1094

Two months previously he began to suffer from intense pain Iand a sense of fatigue in the legs every time he walked more Ithan one-eighth of a mile. On resting the symptoms quickly Ipassed away. The pain was usually felt first in the left calf, ithen in the right, then it spread upwards omitting the knees Iand becoming centred in the hips, when he was compelled tostop. The heart was normal. Pulsation could be felt in

only two of the four pedal arteries, and in one of these it wasscarcely recognisable. Galvanism and faradaism were appliedto the lower limbs while the legs were immersed in warmwater, but no improvement was obtained. The patientthen took to kneading his calves night and morning andbegan to improve. Ultimately he could walk one or eventwo miles without much difficulty.

THE MARTYRED PRIMROSE.

IT is probably too late for this season to stay the whole- Isale destruction which is annually carried on in the home ofthe primrose. No flower is more truly native or expressivein our lowland rural scenery than this lowly gem. None ismore dear to the dweller in these islands. And yet everyspring witnesses cartloads, not of flowers but of whole

plants, dug out of their green pastoral setting and carriedto the metropolis to languish awhile in window-boxes andsmoke-haunted gardens and then too often to die. It is wellto preserve the memory of illustrious persons and well also toadorn the grey sobriety of towns with livelier hues, but surelynot at so great a sacrifice as this. Cut flowers will best fulfilthe former purpose, and if it be desirable to decorate our

public parks and suburban gardens this object can mostproperly be attained by following some intelligent and

regulated method. If the present systemless havoc beallowed full licence we are likely to find that our rusticfields, which have hitherto been flower-spangled afternature’s own chaste and lavish taste, are become barren ofthat grace. Legislation has stepped in to protect wildanimal life, with the result that species once in danger ofextermination have begun to thrive again. Cannot some-

thing be done by the same means and by the local resolveof county councils and landowners to prevent this barbarousuprooting of the primrose by trading collectors ? 7

INFECTION WITH BALANTIDIUM COLI.

IN the February number of the Bnlletin of t7ae Johns

Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Richard P. Strong and Dr. W. E.Musgrave of the United States army in Manila described a caseof infection with balantidium coli (Stein). This organism,they say, was probably first observed by Leeuwenhoek.Malsten, in 1857, in Stockholm, first described the parasitein a patient who suffered from painful diarrhoea. A greatnumber of the parasites were found in the intestinal mucusand fseces, and the condition of the patient improved con-siderably as they decreased in number. The patientobserved by Dr. Strong and Dr. Musgrave went to

the Philippine Islands in December, 1899. He was

perfectly well until April, 1900, when he began’ tohave diarrhoea which continually grew worse. He

entered the hospital on June 9th, and from that date upto the time of his death on August llth he had continuousuncontrollable diarrhoea. The stools showed large numbers offlagellate infusoria, measuring from 70g to 110fL long by 60//.to 72;u. broad. The periphery was covered with fine activelymotile cilia. An ectosarc and endosarc could be dis-

tinguished, and the parasite possessed the power of changingits shape. For some days before death each portion of thepatient’s fasces placed beneath a cover-glass containedbetween 100 and 200 of these infusoria. At the necropsythe mucosa of the large intestine was found to be coveredwith bloody mucus, beneath which the mucosa itself was

very much reddened and contained a number of shallow

i ulcerations. Dr. Strong and Dr. Musgrave regarded the. parasite as the exciting cause of the diarrhoea.

LEICESTER AND HYDROPATHY.

SOME years ago 1 we commented upon the action of the

Leicester Board of Guardians who tried to induce their

medical officer to allow a Mr. Pickering to experiment uponthe paupers under treatment in the workhouse infirmaryfor fever. Mr. Pickering is the exponent of a hydro-pathic treatment, but the medical officer, naturallyenough, declined to allow the experiment-a decision

which seems to have hurt the feelings of the guardians.The advocates of hydropathy are, however, to use a

sporting phrase, "still going strong," and they haveseized upon the opportunity afforded by the resignationof Mr. H. G. H. Monk, who was medical superintendent ofthe isolation hospital, to ventilate their fad afresh. The

question of the appointment of a temporary medical officerwas debated by the Sanitary Committee on April 3rd, but weare glad to see that the water-cure faddists’ nominee wasbeaten by a small majority. Leicester is an odd place. Ifthe hydropathists are so anxious to promulgate their fancywhy do they not try it on themselves and not on unfortunatepaupers ? 7 The present medical officer is Mr. H. R.

Hancock, and we have no doubt that he will not have theslightest hesitation in ordering a patient a bath if in his

opinion the patient requires one. But this is not enough forthe hydropathists.

-

"BACTERIOLOGY AND THE MERCHANDISEMARKS ACT."

I ADVERTING to an annotation in THE LANCET of April 6th,p. 1030, under the above heading, a correspondent whowrites as a tobacco expeit, while interested in the pos-sibility of bacteria being turned to account in the

production of fine flavours, "would point out our error

of description" in this connexion. He says, and thisis of course well known, that Havana produces varietiesof tobacco (of flavour and texture), and he asks "if the

specific microbe could be of any service why does not natureretain its original course and perfect the plants in the com-bined and normal environment? " He adds that "surely noplea of [a similar] environment can be considered as possibleexisting between the Neckarthal district or even Alsace

compared with Havana." He rightly assumes that no well-informed person will deny the progressive inferiority of theHavana cigar and he asks, Is this due to the depreciationof the tobacco, the presence of the microbe, or the deprecia-tion of the microbe ? 7 Of course, bacteria do not producetobacco, but tobacco is nothing without being fermented andin the process of fermentation definite organisms are con-cerned. The bacteria produce changes in the carbo-

hydrates, vegetable acids, and in the nicotine, evolving newsubstances which add very materially to the flavour andaroma of the tobacco. In the same way yeast organismsproduce from grape juice an alcoholic fluid containing newsubstances, whence the bouquet, which make it wine.

We are not referring to probabilities but to actual well-established bacteriological facts. Havana bacteria have

been isolated which differ from those of the German"weed" and the inoculation of the latter with Havana

bacteria has resulted in a greatly improved flavour. The

analogy to wine, again, holds, for wines are improved by theinoculation of the grape juice with specific pure yeast. Of

course, much depends upon the quality of the original article.As to the deterioration of the Havana cigar, even that mayfind explanation in bacteriological facts : the cultivation

1 THE LANCET, March 6th, 1897, p. 676.