d alum, in solutions of the strength of 1
in 100; camphor, 1 in 300; carbolic acid, 1 in 400; oil of peppermint, 1
in 2,000; sulphate of copper, 1 in 2,500 (a remedy much employed, but how
much would really be needed merely to hinder the growth of the bacilli in
the intestine!); quinine, 1 in 5,000; and sublimate, 1 in 100,000. In
contrast with the foregoing measures for preventing the growth of these
bacilli is the striking fact that they are readily killed by drying. This
fact is proved by merely drying a small drop of material containing the
bacilli on a cover-glass, and then placing this over some of the fluid on
a glass slide. With anthrax bacilli vitality is retained for nearly a
week; whereas, the comma bacillus appears to be killed in a very short
time. Thus it was found that although vitality was retained--depending
largely upon the number of bacilli--for a short time, yet withdrawal of
the nutrient fluid for an hour or even less often sufficed; and it never
happened that the bacilli retained vitality after a deprivation lasting
twenty-four hours. These results would seem to point to the fact that the
comma bacillus does not, like the organisms of anthrax and vaccinia, pass
into the resting state (Daner-zustande) by drying; and if so, it is one of
the most important facts in the etiology of cholera. Much, however,
remains to be done, especially with regard to the soiled linen of cholera
patients being kept in a damp state. He found that in soiled articles,
when dried for a time, varying from twenty-four hours and upward, the
comma bacilli were quite destroyed. Nor was the destruction delayed by
placing choleraic excreta in or upon earth, dry or moist, or mixed with
stagnant water. In gelatine cultures the comma bacilli can be cultivated
for six weeks, and also in blood serum, milk, and potato, where anthrax
bacilli rapidly form spores. But a resting state of the comma bacilli has
never been met with--a very exceptional thing in the case of bacilli, and
another reason why the organism must be regarded rather as a spirillum
than a bacillus, for the spirilla require only a fluid medium, and do not,
like the anthrax bacilli, thrive in a dry state. It is quite unlikely that
a resting state of the comma bacillus will ever be discovered; and,
moreover, its absence harmonizes with our knowledge of cholera
etiology.--_The Lancet_.

* * * * *

[THE MEDICAL RECORD.]

MALARIA.--THE NA