1773
ago THE LANCET issued a special Commission to inquireinto the insanitary condition of the Italian quarter, the headcentre of ice-cream manufacture.
Ptomaine Poisoning.Ptomaine poisoning has claimed several victims. The
most noteworthy instances were those which resulted fromeating pork pies purchased from a Derby firm. In all 130
eople were more or less affected. Professor DELÉPINE, whoconducted the bacteriological investigations, found a colonbacillus in the pies. A culture of this injected into someanimals killed them. There was neither bad taste nor smellin the pies. The bacillus seems to have been derived fromthe large intestines of pigs which were prepared for sale inclose proximity to the place where the pies were made. Our
comment on this case was the necessity for the compulsoryinstitution of public abattoirs."
DENTAL SURGERY.
.Papers.Under the title of " Is the Symmetrical Extraction of the
First Permanent Molars Justifiable ? " Mr. ELOF FORBERG of
Stockholm has reviewed the many objections to the removalof these teeth for the relief of crowding. Since the time whensymmetrical removal of the first molars was advocated and
carried out somewhat extensively the methods of saving teethhave undergone a marked improvement, with the result thatviews on the subject have been modified. The results which
followed from symmetrical extraction were often undoubtedlygood and even now the treatment is an excellent one to
pursue in certain conditions.
Several communications have been published on PyorrhoeaAlveolaris, one of the most interesting being by Mr.KENNETH W. GOAD BY. He states that he has often found
yeasts in the small masses of tissue adhering to the apicesof teeth extracted in cases of suppurative gingival peri-odontitis (pyorrhoea alveolaris), but as yet they have not beeninoculated into animals. Culturally they appear to corre-spond to the yeasts found in the so-called chronic abscesses.In the later stages of the disease he ’states that it is rare tofind many cocci ; bacilli of various kinds and a good numberof threads are usually present, many of the later showinga tendency to stain irregularly and in patches. He described Ione organism which he thought may possibly have some Icausal relation to pyorrhoea alveolaris. It is a coccus
not hitherto described. The coccus is found in the pulp pchambers of teeth which are the seat of septic apical peri-odontitis and are also present in cases of acute oral
suppuration. The subject of Oral Sepsis and its Relationto General Disease was discussed by Mr. J. F. COLYER in apaper read at the annual general meeting of the BritishDental Association. He referred to several interesting casesof gastric ulcer in which marked improvement followed treat-ment of the teeth and he pointed out the constant relation-ship which existed between oral sepsis and conditions fami-liarly known as general debility. He urged the importance ofmore accurate accounts being recorded of the condition of theteeth in cases in which septic absorption was suspected, andhe pointed out that much more work, clinical, chemical, andbacteriological, was required before a correct idea of the
relationship of oral sepsis to general disease could be deter-mined. A paper by Dr. A. LoGAN TURNER on Some Points inthe Anatomy of the Antrum of Highmore is worthy of notice.Attent:on is directed to the frequent occurrence of an
accessory opening. It is situated posterior to, and on alower level than, the normal opening and its situation
explains those cases in which pus from antral suppurationdrains mainly backwards into the naso-pharynx and, indeed,may never appear at the anterior nares. The dangers of tooenergetic syringing were referred to and cases were recorded
in which an infection of the frontal sinus had resulted fromthis cause.A paper on the Influence of Mastication on the Jaws and
their Appendages has been read before the OdontologicalSociety of Great Britain by Dr. HARRY CAMPBELL. The im-
portant part played by muscular contraction in the formationof the nasal fossa was clearly shown. It was pointed out thatthe effect of rhythmic contraction of the masticatory muscleswas to accelerate the flow of blood and lymph in the jaws andall the accessory and neighbouring parts. Dr. CAMPBELLreferred fully to the type of palate at times found in thosesuffering from nasal obstruction and described what in his
opinion were the chief factors operating to produce the
deformity. His conclusions are open to criticism and he doesnot appear to have taken into account the important partplayed by the order of the eruption of the teeth in producingmany of the deformed arches. Mr. W. ARBUTHNOT LAKE in
a contribution to the British Medical Journal on the Valueof Respiratory Exercises on the Naso-pharyngeal Lesions ofChildren, has also referred to the question of deformeda:ches. The views of Mr. LANE, like those of Dr. CAMPBELL,are open to criticism, but this does not detract from the valueof the papers which should be the means of stimulatingothers to investigate these interesting subjects. Mr. MAYOCOLLIER has also published a paper in THE LANCET 1 onNasal Obstruction and Deformities of the Upper Jaw, Teeth,and Palate. Illustrations are given of three types ofdeformed arches which he considers are commonly associatedwith obstructed nasal respiration : the first deformity isknown as "open bite," the second as "inferior protrusion," and the third as "superior protrusion." These types of
deformed arches are constantly met with in dental practiceand in many instances there is not the slightest reason
to believe that they have been produced by nasal ob-struction.
Cases of Composite Odontomes have been recorded by Mr.C. W. GLAssnwToN and Mr. W. H. DOLAMORE. Thatrecorded by the latter occurred in the mandible on the rightside and is one of the largest yet described in this situation.The measurements were : length 4’2 centimetres, depth 2’8centimetres, and width 1-6 centimetres. The weight was 24’ 5grammes. The capsule came away with the solid pertionof the tumour and so allowed a microscopical section to bemade showing the mode of growth of the odontome. Under
the title of "An Anomalous Tumour from the Antrum"Mr. J. BLAND-SUTTON has described a curious tumour
which occupied the right antrum and caused considerablebulging of the facial portion of the maxilla in a girl,aged 11 years. The tumour was composed of soft
muscular tissue containing a large quantity of pieces ofbone to the number of 500, The tumour probably belongsto that rare category of growths known as "compoundfollicular odontomes." In a paper on the Clinical andChemical Study of a Case of Dental Erosion, in Items ofInterest, July, 1902, Dr. E. C. KIRK refers to the importance
. of studying the condition of the saliva in cases of dental
disease. M. MICHAELS of Paris is working in this direc-tion and the extended study of the saliva will no doubt domuch to assist in the elucidation of many of the pathologicalconditions of the teeth. Papers of interest have also appearedon the Pathology of Certain Growths about the Lower Jaw,by Mr. J. H. TARGETT ; a resume of the Histology of theDental Pulp, by Mr. F. A. LATHAM ; and a series of paperson the Etiology of Irregularities of the Teeth, by Dr. J. SIMWALLACE. The Dental Review has also during the yearpublished biographical sketches of dental practitioners living
in the beginning of the last century.) B Operative Dentistry.
Advance in operative dentistry has been made in the
1 THE LANCET, Oct. 18th, 1902, p. 1038.
1774
methods of producing porcelain inlays and in the methods ofpreparing and inserting other filling materials. The principleusually known as "extension for prevention" in the pre-para,tion of cavities has been ardently advocated by practi-tioners, more especially in America. The method is basedon the present knowledge of caries and there is little doubtthat, if cavities are prepared with self-cleansing edges andthe cervical margins are cut below the gum margins and thecavities are filled with care, the teeth will be preserved in amore efficient way than was the case by the methods hithertoadvocated and adopted. In the direction of anaesthetics the
method of prolonging nitrous oxide anaesthesia has beenreceived with increased favour. A new drug, by name’’ somnoform," has also been placed on trial and shows signsof being a valuable addition to the group of anaesthetics.
New Books.A few new books have been published. Mr. D. P. GABELL
and Mr. HAROLD AUSTEN have written a useful book onI I Materia Medica, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics for theUse of Dental Students and Practitioners." A book entitled"Notes on Medicine for Medical and Dental Students " has
appeared from the pen of Mr. W. DE B. WOODBURN. Mr.A. S. UNDERWOOD’S "Aids to Dental Anatomy and Phy-siology " and Dr. SIM WALLACE’S " Cause and Prevention ofDecay in Teeth " have reached their second editions and theissue of a new edition of Dr. JULIUS ScHEFF’s excellent work," Handbuch der Zahnheilkunde, has been commenced.
Obit2cary.The death of Mr. ALFRED COLEMAN at the age of 74 years
has removed one of the few remaining dental surgeonswho were actively concerned with the reform movementwhich led to the creation of dentistry as a profession. For
many years he was dental surgeon and lecturer on dental
surgery to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and he also held similarposts at the Dental Hospital of London. His contributionsto dental literature were numerous and added much to the
knowledge of the pathology of the teeth. In anaesthesia he
always took a great interest and he did much to improvethe methods of administering nitrous oxide. Mr. WILLIAMHEADRIDGE of Manchester, who died at the age of 67 years,was one of the founders of the Victoria Dental Hospital,Manchester, and of the Manchester Odontological Society.Mr. H. G. READ, who died in October, was for many yearsassistant dental surgeon to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital anddental surgeon to the National Dental Hospital. Dr. JAMESCOWAN WOODBURN of Glasgow, who died in the early partof this monuh at the age of 62, was for many years officially connected with the Dental Hospital of Glasgow. He was
an examiner in dental surgery for the Faculty of Physiciansand Surgeons and held for a long period the post of surgeonto the Glasgow Yeomanry and to the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers. The deaths of Mr. NATHANIEL TRACY of
Ipswich and of Mr. FRANCIS ROGERS of Winchester have (
also to be recorded, as also that of Mr. R. P. LENNOX, a ]man possessed of great mechanical ingenuity and one J
who contributed materially to the advance of prostheticdentistrv. <
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.Growth of Biological Research.
The activity with which biological research is pursued atthe present time is sufficiently attested by the multiplicationof societies and journals devoted to various branches of thissubject and by the remarkable increase in the volume of
those that have been long established. To take one exampleonly PFLÜGER’s Archiv für Physiologie, which was ori-ginally published in monthly parts, making up an annualvolume of moderate size, is now so overwhelmed with
original articles on pure physiology that three volumes
scarcely enable it to publish all the contributions that it
receives, and it by no means stands alone as an exponentof modern physiological research. In a similar manner
f bacteriology has quite recently detached itself from micro-escopy and has for some time assumed a separate existence,- having journals of its own ; and now a new branch of work- has rapidly risen to occupy an important place in research,1 having experts and special processes that are proving them-t selves to be of immense value in enabling us to recognise1 and to comprehend the minute structure of the tissues ofwhich the body is composed, which consists in the art
of preparing, staining, and mounting sections. Variousexcellent treatises on this subject have been from time to
3 time noticed in these columns, but many who have not hadthe opportunity of following the advance of science in this
3 direction will be surprised to learn that a Treatise on
s Microscopical Technic" has just been published, the firstinstalment of which, embracing about half the alphabet, is agoodly volume of 800 pages. On the title-page of this work
: appear the well-known names of EHRLICH, WEIGERT,,
KRAUSE, MOSSE, and ROSIN, which are sufficient guaranteesof its completeness and accuracy.
Physiological Chemistry.; But whilst the application of the methods of double and
triple staining has greatly extended our knowledge of the. visible structure of the tissues the physiological chemist hasf not been idle in his endeavours to elucidate the more
recondite processes which the constituents of the few
great groups of alimentary substances undergo in traversingthe fine but perceptible line which separates living fromnon-living bodies. The proteid substances in particularhave received an extraordinary amount of attention. Their
composition has been carefully investigated, their relation toeach other and to the normal and abnormal constituents ofthe secretions and tissues has been studied, and bodies thatformerly were isolated and possessed little interest have beenshown to be closely connected with long-recognised but notmore important bodies. Thus groups’come to be formed andthe comprehension of the whole series of processes takingplace in the animal and plant body is greatly facilitated.No better example could be given than the group of purinbodies. These, which include xanthin, hypoxanthin, guanin,adenin, and the alloxuric bodies generally, are all associatedwith each other by what has been termed the purin ring,composed of two urea radicles linked together by a centralchain of three carbon atoms, but differing from one anotheraccording to the nature and position of the various side
chains which are tacked on to this ring. The interest thatattaches to them is the intimate relation they have with uricacid, through this with urea, and so with the final stagesof the disintegration of the proteid substances.
Investigations on Digestion.Another and equally interesting line of research has been
carried out by Professor PAWLOW and his assistantsand pupils in the St. Petersburg Laboratory, which, he
complains, is starved on a few thousands per annum whilstmillions are spent or wasted on preparations for war. His
ingenious experiments, which have now extended over manyyears, have been directed chiefly to gastric and duodenaldigestion, to the secretion of the gastric, hepatic, and pan-creatic glands, and their several actions on the chief consti-tuents of the food. He has shown that mentally perceived orpsychic stimuli (sight and smell) start the process of diges-tion and that these stimuli are conducted to the stomach bythe vagus nerves, that the quantity and quality of theactive principles of each secretion are wonderfully adaptedto the nature of the food, that the pancreatic secretion iseasily arrested by pain in other parts of the body, and thatone of the many obscure functions of the bile is to reinforcethe action of the pancreatic enzymes. It is gratifying toknow that in Professor PAWLOW’S opinion man in his
ordinary diet has followed instinctively the laws of physio-logy. At dinner, for example, by the hors d’ceu2res andsmall glass of liqueur the psychic stimulus is aroused ; the
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