stomach itself. Intemperance in food is not less an evil than other forms of intemperance. The discovery of science that poisons may, and frequently do, occur in food, being elaborated by certain minute organisms called microbes, will be of benefit to us provided we are practical enough to apply it to every-day life. If we are practical we will by legal regulation make sure that all milk is taken from healthy animals in a cleanly way; that it is cared for in a cleanly way and delivered as fresh as possible. Municipal inspection of dairies and supervision of manufacture of dairy products and supervision of their vending is a greater necessity than police protection. I will close by recounting an experience and investigation by Vaughan, which clearly shows how fresh milk which, on account of an unclean pantry, became poisonous and brought death and sorrow to a struggling farmer. Mr. S. H. Evans, a poor man and a farmer, living in Michigan, near Ann Arbor, was suddenly taken ill with symptoms resembling arsenic poisoning. Three days after, the son Arthur, a lad of eighteen years, strong and vigorous, suffered in the same way as his father, only more violently. That same evening Mrs. Evans was taken ill with symptoms of poisoning, and the next day Miss Alma, the only remaining member of the family at home was likewise affected. Remedies were administered and good nursing supplied, but to no avail, for the mother, son and daughter died in great suffering. The father, after a long illness, recovered, but never regained full strength. The question was, where did the poison come from, and what poison was it? A long and careful investigation by the doctors and chemists proved that milk and cold foods kept in the pantry became poisonous. The house was old and dilapidated; was built flat upon the ground, and was damp and mouldy. The pantry was especially bad in these respects. The poison-tyrotoxicon-which slew this family always appeared in milk which was kept in the pantry. This poison is elaborated by certain microbes which find in milk an ideal food for their existence. It is tyrotoxicon or like poisons which, in greater or less amount, cause diarrhea, dysentery, cholera infantum, cholera morbus and similar intestinal troubles. A practical people will not be slow to apply this discovery of science and enjoy the benefits. REPORT OF SECRETARY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH The twenty-seventh annual meeting of the American Public Health Association was held in Minneapolis, October 31 and November 1, 2 and 3. The day before the regular session there was held a meeting of the Committee on Laboratory. This meeting devoted a day's session to the consideration of topics particularly of interest to workers in bacteriological and chemical hygiene as applied to sanitary work. This meeting was the result of a movement originated by Dr. Wyatt Johnson, at the meeting in Montreal, in 1894. At that time a Committee on Water was formed, and an appropriation of two hundred dollars was set apart by the Association to meet the expenses of the committee. A meeting of prominent bacteriologists and chemists was called together in New York, and continued two days. The success of this meeting led its promoters to believe that much valuable work might be done, and contributed to the Association, by another similar meeting in connection with the meetings of the Association. Dr. Johnson therefore called the attention of laboratory workers to the desirability of a meeting at this time. This call was responded to by the presentation of a large number of papers giving the result of original laboratory investigation, from workers all over the United States, Canada and Mexico. The meeting was held in the well-equipped and perfectly-lighted Laboratory of Medical Sciences of the University of Minnesota. The meeting was called to order by Dr. W. H. Welch, of Johns Hopkins University, chairman of the committee, who delivered a comprehensive but concise address upon the lines of work which had been opened up recently by bacteriological research. He al *See abstract of proceedings in Bulletin for June, 1895; also complete report in "Transactions of the American Public Health Association, Volume XX, for the year 1895." luded to the work done by Theobald Smith, showing the comparison of virulence between tubercle bacilli of bovine origin and that from human source. He considered that tuberculosis should be managed as any other contagious disease, being reported to the health authorities, especially when the case occurs in tenements, lodging-houses, or in hotels. We should plead for the courage of our convictions, even when they run counter to the public and to the physician. The experience during the Americo-Spanish war has taught us considerable concerning typhoid fever. There were failures in ability to make correct diagnosis, and secondly there was a lack of observance of hygienic principles. The teachers in the schools have a great deal to account for. The young surgeons were graduates and were taught, but they made mistakes. Malaria was called typhoid, and typhoid was considered as malaria, and, unfortunately, the term "typhoid malaria" still persisted. This was the result of imperfect teaching, and a demand for better instruction must be made. The defect in not carrying out the ordinary hygienic principles shows the effect of poor instruction in the schools. A certificate should be given for special instruction taken in this line. All public health officers should be possessed of a diploma. Advance had been made in the isolation of the typhoid bacillus -one observer advocating the use of urine as an adjunct to the nutrient media. By this method it may be isolated and distinguished from the colon bacillus. This can be done in twenty-four hours, which is sooner than by the Widal reaction test. The connection between the mosquito and malaria had been shown. The bacteriologists of this part of the country should investigate and ascertain as to the form of mosquito which has the influence here: whether it is the dappled-winged mosquito, or possibly others which may have that influence. Van Wyck declares that malaria exists without the presence of mosquitoes, and it suggests that there may be other insects which are instrumental in causing the transmission of this disease. Diphtheria antitoxin only neutralizes, there being only an indirect influence upon the disease. Yellow Fever.-This subject would come for consideration before the general sessions of the Association. It should be our duty to find out if the Sanarelli bacillus is the organism accompanying this disease. The speaker regarded the question as still open. It may belong to the hog-cholera group. Amoebic Dysentery.-A bacillus had been found in association with this condition, which had rather shaken the belief in the amoeba as a causative factor. This bacillus appeared before the amoeba, and might be considered as secondary to the presence of the bacillus. The speaker, however, did not relinquish the belief in the amoeba. The ground should be gone over again. Preventative and Curative Inoculations. It is only curative when we have demonstrated a practical utility, as has been done in the use of antitoxine of diphtheria, and possibly in antivenine. As regards the streptococcus and tetanus, there was much doubt as to the utility of the antitoxines in these cases. It emphasizes the fact that this use of these antitoxines should be placed entirely upon an experimental basis, and should not be left to the hands of the physician to determine the results and effects. This method was adopted in introducing the Koch tuberculin with ill results. Haffkein's inoculations against plague and that against rabies are well founded, and fairly good results were being obtained in typhoid fever. From the results derived from the agglutination process described by Pfeiffer, it is suggested that immunity may be obtained, and while general vaccination is not applicable to the general public, yet would be desirable in cases of epidemics, or in cases of armies which are to be exposed to any particular disease and where numbers are massed together and exposed to the presence of this disease. In disinfection the most important part is that which applies to rooms and dwellings. At present there is considerable dissatisfaction. One difficulty is the great unpopularity of the procedure. If we can render the process more simple it will be welcomed. It is a question whether it is necessary at all in some cases, such as conditions where the urine and faeces are the source of the contagion, since this material is not likely to find its way to the walls of the room. It is otherwise when the masterius morbi comes from the mouth. It has been demonstrated that the fine spray projected from the mouth can float in the air and be carried to other location: as in diphtheria and tuberculosis. In such cases a more thorou disinfection is demanded. In the exanthemata, disinfection is est cially indicated. The method of procedure is one of question. Formaldehyde has been advanced as a useful means of disinfection, but there has been some apprehension as to the results being reliable and the expense of the apparatus has been a difficulty. The process is not yet thoroughly understood nor the part played by the presence of moisture on the air and the reaction of polarization. Sewerage Disposal.—The biological treatment of sewage as carried on in the Massachusetts experiments, and which are now being perfected in England, show that the action of the nitrifying bacteria will in a short time be utilized to accomplish the nitrification which now takes place in the upper layers of the soil. Differentiation of Species. It would be preferable if we should determine the difference in groups, as we have at present the hogcholera and the Sanarelli groups. There is the colon group and the typhoid group. We should be cautious about declaring a distinct species. An individual organism may vary its character under different reactions. Dr. Westbrook, of the Minnesota State Board of Health, reported the "Results of Studies Upon the Distribution of Certain Varieties of Diphtheria Bacillus," attention being called to a case where continued examination of throats of children in an institution had been made, diphtheria having made its appearance. The children were under strict control and were isolated as it was deemed desirable, in detention wards. This made it possible to keep the different throats under observation without any outside influences to modify the conditions. Cultures were taken from the nose as well as the throat in every case, and the bacilli were found in the nose with remarkable frequency; so much so, that it would seem as if it should be a requirement to obtain a negative culture from the nose as well as from the throat, before dismissal from quarantine. In a large percentage of the cases there was found morphological differences in the appearance of the bacillus. This led to the separation of the cases into groups in which certain bacilli of a certain difference in formation would be maintained in individual cases, and in others the organisms would change as the disease progressed. These forms were found in a large number of the children in whom appeared no active clinical phenomena, such as fever and the presence of membrane. The impression derived from these conditions was that these cases had possibly been slowly |