1638

sheds slight alterations were being made in the design ofthe shuttles to enable the weaver to push the thread

through the eye with finger and thumb. The committee think

that threading with the mouth (the weaver in the act putsthe side of the shuttle to his mouth and uses an inspiratorysuction to draw the thread through the eye, hence the

term " kissing the shuttle ") might be generally avoided byadopting such measures, or by the use of hooks of variousforms, similar to a crochet-hook, which can be inserted

through the eye, and will draw back the weft. While in

agreement that the present method of threading is uncleanlyand may even be a possible means of spreading infection,the committee do not think the time is yet ripe for insisting,either by regulations or by Act of Parliament, in the abolitionof the existing form of shuttle. They feel that the factselicited do not justify drastic legal action at present. The

report is signed by Mr. Gerald Bellhouse (one of the super-intending inspectors of factories), Dr. W. W. Fletcher

(medical inspector of the Local Government Board), and byMr. D. J. Shackleton (late senior labour adviser, Home Office).Dr. H. T. Bulstrode, one of the original members of thisdepartmental committee, died before the inquiry terminated.

THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES FOR THE LOCALGOVERNMENT BOARD.

THE President of the Local Government Board has

authorised the following special researches to be paid for outof the annual grant voted by Parliament in aid of scientificnvestigations concerning the causes and processes of

disease :-

1. Further investigations (ct) as to the distribution of tubercle bacilliin children having died between the ages of two and ten years, and thespecial characteristics of such bacilli; and (b) in collaboration with theGeneral Register Office, on the incidence of different forms of tubercu-losis in different parts of the country, according to age, sex, occupation,and other conditions.

2. A continuation of a research into the causes of premature arterialdegeneration in man, by Dr. F. W. Andrewes, of St. Bartholomew’sHospital.

3. A joint investigation into the virus of poliomyelitis, by Drs. F. W.Andrewes and M. H. Gordon, of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

4. A continuation of an investigation into the micro-organisms knownas non-lactose fermenters occurring in the alimentary canal of infants,by Dr. C. J. Lewis, of Birmingham University, Dr. D. M. Alexander,of Liverpool University, and Dr. Graham-Smith, of CambridgeUniversity.

5. A continuation of the investigations by Professor Nuttall, ofCambridge University, on fleas and on the range of flight of thedomestic and allied flies.

-

A NEW TREATMENT FOR PELLAGRA.

Dr. Jean Nicolaidi, of Paris, has devised an originalmethod of treatment of pellagra, and a paper on the subject,which he read at the recent International Congress of Dermato-logy at Rome, is interesting. Dr. Nicolaidi holds that the mainchanges in pellagra are due to serious interference withnutrition. In order to overcome this nutritional disturbance

it occurred to him that a serum might be employed in treat- ,,ment, and he prepared a serum, which he calls an " organo-polymineralised serum " ; its composition is not stated verydefinitely, but it is said to contain substances extracted invaC1l,O from horse serum, and organic and mineral substancesfrom blood plasma, and it is also made radio-active. Thefirst attempts to treat pellagra with this serum were made inRoumania in 1909, and the results are said to have been sogood that he was asked by the Roumanian Governmentto employ the serum in the following year, and we are

told that many patients suffering from the disease wererapidly cured or at least much benefited, and in some

cases patients with severe mental symptoms who were in theasylum at Craiova were able to leave the asylum after 20 to33 injections. During the summer of 1911 Professor Antoniniwas asked by the Health Department of Italy to arrange fora series of trials of the serum. These trials were made.Patients were taken who had severe symptoms and who had

not shown any improvement under any other form of treat-ment. After about 25 injections all the symptoms haddiminished in seveiity or disappeared, the general nutritionhad much improved, and many patients were able to resume-their occupations. The improvement in the skin lesionswere as marked as the improvement in the symptoms; achange for the better was visible after five or six injections,and after 12 injections every trace of the scales and erythemahad disappeared. As to the question of recurrence, only2 cases out of 50 in Roumania showed signs of any return ofthe disease, and only 1 case of relapse occurred amongstthose treated in Italy in 1911, and this in spite of the factthat the patients had not changed their diet. The results

seem to be very encouraging, but it is probable that some ofthe constituents of this very complex serum take no sharein the result.

A TYPHOID CARRIER ON SHIPBOARD.

THE danger to others of a typhoid carrier on land are nowwell known. In the Journal of the American Medical Asse-cation of May 4th Dr. Wilbur A. Sawyer, director ofthe Bureau of the Hygienic Laboratory of the Californiaboard of health, has reported a case which shows the evilwhich may be wrought on shipboard, where there are

peculiar opportunities for conveying the infection. For

three and a half years it had been noticed at the UnitedStates Marine Hospital in San Francisco that a large part ofall the typhoid cases came from the steamship AO’l7le. avessel carrying lumber from Humboldt Bay to San FranciscoBay and sometimes to San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles.An investigation by the Health Department of San Fran*cisco pointed to the winch driver, who had had typhoidfever four years ago, as a carrier. But his blood failedto give the Widal reaction and typhoid bacilli couldnot be found in his stools. It was considered that the

solution of the problem involved work in other cities.The State board of health was notified of this fact and

assigned the investigation to the division of epidemiology ofthe Bureau of the Hygienic Laboratory. Dr. Sawyer, thedirector, began work on the problem on Dec. 28th, 1911.The Acme carried no passengers and the crew usuallynumbered only 21, including the officers. The ship was notless sanitary than most vessels of her kind. The mess-room

of the officers was clean and attractive. The crew ate their

food sitting on the cargo. The galley was not so clean aswas desirable. The forecastle housed 12 men in very close

quarters. There were three tiers of bunks and very little

unoccupied space. The sailors’ water-closet was in a filthystate, and suggested opportunity for the spread of infectionby flies. The food-supply could be excluded as a sourceof infection. Condensed milk was used, and other shipsbuying food in the same market were free from thedisease. Only two men, the captain and the winch-

driver, had been on board during the entire series of

typhoid cases. Examination of the blood, faeces, andurine of the captain was negative. As stated above, the sameresult had previously been obtained in the case of the winch-driver. However, a search through the records of theUnited States marine hospitals in San Francisco andLos Angeles pointed to him as the source of infection. In

January, 1908, a case of typhoid fever was received fromanother steamer on which he had previously been employed.Since he joined the Aome in August, 1908, during a period of43 months 26 cases of typhoid fever had been received fromit in the hospitals. It was decided to make a thoroughexamination of all persons under the slightest suspicion ofbeing carriers. The captain, chief engineer, and the winch-driver were taken into hospital for 24 hours, so as to ensurethat all specimens were bond fide and properly taken. They