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ALTHOUGH SCLEROMA is clinically and pathologically a recognized disease entity and many case studies have been published describing the syndrome as seen in the acute form, knowledge of the disease is limited by a lack of precise information concerning the etiologic agent. Chevalier Jackson1 put the matter mildly when he said, "Though unanimity of opinion is lacking, it is generally accepted that the causative organism is the Bacillus rhinoscleromatis." This acceptance is not in evidence in bacteriologic texts. Gay2 stated, "K. rhinoscleromatis bears some as yet obscure relationship with the disease rhinoscleroma. It appears, however, commonly to be a secondary invader in the lesions characteristic of the disease." Wilson and Miles3 said, "... there is very little evidence to show that this organism is primarily responsible for it. There is no means by which it can be distinguished with certainty from other members of the capsulated group; and since we

Of the various streptococcus antiserums that have been employed to date, scarlet fever antitoxin and pooled convalescent scarlet fever serum have found the greatest favor clinically. Since the rise in popularity of these serums, precise classification of the streptococci has been achieved by serologic methods. Hemolytic streptococci of human origin have been classified by Griffith into thirty known types, of which twenty-six are included in Lancefield's group A while four fall into groups C and G. It has been shown by Green,1 Bailey,2 White,3 Keogh,4 Allison5 and de Waal6 that certain serologic types usually predominate in an epidemic of scarlet fever. Many of the types associated with clinical scarlet fever are proficient in producing erythrogenic toxin and as a result commercial scarlatina antitoxin, which has a high neutralizing titer, has become more and more popular in the treatment of this disease. Some immunologists feel

A direct current capillary arc operating in argon at atmospheric pressure has been combined with a device which produces fine particles directly from the surface of a solid metal sample. The aerosol generator is a simple device in which the sample acts as the cathode of a dc arc discharge. Rapid movement of the cathode spot produces uniform sampling over a well-defined area. A flowing gas stream transports the aerosol particles to the capillary arc discharge. Reproducibility and analytical curves are shown for ten elements in low alloy, stainless, and tool steel samples, for total analytical times of 10 sec.

A hemagglutination test is described, wherein the sera of individuals diagnosed as having contracted viral hepatitis agglutinate the red blood cells of the rhesus monkey in dilutions of 1:8 or greater, as contrasted with the sera of a majority of apparently healthy blood donors and of jaundiced patients in whom a diagnosis of viral hepatitis was excluded. The observation, although made empirically and requiring confirmation, appears to offer promise and is being investigated at greater lengths.

The bacteriostatic effect of sulfapyridin on the pneumococcus in vitroand the inhibitory action of peptone have been shown previously.1The findings compare with those reported by Lockwood,2who studied the effect of sulfanilamide on the streptococcus under similar conditions. The effect of peptone in preventing drug-action suggested the possibility of an interference in adsorption of the drug. To test this, a study was made of the adsorption of sulfapyridine by activated carbon particles.Varying amounts of activated carbon were added to solutions containing 10 mg of sulfapyridine and 0.85 g of sodium chloride per 100 cc. After allowing the reaction to take place for 15 minutes, the carbon was removed by filtration, and the filtrate was tested for the presence of the drug by the method described by Marshall.3Adsorption was found to occur, as shown in Fig. 1 (solid line).If 1% peptone (Parke-Davis) is added to the solution containing the drug, and adsorption by carbon allowed to take place, the removal of the drug is retarded. This is shown in Fig. 1 by the broken line. That this adsorption is selective is illustrated by the following experiment: 2 cc of a 1:1000 solution of sulfapyridine were added to 8 cc of saline, and adsorbed with 20 mg of carbon. After 15 minutes, the mixture was divided into 2 parts; to one, 5 cc of 0.85% saline was added, and to the other 0.85% saline containing 1% peptone. These were allowed to stand for another 15 minutes, when they were filtered and tested for sulfapyridine. The portion to which saline had been added showed adsorption of 73% of the drug, as compared with a removal of 55% in the portion to which peptone had been added. This suggests that peptone is able to displace the drug from the surface of the carbon particles.

The use of sulfapyridine (2-sulfanilyl aminopyridine) in experimental pneumococcus pneumonia,1together with favorable clinical reports in the treatment of lobar pneumonia, led Fleming2to conduct in vitrostudies on the action of the drug on the pneumococcus. He observed a marked bacteriostatic effect in deleukocyted blood, using his “slide-cell” technic. His criterion of bacteriostasis was the relative colony size of drug-treated cultures as compared with untreated controls. Whitby1reports a degeneration and final disappearance of the capsule in the peritoneum after 4 hours' growth in drug-treated mice. Fleming3has not been able to confirm this in his in vitrowork.The present studies were made to obtain data regarding the growth curve of the pneumococcus under the influence of the drug, which would give a quantitative measurement of bacteriostasis. In addition, morphological studies were made at regular intervals during the growth curve.The organism used was a Type II pneumococcus which had been carried in mice for over a year by the method of Neufeld and Handel.4Eight-hour cultures, made by adding a drop of heart's blood from a freshly dead mouse to 20 cc of veal infusion broth, were used in all experiments. A culture of this age was chosen to prevent the appearance of a lag phase, which would result in exposure of resting cells to prolonged action of the drug. This is in accordance with previous work by Chesney,5showing that subcultures made during or immediately following the logarithmic growth phase exhibit little or no lag.Two cubic centimeters of a 1:1000 solution of sulfapyridine were added to 18 cc of the menstruum to be tested.

It was shown by Coca and Grove1that tryptic digestion of pollen did not destroy its ability to elicit a positive reaction in allergic individuals, although after dialysis no trace of its original nitrogen-content remained. Stull, Cooke and Chobot2found that the active principle of ragweed pollen is present in that fraction which is insoluble in 90-95% alcohol. Black3by repeated precipitation of ragweed pollen extract in 60% alcohol and redissolving of the precipitate in acid saline, obtained an extract which contained very little nitrogen, and which gave many of the chemical reactions characteristic of polysaccharides. This fraction also gave typical allergic reactions in 43 ragweed-sensitive patients, and no reactions in 50 normals. The highest dilution giving a reaction when injected intradermally was 1:240,000. Unger, Moore, Cromwell and Seeber,4in desensi-tization experiments using both purified protein derivatives and purified polysaccharide fractions, concluded that the specifically active substance in pollen is protein in nature, and that the carbohydrate plays no part in the specificity of their reactions.To 50 cc. of a 2% aqueous extract of ragweed pollen, 450 cc. of absolute alcohol were added. The resulting precipitate was dissolved in 50 cc. of physiological saline. In control tests, 2% aqueous extracts of pollen were used.The redissolved precipitate gave typical allergic reactions in individuals sensitive to ragweed pollen. The reaction elicited by the 90% alcohol-insoluble fraction was more intense than that of the 60'% alcohol-insoluble fraction, but the type of reaction was essentially the same in each case.In the allergic individuals reactions were obtained with the 90% alcohol-insoluble fraction in dilutions of 1:10,000,000, administered intradermally. The intensity of this reaction varied in different individuals from a slight reddening to an intense erythema with the formation of a wheal and pseudopods.