Rare Collection

THIS little book is an enlargement of a previous work by the same author, and should prove of the utmost use 16 those for whom it is written. The exact knowledge concerning the epidemiology of malariæ which has been attained during the last six or seven years has made clear the principles upon which the disease may be prevented in the individual and perhaps exterminated in the locality. The wide dissemination of these principles and of the facts upon which they are based is the next obvious step in the campaign against malaria, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has done good service in the publication of this work. Within the short compass of some seventy pages we find a lucid and succinct account of the nature and life-history of the malarial parasite, of the habits and life-histories of the gnats which serve as its definitive hosts, of the precautions to be taken to avoid infection, and of the elementary treatment of the disease should it be acquired. In short, nothing is wanting that should enable an intelligent man, even if devoid of any scientific training, to escape malaria, even where it is most virulently endemic. The writer's wide experience, and the important share which he has taken in building up our knowledge of the disease and its propagation, are a sufficient guarantee of the accuracy of his information and of the practical value of his rules for guidance. There is a consensus of practical experience that, by attention to the rules here set forth, a man may safely pass through countries where malaria of the most dangerous type prevails. We recommend the book heartily to all who have occasion to sojourn in such lands.

In 1903 Hiss and Russell described their Bacillus Y which fermented mannite and maltose. From this time the confusion of the mannite-fermenting organisms dates, the custom being established of comparing the reactions on sugar-media of freshly isolated strains with those of strains which had been isolated years previously. It was not recognized that the powers of the recently isolated organism to attack sugars could difier from those exhibited by the organism after a prolonged saprophytic existence. The method had the apparent recommendation of simplicity, other sugars were added to the list and practically every investigator found it possible in this way to create new varieties of the dysentery bacillus. Investigators have consistently sought for the causative organisms of dysentery and allied conditions among the non-lactose fermenters. As regards the etiological significance of these organisms the evidence is by no means complete, but the results of numerous investigations make their connexion with the disease probable.

Western medicine has begun a reckoning with its inconvenient pasts, from dethroning medical heroes to an increasing awareness of how doctors have treated colonized and enslaved populations. A statue of the “father of modern gynecology,” J. Marion Sims, was removed from New York City’s Central Park in 2018 after protestors in “blood-spattered” hospital gowns objected to glorifying a doctor who experimented on enslaved Black women (Figure 1).1 In 2020, the release of video recorded by Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who died in a Quebec hospital as nurses repeated racial slurs, sparked street protests. Medical students at the University of Pittsburgh are rewriting their Hippocratic oath to include a commitment to social justice. Medical journals, professional medical associations and public health authorities in several North American cities have declared structural racism a public health crisis.

The continued and active investigations in immunology pro duce always new scientific facts and views which are of great importance to the practitioner. This is particularly true of the allergic reactions, of the sero-diagnostic methods, and of the development of methods for protective immunization as well as their practical valuation and application; all these subjects have been considered more especially in the chapters 011 tuberculosis, glanders, infectious abortion, and swine plague.

This book was written primarily to furnish information concerning the mosquitoes on the islands of Mauritius and Rodriquez, but it will undoubtedly prove to be valuable to all field workers interested in mosquitoes. The book is divided into three sections. The first of these deals with the general classification, anatomy and life history of mosquitoes. This will serve as an admirable introduction to the accounts found in the more technical treatises. The second section describes the characters and bionomics of the local mosquitoes of the two islands. Four species of anophelines and fifteen species of culicines have been found in Mauritius, but no anophelines and only three culicines have been found on the sister island of Rodriquez. Although the general usefulness of the book would have been increased had other species been described, the hopelessness of making any general selection for a small handbook is evident when it is recalled

The identification of adult female anopheline mosquitoes is an important aspect in malaria surveillance and control strategy throughout the world, and taxonomic keys are being regularly revised and updated as new information becomes available. However, the currently available key to the anophelines of Sri Lanka is of limited use, because they were published more than 25 years ago. This paper presents an illustrated key for the identification of 23 adult female Anopheles mosquitoes which are currently recognized as local anopheline species in Sri Lanka.

PROF. SHELFORD is one of the best-known American students of animal ecology. It will be remembered that, more than twenty years ago, he published a number of studies on the relations between the larvae of tiger-beetles and the soil and vegetation on the shores of lakes near Chicago, and that more recently he and his associates have been concerned in the study of the relation between the codlin moth and climate. From field work of this type he has progressed in the direction of controlled work in the laboratory. He has not tried to study the animals as a physiologist would, by isolating factors and devising ‘good experiments’ in which one factor only is allowed to vary. On the contrary, he holds that the ecologist in his laboratory should aim at reproducing the complex, varying, cyclic conditions of Nature. This is a legitimate view, but it is not in accordance with the general scientific maxim that work should proceed from the analysis of simple controlled experiments to the synthesis of more complicated conditions. Parts of Prof, Shelford's book describe the extremely complex and expensive plant, designed to give complete control of temperature, atmospheric humidity, and other factors, and to provide a great variety of combinations of them.

Rapid identification (ID) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of the causative agent(s) of bloodstream infections (BSIs) are essential for the prompt administration of an effective antimicrobial therapy, which can result in clinical and financial benefits. Immediately after blood sampling, empirical antimicrobial therapy, chosen on clinical and epidemiological data, is administered. When ID and AST results are available, the clinician decides whether to continue or streamline the antimicrobial therapy, based on the results of the in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the pathogen. The aim of the present study is to review and discuss the experimental data, advantages, and drawbacks of recently developed technological advances of culture-based and molecular methods for the diagnosis of BSI (including mass spectrometry, magnetic resonance, PCR-based methods, direct inoculation methods, and peptide nucleic acid fluorescence in situ hybridization), the understanding of which could provide new perspectives to improve and fasten the diagnosis and treatment of septic patients. Although blood culture remains the gold standard to diagnose BSIs, newly developed methods can significantly shorten the turnaround time of reliable microbial ID and AST, thus substantially improving the diagnostic yield.

Ruminants continue to be important in their traditional role in agricultural research and teaching. They are now also extensively used for studies in molecular biology; genetic engineering; and biotechnology for basic science, agricultural and clinical applications. Concern and interest for the welfare for these species and improved understanding of their biology and behavior have continued and are reflected in changing husbandry and management systems. This chapter addresses at high levels basic biology, husbandry, and the more common or important diseases of the three ruminant species used most commonly in the laboratory, namely sheep, goats and cattle.

F1920, the British Museum published a “Handbook of British Mosquitoes” by Dr. W. D. Lang; it set up a new standard in its figures, attention to early stages and in other ways. That book has now been replaced by Mr. Marshall's, which, though it owes much to its forerunner, is definitely a new book and in many ways an advance on extant works on mosquitoes. It is a matter of some interest to notice that both these books have been written by men who might claim the distinction of being amateurs. The author of the first, a palæontologist, was asked under the stress of war to produce a monograph on these insects. The author of the second, an engineer who found that salt marsh mosquitoes were uncomfortable neighbours, turned his mind first to control and, through that, to scientific study.