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shrinkage and irregularity of outline soon become manifest;it is best, however, to record the results 24 hours afterexposure since the changes produced are then fully developed.Two similar pieces of tissue were grown on one cover-slip,

one of which was shielded with lead foil. The normalunexposed cells served as a control. After exposure thecultures were not fed till observations were completed. Thisdoes not interfere with normal growth, which will continuefor several days, and the possibility ,of re-feeding havingaffected the growth is eliminated. The slides were keptcover-slip upwards after exposure, since healthy cells whichhave been shielded by the substance of the fragment frequentlygrow out among the dead cells, but in the above position ofthe slide such new cells tend to fall to the bottom of the drop.

Under the conditions of the experiment the carpet ofepithelial cells growing from a fragment of kidney wasfound to be the most susceptible. An exposure of10 seconds was always a lethal dose. Fibroblasts growingfrom a fragment of heart muscle required about 20 minutesand the wandering cells from spleen up to 30 minutes.In the case of the Jensen rat sarcoma at least 40 minutes’exposure was necessary to kill every cell adherent to thecover-slip, while mouse cancer was still more resistant, asit required 60 to 80 minutes’ exposure to obtain a similareffect. The lethal dose for particular cells was found to beabout the same in different experiments, and as an insufficientexposure caused no obvious change it was possible to confirmthe observation in the following manner. Normal andmalignant tissues were propagated on the same cover-slipand the exposure was graduated to kill the normal tissuespresent and leave the malignant tissues apparentlyundamaged.

Conclusions.It appears that various normal and malignant

tissues have different powers of resistance ; the kidneyis the most sensitive, the heart next, and the spleencells, which we may regard as comparatively undiffer-entiated, require a lethal dose approaching that forsarcoma. The malignant tissues, however, are

definitely more resistant to ultra-violet light thannormal tissues when grown in vitro in this way.

I wish to express my thanks to Prof. C. J. Martin forallowing me to work at the Lister Institute and toDr. Lumsden, who has instructed me in his methodof tissue culture.

O S T E O M Y E L I T I SOF FIFTY-SIX YEARS’ DURATION.

BY G. B. WOODD WALKER, M.A. CAMB.,M.R.C.S. ENG.,

HOUSE SURGEON, ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL, LONDON.

THE latency of bone infections and their tendencyto light up as the result of trauma or strain isparticularly well illustrated by the following case.

A. W. was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in 1870,aged 12 years, complaining of a painful red swelling abovehis left knee. He had been kicked a week previously, hesaid, by an irate gipsy. Osteomyelitis of the femur wasdiagnosed and confirmed at the operation when the bonewas laid open. He was discharged cured. Subsequentlyhe became a police officer. After 20 years’ service, whenaged 45, he received a heavy blow on the right arm duringa struggle with a drunken man. Following this he wastreated for osteomyelitis of the right humerus, from which adischarging sinus remained for the rest of his life.At the age of 68, no longer a policeman, but still in official

employment, he sustained a slight accident in mounting ahorse van. The same evening his left thigh became painful,red and swollen, and he felt ill. He was admitted tohospital on the following day. His evening temperature was1080 F. ; -, he was sweating and had nocturnal delirium.A very tender, red swelling just above the left knee (theoriginal site of injury) at the back and outer side of thethigh was evident. The amount of fluid in the knee-jointwas increased. The knee-joint was aspirated and turbidfluid was withdrawn. The left femur was exposed and themedullary cavity opened. A large abscess cavity filled withpus and debris was found. The cavity extended into bothcondyles and for a distance of 2 inches up the shaft of thebone. Staphylococci were grown from the pus.

For a time he improved and his temperature fell to

normal, but on the fifth day he died from toxemia andheart failure. At the autopsy there was evidence of bacterialinfarction in the spleen and kidneys and marked arterialdegeneration.

It may either be supposed that the infection laydormant in the left femur for 56 years or that thepreviously damaged tissues formed a nidus to a

subsequent infection. My thanks are due to Mr.Duncan Fitzwilliams for permission to publish thiscase.

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Medical Societies.MEDICO-LEGAL SOCIETY.

AT a meeting of this Society held on April 20th,Lord Justice ATKIN, the President, being in the chair,a paper on some aspects of the

New Regulations of Preservativeswas read by Mr. C. AINSWORTH MITCHELL.

In the year 1921, said Mr. Mitchell, he had calledattention to some of the difficulties met with in theFood and Drugs Act,’ both by those who had toadminister the regulations and those who had toapply them. So diverse was the practice in regardto them that whether or not a conviction was obtainedseemed to be chiefly a matter of geography. Localauthorities in the past set up and acted upon theirown standards. The regulations which would comeinto force next January would remove some of thepresent anomalies, but would carry forward somepeculiar ones of their own which were likely to causedifficulties. He regretted that the evidence takenby the second committee on the subject was notpublished in full, as was the case with the firstcommittee. It was difficult to see why boron preserva-tive was not to be allowed ; it could not be shown tohave been more harmful than saltpetre, which hadbeen in use from time immemorial. As to the use ofsalicylic acid for beverages, the first committee wasmisled by a trade witness who said that no preservativewas necessary, and recommended that it should notbe used in quantity more than 1 gr. per pint; but thatwitness had been found to be using a large quantityof it in his own products-namely, seven times asmuch. The second committee allowed the substitutionof benzoic acid to 5 gr. per pint. Various deputationswaited on the Minister of Health on the subject topoint out the difficulties which would be met with inapplying some of the regulations, and as a resultmodifications were issued. These modificationspermitted increased proportions of preservatives infruit pulp, pickles, and sauces. And two preservativescould be present in the same food, provided the regula-tion quantities were not exceeded. The amount ofsulphur dioxide allowed corresponded with the

fermentability of the different products. It wasallowed in jam, but for some unknown reason it wasprohibited in the case of orange marmalade. The

regulations did not class alcohol as a preservative,though it certainly was, hence no account of it wastaken in fixing the amount of preservative allowed inwine. This matter stood in need of considerablemodification. Unfermented grape-juice and non-

alcoholic wine made from it were allowed to contain17 gr. benzoic acid per pint. Lemon squash, thoughmore fermentable than grape-juice and impossible tosterilise by heat, was not allowed to contain morethan 5 gr. of preservative per pint. Regulation No. 4he regarded as a retrograde step ; it stood in need ofrevision. He thought a declaration should be requiredin all cases in which preservatives were allowed. Theobjection urged by manufacturers was that suchdeclaration might prejudice the sale of their products,but this was not borne out by the experience of thosemanufacturers who had voluntarily adopted thepractice. Mr. Mitchell did not think that the consump-tion of beer would be reduced because it would containthree-fifths of a grain of sulphur dioxide per pint.Sweetened mineral waters might contain as muchpreservative as beer, and ginger-beer more, withoutthe necessity of a declaration. Some of the foods inSchedule 1 should be transferred to Schedule 2. He

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anticipated difficulties in applying the regulations inthe absence of generally accepted methods of determin-ing the amounts of preservatives. He had urged uponthe Ministry some standardisation, but apparentlynothing had been done in the matter.Evidently it was thought that a Ministerial warning

on these matters would suffice, but Mr. Mitchell’sview was that until the regulations were givenstatutory force there would be uncertainty as to whatwas and what was not permissible. The regulationswhich were to come into operation in January nextrepresented the resultant of conflicting forces, but,on the whole, they could be said to be a great advanceon the subject of the due preservation of foodconsistent with public health.

Discussion.Mr. E. HINKS (public analyst, Surrey) agreed that

the whole matter was a compromise, as it must be,between what was desirable and what was feasible.In the end it would probably prove to be a matter oftrial. If these instructions should bring the butter-supply to grief, there must be new regulations, butexperience in the past was that what was dreaded didnot usually happen. Some articles could easily be puton the market without preservatives, and sausagesformed a case in point, except where they were soldlong distances from the place of production. He did notthink the regulations forbade preservative in marma-lade. The regulations, on the whole, were a step inthe right direction.

Dr. H. E. Cox (public analyst, Hampstead) saidthere were now on the market sweetened mineralwaters containing no preservative, and he thought aresult of these new regulations would be that substanceswould be added to such beverages, constituting aretrograde step.

Mr. F. W. BECK said that for five years he had beenfighting local authorities with regard to preservativesin food. He had been opposed to the general settingup of standards for foods, because in the few cases inwhich that had been done it had been proved to be tothe detriment of the public. The law had hitherto beenso unevenly administered by local authorities that itwas better to have some sort of regulation. Therewere some borough and county benches who alwaysfollowed their medical officer in cases of this kind andconvicted, whatever the evidence brought forward.He was not sure that the trade felt satisfied with thesenew regulations, the main reason being that thoseconcerned had not been allowed to know what wasthe evidence on which they had been framed. Theprohibition of boric acid as a preservative was sure tobe resented, and in regard to the whole matter hethought the Ministry were embarking on a dangerousexperiment. Even if experience demonstrated theneed for amendment, enormous damage to industriesmight occur in the meantime. Cold storage, for thiscountry, was a futile proposition, though efficient onboard ship and in large stores.

Dr. M. I. FINucANE raised the question whether,in the interests of the individual consumer, it wasnecessary to have any artificial preservatives at all.There seemed no necessity for a scientific society toset trade and commerce on a pedestal.

Dr. KNYVETT GORDON, speaking as a bacteriologist, Isaid one had to choose between having preservativesand bacteria, and he personally would rather have thebacteria. It was impossible to render a meat extractsterile, and in no stage of its preparation could itstemperature be raised to the boiling point withoutspoiling the preparation. If we did not ingest manybacteria every day we should be liable to succumb toevery disease which came our way, and these bacteriaconstituted a more effective protection than most ofthe vaccines specially inoculated for a set purpose.He did not think preservatives were necessary. Thesmall quantity of formaldehyde used which theregulations coming into force next January wouldprohibit he was sure had not been harmful, and fromthe bacteriologist’s standpoint it was one of the bestpreservatives which could be used. He spoke of an

epidemic rash he had seen in children due to drinkingmilk heavily preserved with boric acid.

Mr. E. R. BOLTON (President of the Society ofPublic Analysts) said the public now knew where itstood in regard to these matters far better thanbefore. Though the committee sometimes skated onvery thin ice they had now produced something verydefinite. Boric acid affected some people adversely,to others it seemed to do no harm. It would have beenwell if the Ministry had issued a statement as to howthe preservatives were to be determined.

Mr. J. R. BLANCO WHITE spoke of the conditions inFrance and the United States. In the former countryless preservatives seemed to be used, while in the Statescold storage was almost universal in the cities. Oneresult of these regulations in this country would be thatmanufacturers of the cheaper articles of food wouldhave to take more care of their products.

Mrs. BLANCO WHITE said that in 1918-19 she wasin charge of a Ministry of Labour inquiry into preservedpotted meats, margarine, and confectionery. Theinformation given to the inspectors then by manufac-turers did not tally with what they more recentlytendered to the committee.

Reply.Mr. MITCHELL agreed that where preservatives could

be done without it was advisable to omit them. Coldstorage could not suddenly be put up and down thecountry, and if food did not keep people must expectto pay for it. Salt was a preservative, though notadmitted in the regulations to be such, and hepredicted that one result of these new conditions wouldbe that certain foods would be heavily salted.

LEEDS AND WEST RIDING MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY.

AT a, meeting of this Society held on April 9thMr. A. L. WHITEHEAD, the President, took the chair,and Dr. GEORGE COOPER (Leeds) read a paper on

Radiotherapy.Discussing the various conditions that respondedfavourably to this form of treatment, he spoke ofthe striking results obtained in lupus by combinedtreatment by artificial sunlight and local applicationsof the Kromayer lamp, and claimed that lupus couldnow be regarded as a curable disease. Very favourableresults were also obtained in the treatment of ricketsand tuberculous lesions by artificial sunlight, whichwas also being successfully used to hasten recoveryin cases of chronic infection. Considering that onlyhopeless and inoperable cases of cancer were sent tothe radiotherapeutic department, it could be saidthat a very fair proportion of cases of this diseaseyielded favourable results. Further progress inX ray therapy would probably come by the use ofsome sensitising agent before, during, or after X raytreatment. Dr. Cooper showed a number of casesillustrating his paper.

Dr. H. B. SCARGILL (Leeds) exhibited a largenumber of radiographs and lantern slides from theradiographic department of Leeds General Infirmary,and spoke of the great expansion of radiographicwork at the institution during the last seven years.

Dr. L. A. ROWDEN (Leeds) demonstrated X rayphotographs of hour-glass stomach, and expressedthe opinion that the condition was much lessfrequently met with than it was 15 years ago. In hisopinion the condition was sometimes congenital. Inthe acquired case he had seen a completely healedulcer, although the opinion generally held was thata complete healing was rarely, if ever, found.

Dr. J. A. THOMPSON (Harrogate) demonstratedradiograms of the hip-joint showing conditions seenin spa practice. He also exhibited a series of radio-grams of a case of aerophagia in a child 8 years oldwho suffered from chronic intermittent abdominaldistension. The photographs appeared to show that