1. The vertical distribution of bacteria has been determined in Windermere (north and south basins), Thirlmere, and Esthwaite Water; these lakes are oligotrophic bodies of water in the English Lake District. Studies on the horizontal distribution of bacteria have been confined to the north basin of Windermere.

2. Bacterial counts at the mouth of the main river flowing into Windermere were about 200 times as great as counts in samples of water from the lake at a distance of 200 m. offshore from the point of entry of the river. In general there was a gradual decrease in numbers of bacteria with increasing distance from this 200 m. point but such decreases were relatively insignificant.

3. During the winter period of circulation of water in the lakes numbers of bacteria were approximately the same at all depths on any one occasion. When the water in the lakes was stratified, however, the numbers of bacteria decreased with increasing depth in the epilimnion, but below the thermocline the numbers were approximately the same at all depths, except in the layer of water immediately above the mud where the bacterial population was somewhat greater.

4. Progressive depletion of dissolved oxygen with depth in the hypolimnion during the summer months did not stimulate the growth of anaerobic bacteria, nor was the degree of depletion related to numbers of bacteria.

5. Periodic fluctuations in numbers of bacteria which took place at all depths were found to be directly correlated with the amount of rain which had fallen in the drainage area during the week before the samples were taken. The correlation is most significant during the winter months, possibly on account of the high rainfall during those months. During the summer the relation was most marked in the upper layers of Windermere north basin, but in the lower layers to which rain had no access there was no correlation. In the south basin of Windermere, where the bacterial population has become more stable, numbers were not affected by the relatively small summer rainfall. There are indications that short early summer fluctuations in numbers of bacteria unrelated to rainfall may be related to maxima in algal growth.

6. Changes in the temperature and concentration of inorganic substances in the lake waters have not shown any relation to fluctuations in the bacterial population, nor has any noticeable bacteriostatic effect of sunlight been apparent.

The study of the bacteria of natural waters is dependent on a simple and effective sampling technique. Any routine sampling procedure designed to obtain a vertical series of samples at one station must not only exclude any possibility of contamination of the sampling vessel and its contents while it is lowered to, and raised from, the depth at which the sample is taken, but must also be capable of straightforward operation on a boat or ship under rough conditions. The sampling vessels should be of a standard, interchangeable and robust pattern, and their preparation and sterilization should be a matter of simple routine. It should be possible to use them repeatedly and they should be of sufficient capacity to permit physical and chemical as well as a bacteriological examination of the sample.

1. During a period of 1 year the incidence of infection with haemolytic streptococci was determined among children on admission to, and during residence in, the children's wards of University College Hospital, London.

2. The increased incidence among those in residence, 13·1% of whom acquired haemolytic streptococci during their stay, was due principally to outbreaks of infection by these organisms. By the slide agglutination method the majority of strains could be assigned to one or other of Griffith's thirty types and the presumed path of their spread studied.

3. The source of the infection in most of the outbreaks was not ascertain-able from the data collected, but in general it did not appear to be in the patients themselves.

4. With a few exceptions, isolation by cubicles was an effective measure in preventing the spread of haemolytic streptococci.

5. In general the haemolytic streptococci seemed to spread from patient to patient, though the exact mode of spread was not ascertained.

6. The clinical manifestations of infection by any one type of haemolytic streptococcus was varied, e.g. wound suppuration, sore throat, pyrexia, otitis media. Many of the infections were “latent”.

7. In addition to the haemolytic streptococcal outbreaks, there were two outbreaks of diphtheria (fifteen patients), two of Bact. sonnei dysentery (ten patients and one nurse), one of catarrhal jaundice (one patient and three nurses), six cases of intercurrent gastro-enteritis of infancy and one case of measles.

8. In all, at least 104 (or 18·9%) of the 551 patients of these wards developed intercurrent infections, manifest or latent, during their stay in hospital.

Both controls became infected, the glands of the alimentary tract showing widespread lesions and some dissemination, slight in one, a little more extensive in the other.

Of the nine vaccinated calves, five were found to have trivial tuberculous lesions in the glands adjoining the alimentary tract and four showed no macroscopic lesions, either in the glands of the alimentary tract or elsewhere.

Living bovine tubercle bacilli were not present in emulsions of mesenteric or thoracic glands of two of the four no-lesion calves and were demonstrated in the mesenteric glands but not in a bronchial gland of a third. The pooled glands of the fourth no-lesion calf caused general tuberculosis in two guinea-pigs.

Living bovine bacilli were very sparse in the thoracic glands of two of the calves with trivial lesions in the head or mesenteric glands and were not present in a bronchial gland of a calf which showed a few foci in the mesenteric glands.

Living bovine bacilli were present in lymphatic glands of one calf, but which were the glands that contained them could not be stated, as these were pooled before injection. The mesenteric glands only of the remaining calf were tested and proved infective.

No lesions were found after single vaccinations in three instances (two intravenous and one subcutaneous) and after two vaccinations in one instance, the periods between the single vaccinations and the resistance tests ranging from 2 to 6 months. There seems no advantage, therefore, in giving more than one dose of vole bacilli. The intravenous is, however, preferable to the subcutaneous method, because the former method does not produce an unsightly local lesion.

1. The existing scales of family consumption coefficients are reviewed and an attempt made to determine the sources from which they were developed. In the absence of definite information it was assumed that the majority of previous family coefficients were based upon the physiological requirements of the various age groups.

2. A family food budget survey recorded food purchased by the household. There was no guarantee that this food was eaten by the members of the house-hold in proportions similar to a scale of coefficients based upon physiological requirements.

3. Using the statistical material collected by the Commonwealth Advisory Council on Nutrition a scale of family coefficients based on calories “purchased” has been evolved by a form of statistical treatment which measured the additional food purchased for an additional person. This scale was:

This scale agrees more closely with that advanced by Lusk than any other.

4. Comparisons were drawn between the values obtained in this analysis and the physiological requirements of various age groups. It was found that for men and women and the older children the calories as purchased closely approximated to the physiological requirements, whilst for children of 2–3 years and under 2 years the former were considerably higher.

5. The protein purchased was within the range calculated to satisfy the physiological requirements.

1. The vitamin A and vitamin C contents of Palestinian fresh milk from three different sources were determined at regular intervals during the period February 1938 to March 1939. Between October 1938 and March 1939, these contents were also determined in Jerusalem pasteurized milk.

2. The carotene and vitamin A content of Palestinian milk corresponds to that of American and European stable milk. This is due to insufficiency of green fodder in the diet of Palestinian cattle.

3. Emek milk from the Valley of Jezreel contains more carotene and vitamin A than does the Kiryath Anavim milk from a hill district, owing to the better supply of green fodder in the valley. Milk from a Jerusalem dairy contains less carotene and vitamin A than does the milk from the nearby Kiryath Anavim settlement.

4. All the milks examined show seasonal fluctuations in the carotene and vitamin A content. These variations are in direct relation to the supply of green fodder. The secretion of carotene begins to increase in January to April, according to the source of the milk, and begins to fall in August.

5. The average percentage of carotene to the total vitamin A substances (carotene and vitamin A) ranges between 38 and 50. The ratio carotene to total vitamin A varies seasonally and otherwise in accordance with the total vitamin A in the milk.

6. The vitamin C content of Palestinian milk lies in the same range as that of European and American milks.

7. All milks examined contained considerably more vitamin C during the second than during the first half of the year with a peak in June and July. This increase does not seem to bear any relation to feeding practice.

8. The losses of vitamin A and vitamin C found in pasteurized milk correspond with those given by European and American authors.

9. Transportation of milk over long distances may cause almost complete loss of vitamin C.

Values for the ascorbic acid content of a number of foods sold in diverse markets were determined by titration against 2: 6 dichlorophenolindophenol in acid solution. The results showed that the least expensive material was not necessarily the poorest source of vitamin C and might be more valuable than expensive foods. Samples of cabbage from the cheap market contained 329% as much vitamin C as samples from expensive sources. These results on comparison with figures recorded for fresh garden produce showed that market foods have lost some of their vitamin C content on exposure for sale, but still contain satisfactory amounts of ascorbic acid when purchased.

Results from different samples of fruits and vegetables showed wide variation. No data relating to storage before purchase were available, so limiting figures were used for each food. Mean values were calculated for purposes of comparative tabulation.

The effect of household storage after purchase was noted for foods from inexpensive and fashionable markets. The values obtained showed that the loss of ascorbic acid in foods stored in the home after a period of exposure for sale, though marked, was not as serious as has previously been indicated.

An irregular fall in the ascorbic acid content of some of the material examined was noted and investigated. Wide variations in the amount of ascorbic acid present in different parts of individual fruits and vegetables were observed. In view of experimental results it is recommended that foods be purchased and prepared for consumption immediately before use.

Canned foods from diverse markets were examined to determine their ascorbic acid content, and it was shown that the vitamin is distributed throughout solid and liquid. Although a percentage of vitamin is destroyed on heating, those fruits and vegetables initially high in ascorbic acid retained sufficient vitamin to afford a better, and frequently cheaper, source of vitamin than unheated samples with a low ascorbic acid content. Considerable quantities of vitamin C are lost when the liquid from canned vegetables is discarded. When the syrup from cans is used as well as the fruit the vitamin available to the consumer is frequently greater than the amount yielded by the same weight of raw fruit from market sources.

Raw and canned plant tissues from cheap and expensive sources were compared for their antiscorbutic value in the human diet, and for the cost of the daily requirement at ruling market prices. It was found that a day's ration of ascorbic acid could be purchased at a cost as low as a farthing to as high as a pound.