In most European countries the geographical distribution of simple goiter is known from the number of men who are rejected on this account for military service(1,2). There are no similar figures for Britain but what is known about its probable incidence has been discussed by Hirsch(2) and by Berry(3) and in a more recent paper, where it was also shown that there was a geographical distribution of the deaths from “exophthalmic goiter” as recorded in the Registrar General's reports(5). There were still many gaps in our knowledge, especially as regards simple goiter, but there appeared to be some tendency for deaths from “exophthalmic goiter” to be more frequent in areas where goiter was endemic, thought this was contrary to the evidence of most parts of the world where goiter was seriously endemic.

An experiment recently described in this Journal (Greenwood, Newbold, Topley and Wilson, 1926) dealt with the after–life of mice that had been previously exposed to epidemic pasteurellosis, and led to the following deductions:

“We think we have proved—

(1) That the survivors of herd-exposure to epidemic pasteurellosis are more resistant to subsequent exposure than healthy animals not previously exposed to risk.

(2) That this superiority is significantly correlated both with length of previous exposure independently of its severity, and with severity of previous exposure apart from its duration.

We think it is probable that—

(3) The severity of the prior exposure as measured by the average deathrate during the period of exposure, is less important than the length of exposure.

(4) The advantage of exposure at first increases with its duration and then decreases, so that mice who have been exposed for a moderate time are more resistant to subsequent exposure than mice who have been exposed for a very short or a very long time.”

The results of an independent experiment, similar in kind, with the difference that the after-life and previous exposure took place in a single cage, and covering 1867 mice, support(1), (3) and (4) of the above deductions, also (2) so far as it relates to length of previous exposure, but the severity of previous exposure apart from its duration shows a negative but insignificant association with improved expectation of after-life. These results are in agreement with the suggestion inspired by the experiment previously described. “That these facts are difficult to interpret in terms of pure selection and more easily reconciled with a process of active immunization during the primary exposure, but that the nature of this process will remain obscure until we have more experimental data at our disposal.”

1. A case of the septicaemic form of melioidosis is recorded from Cochin China.

2. Certain new biological characters of the causative agent, B. whitmori, are described.

3. An animal origin of the infection in this case is considered probable.

The biological characters, and pathological effects in animal inoculation, of a strain of B. whitmori from Saigon are described. It is the most virulent strain of the organism from a human source that has so far been encountered. The case from which the organism was recovered was an example of the septicaemic from of melioidosis.

A race-horse, which had been imported into the Malay States from Australia, got out of condition and occasionally coughed up thick pus. Five specimens of pus were brought to the laboratory between February and July, 1925, and on each occasion B. whitmori was isolated from it. The blood of the horse agglutinated the standard strain of B. whitmori in high dilutions. The morpho-logical characters, and the biological reactions of the organism isolated from the horse were the same as those of the type strain (Ragaviah) of B. whitmori; and cross-agglutination and cross-absorption tests showed that they were identical. The strain was highly pathogenic for guinea-pigs and rats. The horse was killed in September, 1926, eighteen months after B. whitmori was first isolated from the nasal pus. No active lesions were found at autopsy and B. whitmori was not isolated from the organs.

Pneumonia in well known to be extremely fatal at both extremes of life. In 1923 it was the cause of 3671 deaths per million living at ages under 5 years; between ages 5–24 the death-rate fell to 177 and rose to 376 at ages 25–44. after 45 the increase was rapid and the death-ate reached 2279 per million living for the ago group 65–74 and 4100 for all ages over 75 years.

In 1921 Arkwright described two distinct types of colonies which appeared when cultures of Bacillus dysenteriae Shiga were plated on agar. One which he called the “rough” type had a coarsely granular surface rather like morocco leather, and an irregular margin. The other which he called the “smooth” type had a regular edge and a smooth surface. He found the same differentiation into rough and smooth colonies occurred among other member of the group, in B. typhosus, in B. paratyphosus B, and in B. enteritidis Gaertner. Since then these two types of colonies have been described in many other organisms; in streptococci by Cowan, in pneumococci by Griffith and by Reimann, in pasteurella by de Kruif, in meningococcu and gonococcus by Atkin, in the cholera vibrio by Shousha.

The correlation of high goitre incidence in New Zealand with low soil iodine having been established previously, the distribution of iodine in its relationship to the goitre problem is further considered in this study. The method of analysis used throughout has been that of Th. V. Fellenberg, with certain minor modifications. The findings are summarised as follows:

1. In a general survey of the iodine content of foodstuffs in New Zealand, it has been shown that the foods richest in iodine, arranged in descending order of iodine content, are edible seaweed, sea fish, eggs, wholemeal cereal products, leafy vegetables and milk. Refined cereal products, root vegetables, and fruits are shown to be of low iodine content. Dried foods contain more iodine than the corresponding fresh foods.

2. A comparative study of the iodine content of foodstuffs from goitrous and non-goitrous districts establishes the fact that the soil-iodine is accurately reflected in the food-iodine.

3. The difference in the daily iodine intake in the food supply of typical goitrous and non-goitrous districts is calculated to be 14·35 micrograms.

4. The iodine content of certain vegetables and animal foods is shown to present a well-marked seasonal variation. The maximum iodine content of vegetable matter is reached in the late autumn and winter when growth is at a minimum. In the case of eggs the maximum is reached in summer, in milk in the spring. In the latter case calving and lactation are shown to be disturbing factors of importance.

5. Cooking is shown to have little effect on the reduction of the iodine content of root vegetables, seaweed, fish and bread, but to reduce the content of green vegetables by about two-thirds.

6. Commercial salt is shown to be an unreliable source of iodine supply, the majority being practically iodine-free.

7. Tobacco smoke is a negligible source of iodine supply.

8. The iodine content of the artificial manures commonly used in New Zealand is determined, and their probable effect on the content of crops is calculated.

9. The iodine adsorptive powers of different types of soils is estimated experimentally. Loam is shown to have marked retentive powers for soluble iodides. In clay the retention is less and in sand nil.

10. Experimental studies on the influence of iodine-rich manures on plant life are presented.

11. A well-defined relationship is shown to exist between goitre incidence and iodine excretion in the urine.

12. The iodine content of human milk in the goitrous woman is shown to be lower than in the non-goitrous, and a relationship is shown to exist between the amount of iodine excreted in the urine and milk during lactation.

13. The flesh of fish is shown to vary in iodine content according to its “iodine environment.”

14. Small amounts of potassium iodide added to the diet of various animals is shown to increase the iodine content of the thyroid glands and of the food products.

15. Certain intestinal bacteria are studied in regard to their power of absorbing iodine from an alkaline medium rich in iodine with negative results.

16. Certain data with regard to the iodine content of the thyroid glands of various animals are submitted which suggest that certain animals can live on a lower iodine threshold than man without developing goitre.

1. Without exception, ninety-eight strains of haemolytic streptococci isolated from scarlet fever cases have been found to produce a toxic principle which in high dilutions is capable of evoking a cutaneous reaction in sus ceptible persons.

2. A certain proportion of haemolytic streptococci from other sources possess a similar toxigenic property. In the majority of such cases this property is only weakly developed as judged by quantitative tests. In a few instances a “toxin” is produced which is equally active with that of scarlatina strains.

3. Certain non-scarlatina strains produce “toxins” which evoke a cutane ous reaction both in known positive reactors and also in persons who do not react to a standard toxin from a scarlatina strain.

4. In the majority of cases the toxins produced by scarlatina strains are neutralised by the scarlatina antitoxic sera at present being used for therapeutic purposes, but a certain proportion of such toxins are not in the neutralised

5. The “toxins”produced by non-scaralation strains are in the majority of cases neutralised by the antitoxic sera.

Although the common cold may appear to form a relatively trivial constituent of the mass of acute respiratory disease, which presents the student of preventive medicine with one of his most difficult and pressing problems, the total sickness and incapacity to which it gives rise is by no means small; and there are adequate reasons for regarding it as the occasional precursor of far more serious troubles. It is, therefore, not without interest to enquire, whether or no those procedures, which are commonly recommended as possessing prophylactic value, can make good their claim when submitted to an adequate test. The enquiry here recorded suffers from the fact that the total number of individuals at risk was relatively small; but the answer to the main question posed is so unambiguous, and accords so well with the results obtained in the only other adequate tests of which we have knowledge, that it seems desirable that it should be briefly recorded. It is possible, also, that some little interest attaches to the figures of frequency, duration and severity of common colds within a particular community