° C. the noxious substance, which must therefore be of an organic nature, is destroyed. Some specific toxin or toxalbumen should therefore be looked for as the cause of goitre, the assimilation of which throws a greater strain on the thyroid gland in rendering them innocuous. Goitre in the rat closely resembles struma in the human subject. A marked feature of goitre in rats is nodular hypertrophy, with cavernous dilatation of the blood vessels. Turbid water produces far fewer alleged cases of goitre, and this may be accounted for by the deposition of the lime carrying the poisonous material with it. As in the endemic disease, the cause of sporadic goitre is probably to be looked for in decomposed organic substances dissolved in the water. (Wilms, Deutsch. Mediz. IVochells., 1910, 36 Jahrg., p. 664; ex. Bed Tier. Wochells., No. IS, p. 372.)