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Simon Flexner and Dr. Paul Lewis of the RockefellelInstitute and by Dr. Strauss of the Cornell Medical School.The evidence brought forward by these investigators is of thegreatest value and importance. As was pointed out in aleading article in THE LANCET,3 it is now certain that adisease similar to acute poliomyelitis in man can be pro-duced by inoculation of the human cord into monkeys; inaddition reinoculation from monkey to monkey is possibleand may apparently be kept up indefinitely. Histologicallythe lesions in poliomyelitis are very like those in humanrabies. Moreover, the manner in which the monkey is

infected is identical with the route of infection used in the

production of experimental rabies. Farther, there occurs atype of ascending paralysis in rabies which is clinicallyidentical with that of acute poliomyelitis. These facts pointto a possible analogy between the infective agents in bothconditions and to a possible means of immunisation.

GRAIN ITCH.

Dr. J. F. Schamberg of Philadelphia has recently pub-lished an account of a disease which has appeared inPhiladelphia and its neighbourhood. Late in the spring of1901 there appeared in Philadelphia and the surroundingcountry an eruptive disorder which was entirely new to thephysicians of that district. Every year it has recurred,usually in the month of May and the beginning of October,and it was especially widespread in 1909. Public attention

was drawn to the disease by an outbreak occurring among20 sailors upon a private yacht docked in the Delaware

river, and the disease was investigated by Dr. J. Goldberger iand Dr. Schamberg. The conditions obtaining on the yachtwere thoroughly examined, and it was discovered that a

number of new straw mattresses had recently been receivedon board and that the disease was confined to those whohad slept upon the mattresses or had placed their clothes

upon them. Information was also obtained that a similar

eruptive disease prevailed on four other boats on the

Delaware river, and investigation showed that these boatshad also received new straw mattresses, and further

that only those were attacked who had slept upon themattresses or had otherwise come in contact with them.

In addition to these cases some 70 other instances ofthis disease occurring in 20 different households in Phil-

adelphia and in its neighbourhood were investigated, andin almost every instance it was found that the patienthad either recently slept upon a new straw mattress or

had freely handled one. All the incriminating mattresseswere supplied by four mattress makers, and it was discoveredthat all the manufacturers had made them up from wheatstraws supplied by one dealer. When the straw from themattress was carefully sifted through a fine flour sieve it was

seen that some slight movement was occurring in the

siftings, and the microscope showed the presence of a veryminute mite which was identified as the pediculoidesventricosus. Dr. Goldberger exposed his arm to the strawof the mattress for an hour, and 16 hours later characteristiclesions appeared, and the siftings had a similar effect uponsome other volunteers. The disease was characterised by aneruption consisting of wheals, many of which were crownedwith minute vesicles. In a few hours the vesicles became

pustular. The extent of the eruption varied greatly in

different subjects. Usually it was profuse, especially on theneck, chest, abdomen, and back ; the face, hands, and feetwere nearly always exempt. The itching may be intense.During the early days of the attack the patient may feelcold, and in some cases nausea and even vomiting are presentand mild rigors may occur. The temperature may reach100° F. or even 102° F., or possibly higher, and this pyrexia

3 THE LANCET, Feb. 19th, 1910, p. 512.

may last for several days ; on the other hand, it may beentirely absent. There appears to be not the faintest doubtthat the disease is due to the acarus mentioned above. Wheatstraw is liable to give rise to the disease, but the straw of

barley and other grains may also be contaminated with theacarus. The pediculoides has an economic importancebecause it tends to protect the grain crops by destroying thelarvas of several insects which prey upon grain. A similaraffection has been described many years ago in France,Germany, and Russia. As to the treatment, it seems to be

fairly easy to destroy the acarus, and Dr. Schambergrecommends especially an ointment containing 30 grains ofbeta naphthol and 40 grains of precipitated sulphur to theounce of benzoated lard. It will be of interest to know if

any cases of this disease have been seen in this country.

BLEACHED FLOUR.

WE are glad to note that a question was put to thePresident of the Local Government Board in the House ofCommons last week in regard to the bleaching of flour withnitrous acid. Mr. Burns replied that he had already directedan investigation into the matter by one of the inspectors ofthe Foods Department of the Local Government Board. Weare sure that Mr. Burns will be interested to know how

legislation has been brought to bear upon the subject in theUnited States, according to an account recently sent to

us by our own correspondent. In regard to a certain con-

signment of flour bleached by a well-known process depend-ing upon the production of nitrous and nitric acids from the

air by electric sparking, the United States Government heldthat the flour contained poisonous and deleterious ingre-dients-namely, the nitrites produced during the processThe flour was condemned and ordered to be forfeited. Theevidence of well-known authorities on dietetics, chemistry,and physiology was unanimous in condemning the practice.Dr. Gustav Mann stated that there is always a distinct

change induced in the starch as a result of bleaching. From

actual experiments he found that the bleached flour was

digested to only one-third the extent of the unbleached. The

injurious action of the nitrous acid developed in the stomachfrom the nitrites would be proportional to the amount of

nitrites present in the flour. Thus, two molecules would putout of action two molecules of haemoglobin or two of nucleo-protein and would inactivate two molecules of any ferment(enzyme) that might be present. The bleaching of flour not

only causes a loss in food value, but renders digestion of thefood made from it 20 to 75 per cent. more difficult. As

regards the effects of the nitrous acid on the human body, thereis danger that a dose which under ordinary conditions is

normal might cause death in feeble individuals. Dr. Mann

concluded that the bleaching of flour should not be permitted.Dr. Hamilton P. Jones said that the use of nitrogen per-oxide in bleaching flour would tend to impair the digesti-bility of the bread and produce gastric irritation. Dr. JohnMarshall gave evidence that the general effect of theaddition of nitrites to food made from wheat flour is to

endanger the health of the consumer. Confirmatory evi-dence was given by Dr. John H. Musser, Dr. David L.

Edsall, Dr. Otto Folin, Dr. Augustus ;H. Gill, and others.In the absence of authoritative statements rebutting this

overwhelming array of evidence against the use of flour

bleached with nitrogen peroxide, it would seem that the

health of the people demands the abandonment of the

process. The slightly creamy colour of unbleached flour iscertainly more appetising than the bluish-whiteness ofbleached flour, and the loss of odour and taste as a resultof bleaching are sufficient objections to the process, evenwithout taking into consideration the probable deleteriousaction of the nitrites on the system.