For the past five or six years, epidemics of cholera have occurred every summer in Japan and the early cases in each outbreak are believed to have been imported from Manila or Shanghai.

Port quarantine in Japan has consequently been strict. Specimens of excreta from passengers and crew of vessels arriving from infected ports require to be examined bacteriologically and declared free before landing is permitted. The method is irksome and laborious though probably effective.

(1) Bacteriological examination of 1078 enterica-suspect cases showed that 112 (i.e. 10 per cent.) were due to Bacillus asiaticus Castellani. In the same series 12 per cent. were found to be due to B. typhosus or B. paratyphosus (A or B).

(2) The distribution of cases is widespread, both in time and space, and there is no special incidence on sex or age-group.

(3) The symptomatology of asiaticus parenteric fever is detailed and a description is given of the causal organism.

(4) There is some group-(agglutination) relation between B. asiaticus and the paratyphoid-Gaertner subgroup.

(5) Parenterica due to “intermediate organisms” other than B. asiaticus is believed to exist in Egypt. These will be dealt with in a later communication.

(6) Early haemo-culture in all enterica-suspect cases should be considered the diagnostic method par excellence. If the blood develops immune bodies as well, the diagnosis becomes definite.

While amino-acids in appropriate concentrations have long been known as valuable aids to bacterial growth, it does not appear to have been recognised that in relatively low concentrations they are often inhibitory.

Inhibition has been shown to occur with 10 out of 11 single amino-acids tested and with certain mixtures rich in amino-acids. The inhibitory concetration varies from 11 to 130 millimols per litre, or from 0·2 to 2%(wt./vol. ). It is of some intrest that the amino-acids inhibitory in the lowest concentration were the cyclic compounds—histidine, tyrosine, tryphane, phenylalamine. Of the chain compounds tested cystine was the most inhibitory.

Several organisus belonging to various groups of bacteria are susceptible of inhibition by amino-acids; certain intestinal organisms are not susceptible. The effect cannot be attributed to the physical effects of high concentration.

There is an apparent divergence between our results and those of workers who have recommended tryptic digests for stimulating the growth of some of the bacteria here shown to be readily inhibited by amino-acids. A suggested explanation of this divergence is that it is the products of partial protein digestion, the polypetides, which are mainly responsible for the effect of stimulating growth, not the amino-acids. A “polypeptide medium” might prove particularly valuable for bacterial growth.

A metabolism experiment with glycine in high but sub-inhibitory concentration showed that the amino-acid is broken down by Staphylococcus aureus, at this concentration.

Since the Sachs-Georgi or flocculation reaction was first described as a paractical serum test for syphilis, the relationship of this reaction to the Wassermann or complements-deviation test has been a subject of some interest to serological workers.

(1) In media containing sodium sulphite, glucose, and iron salts, reduction of sulphite to sulphide is effected by B. typhosus, B. enteritidis (Gaertner), B. paratyphosus B, and various other members of the Salmonella group. No reduction was shown by B. paratyphosus A, and the various dysentery bacilli.

(2) The use of certain media containing sodium sulphite is recommended in attempting to’ isolate typhoid and paratyphoid B bacilli from excreta, water, milk, etc.

(3) It is suggested that the blackening which is brought about by certain members of the Typhoid-Paratyphoid-Enteritidis group in nutrient agar containing lead acetate is due, at least in part, to the reduction of sulphite im purities and that in order to get constant results with different brands of peptone an addition of sodium sulphite and a suitable fermentable carbo hydrate should be made to the medium.

1. The results are recorded of the degrees to which standard agglutinable cultures of five serological types Flexner-group bacilli (V, W, X, Y, Z) are agglutinated by non-dysenteric human sera.

2. Certian of these cultures are more highly agglutinated by some normal human sera than was anticipated.

3. In order that the sera of non-dysenteric subjects may all (or parctically all) be found to contain less than 10 or less than 20 units in males and females respectively, the reduction-factors of agglutinability at persent in use for certain of these cultures must be somewhat increased.

4. The conception of a limit, above which no “normal” serum will be found to react, is only valid as a compromise between truth and convenience. Repetition of agglutination-tests capable of measuring the fluctuation of agglutinins in active infection is the only safe and scientific procedure.

(1) The inhibiting phenomenon of Neisser and Wechsberg, as frequently observed with bacteriolytic sera, can also be shown to occur with haemolytic sera.

(2) This phenomenon develops early during immunisation, when it is very marked; but as immunisation proceeds it tends to disappear.

(3) In sera examined some time after their removal the inhibiting faculty is seen to disappear first, before any marked change is noticed in its bactericidal titre. This can be shown to occur in vivo also.

(4) The inhibiting faculty is observed only with inactivated sera; fresh and active sera showing complete bactericidal activity at all times. The effects are not however due to complementoids produced by inactivation.

(5) The phenomenon is not due to the action of any of the known anti bodies, or special “inhibiting antibodies”; but it is due probably to dis sociation of the antigen-amboceptor complex. Such dissociation only occurs when amboceptors are present in excess. This explains why inhibition occurs only with high doses of an immune serum.

The serum to be used should be without an antiseptic. Commercially prepared antisera usually contain a small amount of it. It is shown that corpuscles sensitised in them undergo haemolysis without the addition of complement (see p. 427).

(6) Since it is known that the union of antigen and amboceptor is not always a firm one, it is suggested that during early days of immunisation amboceptors of a weak combining affinity are produced. These are replaced later by those which are capable of a more permanent union with them (antigens).

(7) The name “complement-blocking” is not an appropriate one, as com plement could be shown to exist free in the inhibiting fluids. It should rather be spoken of as an “amboceptor-dissociation” effect.

(8) Inhibition is specific. An attempt was made to utilise this fact in differ entiation of strains of true cholera but it was found to have no definite diagnostic value.

The writer wishes to express his indebtedness to Prof. Hewlett for sug gesting the problem to him and also for his kind guidance and encouragement during the course of the experiments. His thanks are also due to Dr Taylor for his valuable assistance.

Towards the close of the Great War, when economy of food consumption was an urgent necessity, considerable attention was paid to the determination of the energetic needs of various kinds of muscular work. The majority of scientific papers then published dealt with the problem.

1. An epidemic of diarrhoea or gastro-enteritis occurring in Aberdeen in 1919, and causing over 1000 cases and 72 deaths, has been proved to be due to infection of milk with dysentery bacilli of the Flexner type.

2. Similar epidemics of milk-borne diarrhoea have occurred formerly, but bacteriological investigation had failed to determine the nature of the infecting organism. Keference to the epidemiological and clinical features of such former epidemics, however, makes it practically certain that they were essentially of the same description as the Aberdeen epidemic of 1919, and accordingly indicates that they were likewise due to infection of milk with dysentery group bacilli.

3. The Aberdeen epidemic of milk-borne bacillary dysentery had run its course and had caused 72 deaths before serological proof of bacillary dysentery was available. Since the time of the Aberdeen investigation, notable advances have been made in methods for the bacteriological diagnosis of the dysenteries as a result of the fundamental work of F. W. Andrewes, A. D. Gardner, C. J. Martin and others. Nevertheless, modern methods of bacteriological diagnosis are not infallible, and the Aberdeen experience clearly indicates that deaths will be prevented if polyvalent anti-dysenteric serum and saline treatment are used at once in a disease having the clinical symptoms of bacillary dysentery, or in an acute enteritis from which has been isolated organisms with the cultural reactions of the dysentery group bacilli.