. . Ger.tler;lon: RXPOKT Or TE!? CIRZCX!R OF 33 HOSPITAL oc to-00 r, 1923. / I In th3 raprt of ths work of th3 Hospital for the pre- codinc ;`o or mention was z&b of th3 chzng2s ir, plz of organizztiori 9e- pendcnt u;?on tha greatar ass of the deFart..GnC, and incrccsed experionca on t>s part of certain nonbars of the s tGf . !?h3 separation of the Hospital activities into several divisions :!DS taken place tithout any serious loss in unity ~322 nitk: `az urAoubt:d gain ir, off3cticznss.s. It is obvious t&t in alinlccll work thz rrut?~l assistance and coaperatior. of the various members of the Staff is of v3ry great importance; indeed, it is quite nocessarJ in order that ths grantest use be pade of the avail- able Trw terial . The spirit of coordinated effort and interest which is de- nrtnded and which has been so evident' in the Hospital in the pait has not diminished and each member df the' Staff has been Gilling to bring his.' special bo>vledge to the $olution of any problem under investigation in any part of the Xospital. As a result of this, a review, such as the `present, describing the activities of the individual poxqzeof wopkers, my not give' ,full credit 50 aa& i-idi-rid-z1 or gmup. For instance, in the study of nephritis, or in t:le study of rcspira$oqT disease, studies tist b6 made . . not Only Of re-na1 fractions or of tha respiration but frequent and care- r;. ., * .' . * : -156, 2~1 studies must be nade of `;he state of' th,a heart as well,. Studies _ of this kind carried on by Dr. Cohn and his associates, not bearing di- . rectly on their own problems, r3ceiveS no sp3cial notice in Dr. G~III'S report, though they may have dglnsnded much time and effort and have been of much value in aiding in tho eolution of the problems under investi- gation in ths Hospital. This fact must be kept in mind when reviewing . tho achievements of the various groups of worksrs. Compared with the previous year many changes have oc- curred in the staff, but thsso have occurred without any serious effect w on the work of the Eosyital. Mention was mado in the last report Of the appointment of a number of the m3n fo positions in other insti- tutlons. The appointmen, + of Dr. Austin, Resident Physician, a8 PrOf3SsOr of Research Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania did not become effective until J;uluary first, so that he was able to continue his duti3S hors until that time. Upon his doparturo his duties as Resident Physi- cian were taken ovar by 3r. Lu2dsg`aard. ZJs long experience as resi- dent physician at ths Hos~;it~l of the University of Copenhagen enabled him to carry on this work her3 with great 3ffcctivencss. However, h3 d3sired to be relieved of his addnistratj.Vo duties and wished to reside outside the Hospital, so Dr. Xugh Morgan has been appointed to the post, of Resident Physician. Dr. Lundsgaard remains a member of the staff and Is engagedSzespeciaJly in,the, Study. of nephritis.. ..: ~ . . , Ye' : ; .: 1 ,, .,. Dr. Edgar Stillman, who for rnw years hss been a nierhb& ' of the Hospital sbaff and has assisted in the work carried on in relation to diabetes, the stxdz: of ch3ro-therapy of sy-hilis an2 more recently the stue of nephritis, has received an appointment as Associate in Medi- cine in Columbia Univcrsit;r and Assistant Visiting Physician at the Pres- byterian Hospital, Dr. Levy, :vho has been associated with Dr. Oo@n in ^ . - -. rl J, t#llC s',ud;- of heart disease, also has left. to accept similar positions at Columbia and ths Presbyterian HosPital. These changes have necessitated several new appointments. It is a great satisfaction to note that the mmber of well-trained CCT! aho desire to undertzke thn, kind of work for which the Hospital rrr~kc3 Frovision is imch greater no:v than it WCS im- mediately following the \':isr. Xs a result, it has been possible to com- plete the staff for noxt yea r vdth a group of well-trained, enthusias- tic a&, apparently, capable young men. nvo new undertakings are nbv under way in tho Hospital , the results of which, however, will have to wait for a later report. Tha two developznents may be nzmtioncd, however. First, the character of th8 studies which are being conducted in relation to heart disease is being modified, and this has necossitatcd a reorganization of the group of men working under Dr. Cohn and a considerable change In the labora tory equipment o Dr. Hews A. !.lurray, who has received an ap- pointznent on the Hospital staff, will undertake the culture of heart tissue in vitro with the purpose of using this growing tissue in the solution of. certain probl,ems relating to the physiology and @th010&~ of thi heart,. The second important enterprise consists in undertaking the study of chi &en-pox. This study is not being conducted because . . of any very great social or economic importance of the disease itsslf, but it is believed that further knowledge concerning its etiology and . nature may have wide application to our knowledge of other contagious di seaqe s . This work will. be czrried on directly by Dr. Thom%s Rivers, who comes from the Pathological Department of Johns Hopkins University, with the assistance of Dr. William S. Tille tt . With these new projects well under way and with a prom- L . islrz outlook .for prograss in the solution of problems previously under investigation great hopes are entertained for the success of the coming year. Inquiry by visitors and others is frequently rade COP cening the methods we employ for ob"%ining patients suitnblc for the studies being carried on. Very soon after the Uospital was opened it became apparent that thsre wore pmctical difficulties in the way of . obtaining ptients .through other hospitals and it was found that it would be necessary to dehend upon practicing physicians to refer to the HOSpital the kind of patients desired. For the purpose of getting into contact with these physicians and of informing them of the types of pa- tients vie wish to admit, we began the practice of sending bulletins from time to time to all the physicians in New York. I am attaching the latest Bulletin which gives information concerning the diseases which it is planned to investigate during ths coming winter. The response on the part of physicians in the past has been most satisfactory, and on the part of the public there has never been the least evidence of fear or distrusgtrar.disincfination to come to this Hospital because one of its functions ia, to aid in the investigation of disease. ?' ", 169 . ;--. ? ? o ?? FORM 80-1OM NO. 1s The Hospital of The Rockefeller Iwsfitute for Medical Research confines its work to selected cases that bear u)on a limited number of mtbjrcts chosen for irlvesfigatiotr. It is the practice to issue Bullefins frown time to time, giving notice of subjecfs thus chLsen, in order that suitable pafirnfs may be referred to the Hospital by physicians and othirs ~~,ho are itrtercstcd and who are willing to co-operate in this way. No chorgcs are made for freafmenf, room, Do&d, or any other services. HOSPITAL OF THE ROCKEFELLER INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH 46th Street and Avenue A. New York, N. Y. BULLETIN OF DISEASES UNDER INVESTIGATION September 30, 1922 The following conditionr will be the subject of study in this Hospital during the coming winter; patients suffering from there diueascr ~$1 be admitted to the extent of the Hospital facilities: 1. Acute Rheumatic Fever. (I) Patients with acute rheumatic polyarthritir. (2) Children during the acute stages of recurring endocarditis, pericarditis, or myocarditis of supposed rheumatic origin. (3) Paticntr with chorca and arthritic or cardiac involvement. (4) Patients with rheumatic fever showing rubcutaneous nodules. I I. Nephritis. Patients suffering from acute nephritis or from chronic nephritis of moderate severity, also a few casea with arterial hypertension unassociated with evidence of kidney diaeaae, will be admitted. Casa of nephritis in young persons, particularly caru showing edema, are especially suitable. I I I, Chicken-Pox. Patienta with chicken-pox will be admitted to the Iaolation Ward of this Hospital for care and treatment. It is desired that patients be referred as early in the disease as possible. IV. Acute Pulmonary Infections, including Acute Lobar Pneumonia. It is desired to receive patienta n&ring from atypieal fours of acute infection of the respiratory tract as well' as those with acute lobar pneumonia. Patienta with the latter condition should be referred as early in the disease as- possible in order that suitable cases may receive the greatest benefit from serum treatment. A chamber ir now avail- able in which patients may be treated in atmospheres rich in oxygen. b V. * Cardiac Disease. . In continuing the study of the treatment of chronic heart disease, it is planned to admit patients, either young or old. in the more advanced stages of heart failure. Such patients aa show completely irregular pulse and are s&ring from fibrillation of the auricles are especially desired. Physicians may communicate with the Hospital by telephone (Rhinelander 0900) or by pumml application to the Resident Physician. An ambulance will be rent promptly when required. 8 . . ;"b I i I :`i:is study beg3n sovcral ysars ago 3ith an investigation of lobar pneumonia, one of thz objcc ts bzing the dovclo~z~?;;: cf a speci- This iZ;v?L?i,,~.tiOX resulted in the accumul~tior. of more accuruto PmwloCg~ concorning the b:actoria concerned, ths dcvclosment of IX Cods Tar ctot2minir.g `,hc bs:terial incitant in c=ch individual case an> ths devsloprzn t of a me tkod of se;yun trzntmcnt effective in the cases associated with tho prasonco of one kini of bcrctzria. During thJ Frogrcss of t;lzsa st-;di>s it Secnme increasingly evident that lobxr pnoumcniz, of pnour,:ococcus origin, should not bc studied as an isolated phenomenon but that it is related, certainly as regards p%thogenesis, to a whole series of infections of the resr,ixatoT tract, some severe, others very mild in their oznifestations. Moreover, during the years this study has bcln in ~ro3m3s the character of t'ne prevailing pncu- . mania has varied greatly . This has been dus to some extent to the un- usual conditions brought about by the war, and also by the prevalence of so-called influenza in epidemic fopA, but, in addition, other factore have probably also been operating. It was therefore thought necessary ._ tq greatly broaden the score of this inquiry if a clear conception of the " ._ nature of this group of diseases was to be obtained. This explains why during the past year the studies which have been pursued have taken sev- eral different directions. Although in the following description the studies may appear somewhat xlrclatad, nevertheless they represent work necessary to be done before progross may be made in the general problem under inveati- gation. It has corn3 to ba generally held that in acute lobar . pncuiionio infection takes place by xay of th> respiratory tract. There is sorns ovidcnce t!zt in tho ca3s 0; p,;o*monia ~522 to Pmumococcus me I an.l `Qpo II. infection 1s S-irly dircc:, that is, is spread i'-ror~ tha sic'k to the ~rell `,hraugk fsir1; r?irsct contact. T7-a chief b;,?sis for the latter point of viz\-1, V;hizh i.2.s a -tar-- i:.Foi-tanf bearing on the pro- blen of pnmmoni~, i3 the wcrk of Stillman., diskssod IL t >rcvious re- port, by xhich 1 t ~733 shown t%t pnsumocoxi of thcso t>;)eo are found t nroly in the mouths of the healthy, and then chiefly in thz mouths of parsons in ir.z*dic?te contxt with patioilts suffering from pneumonia dw to t>e same tnc of pncumococcus. Few, if pnau~ococci of these types do not have a wide distribution apart from disease, the impor",ance of She mere presence Of th ese organisas An the respiratory tract bccomss emphasized. The eq23rin2ntil studie; of Blak and Cecil, however, indicate ti%: ex-en ;vit> pneumococci of these fixed types, infection does . not occur uniess the cocci gain access to the lower' respiratory tract and that this does not occur unless some accessory factor or factors operate to b&k down a defensive mechanism which ordinarily prevents bacteria reaching the lower re,spiratory tract, t'ie lung itself. The following studies which have been Carried on .by Dr. E, G, Stillman in- dicate that even this alone is not suffiadent,, ,but that probably still other factors must be operating befox infccticn occurs, The foIlowing is a description of these experiments and the results obtained:: Nice and guinea pigs were placed in specially constructed metal chambers and sprayed ~zith cultures of pneumococci, the virulese of which for the test animals `had been previously proved by the &r&e . b ~p~rl',onYLi in5cGitloc of 0 t&r ar_imrels. Cf the 198 mice used in these S,rLjiili exFeri.mezts a 3-4 were kilk:! and autopsied at intervals of from . If `Y to 4% hour5 af tel- spraying. Pneumococci of the same type wrs rd.- covered from the 1%1&s of 19 nice autopsied w:thin 1 hour of so:a?inS-:. titer th5.s period the incidence of recovery of ?neumococci from the lung6 rapidly decreased. Of the mmining 164 xicc viii&? cerc sprayed and allowed to live, all. survived for 10 dzys wit.h :he exception of 5 which died with a pneumococcus soptlcemia. These obsel*~:-~;io~le afford evidence that viruleQt pneumococci following lnhalat,ior. :&W rear:- the l-q-p and may be implanted in the lungs in appr2ci35lc numb~~rs but that in all but a relatively fae instxxcs the. L3r.zncoco7ci ar3 effectively disporad of without inj-3r-y to ths anirrzls. Of 40 mice sprayed with hemolytic streptococci 18 were killed. Hamolytic streptococci y,vero rocovorsd from their lungs regularly up to the 7th hour after exposure, in izlf the mice after the 8th and 12 th hour but not after 24 hours. The heart's blood and spleen cultures were nestive. Of the 21 mica allowd to live, oniy 9 survived 14 days, the remaining 57s dying of a hemolytic streptococcus septicemia on the 2nd to the 12th day. 3' In the case of 33 mice sprayed with non-virulent B, .in- fluenza the recovery of' the organisrils YI~S much more irregular,. B., in- flwnzae was not recovered from either of -2 mice killed at.the end. of. 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 3ours, respectively, after spraying, :but was present in one animal after 70 hours. The heart 1 s ,b&ood ,and ,sp+ecn. cultures re-' mained sterile. All of the mice not, killed survived. the 10 day period of observation, These experiments suggest that even in highly susceptible animals (mice) virulent pneumococci are apparently unable to multiply in . their r6.si.d disposal when. introduced by ssr?,ylng. . 3 This esperimzntal work and also observation of the dis- tributicn an2 spread of the dioease in imn ir,dicrrt,e ths naed for further Study Of tke fZlCtOr6 conccrnod in pnoumococcus pLrnor!ry irfection other thar. t2.e presence iz 20 1ur.g of the pnoumococcus itself. It is pos- sible that those factors may ba sr entirely non-sgocific and m3y have nc'Alng to do with a living virus. Ths other possibility, however, that even a&te lobar pneum0nin may be tho manifestation of a secondary infection mat always be kept in mind, !Fhe discovery by Olitsky and Gates of a new variety of 0~11 bacteria, previouoly overlooked, in certain case6 of influenza has 133. to thd suggestion that those or similar organisms might be sressnt in oti:er t:Ges of acute respiratory diseases, even in lobar Dneumcnia itself , Studio6 bearing on this problem have been carried on by Dr. Avery acd Dr. &rg%n. In this investigation they were for- tunate in having t'nc; si;pport of Dr. Olitsky anil Dr. Gats6. Some time \vas first spent in becoming familiar with the biologic characteristics of the strain of Bacterium pneumosintes ori-, ginally isolated by Dr. O&it&y and Dr., Gates in the epidemic,of in- fiuenza in 19i8-19. The tec`hnique originally employed by them in iso- l.atZng B, pneumosintes was used in naking cultures from G series of cases of mild resptiratory infections occurring during t3e past ainter. Oui- turoa were made both from filtered and unfiltered nasal secretions. L'here have been isolated 14 strains of bacteria having characters which serve to identify them with the group of organisms of which B. pneumo- sintes may represent the type; 7 ware recovered from patients with mild respiratory infections such a6 ltcolds, I1 tracheitis, bronchitis, etc< i 4 stzA-3 v;erz rcco-zrad :_`p?:n one p.ienk witk brsncSo-~~ne-~lonla, culture& 3ei:lg m.de at weekly intervals during the mozth of convalescence and the three o thar strains were obtajned from patients in whom tha clinical di- agnosis of influenza was rmxdo. All the strains posSoss in commo?~ the following characteristics: they are ~~11, Gram negative bacilli, are strictly anaerobic, and were cultivated directly from th3 filtrates of USC pharyngeal vmshings after passsga throu@ Berkfeld candles "VI' - that la, they were filter-passing in the form in which they existed baforo artificial cultivation. Variations in morphology and seralogic reactions sug- gest that these strains differ in certain characters from B. pru%mosintos. Further study of the cultural and im;nulological properties of these recently isolated organisms is necessaq, however, before any certain opinions can be give.. q as to their identity with or similarity to the strain of B. pneurmsintes originally isolated. It is interesting that in several instances the bacteria were isolated from cultures made di- rzctly from filtered washings on blood agar plates. The possibility of chance conteunination from kidney tissue, ascitic fluid, or animal pas- aage ,%yas thus e&i.+tsd. Vbatever c&tion these strains , and others `.,. that my (iubseqwnti;y be isolated, may bear to one another or to the _' : - Original E, $neumosintes, and whatever may eventually be proved as to , 4 their causal relationship to acute respiratory disease, ,it has been demnattited that ba$teri& of this hitherto unknown and'unrecognised type are frequently present in the respiratory tract. ,SO far organisms of this type have hot been isolated from patierlts suffering from acute lobar pneumonia. Nevertheless, the dis- covery Of the incitants of the milder infections of the upper respiratory tEUA, which SO often precede pneumonia, would undoubtedly go far in Lol-Anz tLe i2ro-9lerfl 02 t'ne patilogenes* i of pneumonia. Studies alon. these 3pe ,$l..J,lar lines are in progress i?rLj. vii!.1 be -srsued during t`ne coming wi:iter. Gro.:th ~e?Arem:pts of 5,jnfluencae and other Bacteria. In tho last report, there YCIC dirczsscd certain studies of Dr. Aver= an,?, 3r. T;jc:tr. +Lc'.= >a;- rosultei i:l tLe di~c~v~r~ that ths grorvth stiumla',ir,- effe:+, of blo~?~ on 3. Influenza was dependent on ~JO se,unEblo RA?! LI scinz! factors, one in a vitamin-like substance, and the ctiler a heat stablo subs*&nce a0tir.g in extre:.iely low concentntion. Thqr furthemro stimci :hat both of these factors are found in certiin plant tisaucs (Poe&to anl bara:*). 3r. Lvaq~ and Dr. L1orgc.n during the p%st ysrr 2'klvS grX+.tQ* extended theso observations. mey have sholva that yellow and white turnip, czrro t, beet, parsnip, nrxl z:ee t potato, when added to fl-aid media possess the same growth stirxilating action as does white potato. Moreover, they have found that these vegetable tissues not only permit `&e culti-Tation of the so-called hemoglobinophilic organisms, . but t&at they aiso greatly favor the growtii of other entirely unrelated or*ni sms . . For instance, in the case of pneumocoecus, not only is there a marked kc&eration of growth in media contsinlng fresh vegetables, but ( `,;, : , 5 \ -3' i. `. "5 I a seeding, too minute in itself to initiate growth in plain broth alone, .;i. will amply suffice `to Induce abundant multiplioa.tlon in the sake medium to which small pieces of sterile, unheated vegetable &we been'added. Moreover, in the slant tissue medium th3 zone of $,Jrogen ion concen- tmtiozi ~1 tYi~ i-lhich grovrth can be initiatscl is conside:%bly extanded begorxi t3e lirits of the range in ordinary 3oulllon. Ii1 a&lition cartair ot`ner bacteria, Which ordinarily fail to grow: in cha presence of free oxygen, nrultiply in a medixx containing fresh plant ti ssua even though, no precautions are taken to exclude aif, It :s evident, therefore,, E J .tbat the pk6enca `in media of certain substances contained in fresh plant tissue not only sqplies the necessary factors for growth of the hemcglobinophilic bcilli but furnishes the necessary require- ,. 1 ments for the cultitntion of other bacteria which ordinarily multiply only under .certzin restricted conditions. The exact nature of the substances contained in plant .tissue upon which these properties depend is not yet detedned, but the studies so fzr node suggest that the growth inducing properties are related to the presence of certain oxidizing and reducing enzymes in fresh plant tissues ae well aa to the presence of so-called accessory food substances . Chemical Basis af Methemo~tlobin Formation b?? Pneumococci. : Dr. Av6~ and Dr, Mor@n. : On6 .of the most btriking and characteristic properties of pneumococci is the effect which they produce on hemoglobin, chang- ing it into methemoglobin, This is made evident by the change in color which the merJi~+ under&es when p~urno&eci .are .cultivated on blood rosdium. This ph6ncmk~n ha6 famed the ba6Zs of considerable study in this.Hospital in the p@lt, as. ika6 thought pqsqIble that it had ., .* a.mch deeper ih.&ficbnce in connection with t&e'.problem of infection . ?h+ Ai lobvioue at first d&t. . I `_ In studying t+ pb3nomenon several~ ' . years a@ Dr. Idle -found that change .f rom hetig$?bin to methemoilobin _ ,. ' occurred only when livin& :organiams .were present, and it seemed that @ the reaction was-clo$aly related to growth phenomena and could not be induced .by extracts or filtrates of. the organisms. Avery and Cullen during later studies on enzymes of tho pneumococcus =de observations which indicated that under certain co-n- ditions tho tnnsforzz,tion of hemoglobin into mzthemoglobin might be in- duced by extracts of pneumococci or filtrates of the cultures, no living organisms being present. In other words, it sezmed that the reaction Is probabi;r dw to a substai%ce, probably a ferment, which might be sepa- rated from the bacteriai ~311s. During the past yccr Dr. Avo ry and Dr. Morgan have nude still further observations which ar3 highly suggestive that this pheno- menon nqr be &.IB to a simple inorganic substance formad in thG culture medium during the growth of pncumococcus. On `testing certain pneumococ~us culture filtrates for the power to prod;lce methesw,globin, it was four.1 that while these fil- totes had little or no p wrer to produce the reaction on lalred blood, they very rapidly acted on crystalline hemoglobin in watery solution. !fhis discovery wae U only .?nde possible through the work of Dr. Heidsl- berger who had prepai*ed a large amount of crystalline hemoglobin by a ZXSJ method and primarily for another purpose. They were nwv able to study in detail the action of the filtrates of pneumococcus cultures on P~~ococci and have found that frse access of air to the culture during &with is esSentia1 for' the reacting substance to be formed. %Y have found also that if reducing substances or titalase bo preselit in-the rkiium the fowtion of the reacting substance is entirely in- hibited, or mere likely is `destroyed as rapidly as it is formed.. Further., it has be&found that the `substance first rrakes its appearance during I the period of maximum growth of the organisms, This indicrttes that it is a product of cell metabolism rather than the resultant `of. autolys~s. Th3 readting &&stance is thermolabile, being destroyed by exposure `to the temperature,of boiling water for 15 minutes.. In a medium .in which it has once formed It may persist for several daysi the exact time de-, I I ! I 0 .t gandhg on %a kezct:c;l cf `;hz ~~lt-~`a fluid ;nd khs tempa*tura at which it is prssefied, jcing less stabile in alkaline than acid SO- lution and suffering progressive Loss in potency v;ith expostire to in- crJasir,g tempe nature s . In 3d3ition to Al--c k.SJc propertiea t'his substance gives certain chemical reactions q.Trhick. ate indicative of Its nature. For instance, flltr:.tss of p;le~.~~occ-~s cultures containin this substance give a positfve bonzidin reaction rlhich iwctive fil:rates foil to give, This test is based on tho fact that in the presence of A cLc.talytic i agent, peroxidase, solutions of bonzidin give a blue color on tha nd- di tion of bdrogon peroxide. The benzidin test, therefore is recog- nized as a delicate method for the detection of hydrogen pcroxido. It seems justifiable, therefore, to regard tha benzidia reacting sub- stmco In pm coccus filtrates as hydrogar? peroxide, and since only filtrates giving this test ~rodzce methemoglobin it soems probable thus', the substance on whi& the latter reaction depends is hydrogen poroxida. This view is st=ngthensd b the f&t that a, solution of hydrogen I peroxide, even in great dilution, is capable of changing crystalline hemoglobin into me themoglobin. . . ~Moreover, the sam? agents which tire found to Cause i-tic _ -*ion of the culture filtm~es~slso render hydrogen peroxide inactive as. regards me themoglobin, f om tion. . The fact that these agents are destroyed by catalase explains why culture filtrates have no action on whole blood since in whole blood c+taIf~~eis alv&ya present. Growth Inhibition by Pneumud~ccus Filtstes, In a previous rqort it was pointed out that pneumeco.-.ci fail to grow when reinoculated into filtrates of culture fluids in wili 5~. they have previously grown. !Fh$s phenomenon of growth inhibition V,ZLS e 7) \ . ) `l&9. * , -5 .: fourd to be depandent ir, gctrt at lxst upon the exhaustion of some IX- tritive substcmcc in the medium. Experimental evidence indicated that the substance exhausted by th3 initial growth of the pneumococci and in the absarxe of which secondar; growth can not be initiated, is probably of c-mbohy3rato natura, since the addition of G readily fer- mentabla sugar', evm in sz.11 amount, to exhausted filtxtes suffices to rostore the growth szpporting property. The discovery that pneumococci produce pornxite during gro- L 3 ix xi. i- .i i zlieg;-2m indicates tie coastmction of the ci-ccbe r , While the c'harnbsr is not absolutel; air tight, it has baen so constructed by msans o f fzlt gaskets on the doors, etc. that the leakage is vary little. Thoro are tnro doors, one leading directly into tha dambar for the adr.ission of the bed, and a second ona leading from the vestibule or lock. `E-B nurse or physician enters tha tightly closing lock closet, quickly closes the door behind him and then through a second tightly closing door entors the chamber. In this way loss of large amounts of oxygen is avoided. A food lock is provided so that food and othir small articles IYXL~ he taken in or removed without great loss by diffusion.. !Phe oxygen is delivered from tanks to openings neati the `floor of the chamber. The air is dram out from the roof by means of a fan and is then passed over rofrigention coils and readmitted nea2 tlhe floor,. a constant circulation of air being kept up. The diagram chow:.: the air passing through a scrubber, that Is a case containing soda If me, inserted for the purpose of removing the excess of C 0~~ It has been found, hoxevek, much`more eatisfacto.xy to have tke scrubber directly in the chamber and to employ a se&d SIIEU fan for the purpose Of forc- ing the air through it., A very satisfactoFJ variety of soda Iime has now been obtained which is comparatively inexpensive and'with which the C 02 content of the chamber can be kept under 55, even for very prolonged periods. While the aut3;;atic analyzsr devised by Dr. Stadie was a most ingenious invention !t has been found to require much attintion, and a vary simple met'nod of analyzing the air has been arranged by Dr.. Binger so that t.he nurse can take samples of air as of ten as required and with- in a fe!v minutes determin,e the 02 and C O2 content.. V?ith a vary little attention and care i,t has been found possible for the nurse to control the a&xi s s ion of oxygen so that the percent of oxygen in the air within o ??? ? ? ,. 1. the chamber is kegt zt LII ?o???? uniform 1~~1. Whils In t>e first experiments that were rslde it was found rwcessaq to use ltrgo amounts of oxygen, the loss by laakaga,efc. has n0.v been so controllad ttut the chamber can be properly employed at a cost of only $4.00 per da:, for oxygsn. Pith this chamber and with the methods previously mentioned It is note possible to determine before the patient is placed in the chamber emdtly the degree of oxygen saturation of his arterial blOOa, and then, af'ter a patient has breathed an atmosphere of knoll OOmposi tion for a given length Of time, to again determine the degree of of oxygan,'~turation and so to know the effect produced by tho atmosphere high concentration of known degree. A number of patients have now been treated in this cham- ber for mrying Lengths of tirns, one patient was kept in ths chamber almost continuously for thirteen days. One conclusion can now be draw'n from these studies Snd that is that in most cases tho anoxamia, that is, the oltygen satulat3,on of the blood, may be relieved. Whether, however, &Is is of aqy i&al importa& 'in the xmtkome of the disease only .myzh tsora p2aOtical'.~e~rience will Tail.. ' The~dmpwssion so far gained,, how-. ever, 4s th&:the &&d'FB of cfJlliea3;~.virlue;~t.patients treated ' in.'thia Wy~&e%rprowd.'and their chances .for.293covery become greater. fb 5eem5 off-II& that this &ould be ths, `cme and that the :vlief of this condi~ion'of anoxemia, which is certainly abnormal;~.shOuld aia %h.e patle'nt in recovering. The mechanism of xthis `relief, h&ever, is diffi- cult to Iknow. Certainly the patient'-with pneumonia is not a deficient emaunt of oxygen eupply to the tissue. In the suffering from case of anemiL of moderate grades, for instance, tbe'amount of oxygen sqplied to the tissues may be much less than in ths case of pneumonia and still no o ?? ? ? ?? ?? ? ???? symptoms be m2r.i ic s t , 1s Starlie hhs polntcd out, however, the tension at which the oxygen is delivered to the tissue mxy be very different in the two instances . Those ar:d reiative rzttcrs must be studied bc- fore a clear idea can be hzd 02 tha value of this forr,j of thempy. The fZ.cilitics for study of thz problem in the Hospital are now excellent and it is pl2nncd to continue this work durlnz the coming winter. If . ?O??* therapy proves to be useful, in order to make tha method. gen- erally available it will probably be necessary to devise some simpler arrangement than the chamber. It rmy be possible to construct a rub- ber tent, to be placed over the bed, which will be effective. Dr. Bingor i.s new at work dosigning an arrangement of this kind. For hos- pitals, however, a chamber such as built here will probably always be the meet satisfactory. Expedition to the Andes to Study the Phvsiolop the condition of the ptilmonary circdafion; (3) the problem of gaseous diffusion in the lung. In ;?n.? XlGillf, LIZ. Oinpr has made a few preliminary obscru- vations on the cp3s~i0~ of lung ~0h-f~. Xere, as in the cardiac patient, the sir Sacs of the lu;ig sro onzroachsd -,~IOII xd 3vcn obliterated by congested C-a~ilkriec arxl by `Y-G deposition of fibrin and exudate. As Yet we !ELVC no Tory satisfactory correlation between the extent of pul- monary involv6mont and the cour39 of the disease, particularly the ap- pearance of such untoward smtons as mpid and shallow breathing and CplOSiS. It is hoped that a quantitative study from day to day in a pneumonia patient may help us find such correlation. It is knowledge of this sort that can give us the information necessary for rational oxygen the rapt, Eventually v/e will need infonmtion about the diffus- ion of gases in the lung of the pneumonia patient and to got this in- formation it Is necessary to measure lung volux-0. The method of measuring lung volt in prk%mOnia patients differs somewhat from that employed in the cardkc patients. we tSnnc% get a satisfactory determination of the total c@.ci,ty, because the in- dividual sick with pneumonia is incapable of a forced- deep inspiiation and expiration. ye must therefore measure the volume of the air in the lung during quiet, no-l, breathing, For this purpose Dr. Binger has .' -: cho'sen an arbitrary though, to be sure, fairly constant point in the respiratory cycle, nameQr,the p osition at the end of quiet expiration.. Lung volumes are measured at this point. At present Dr, Binger is e2b gaged in the study of the rest$ng eqiratory position in a series of nonml individuals for the purpose of establishing, if gossible,, some empirical constant whereby the measure can be related to some other physical factor, just as vital capacity is related to surface area. It is hoped that having established this factor, we will know what the porr&rl resting expirafory position should be, and then, Low much the patient undar invsstigaticn deviates from it, and how he agprO%heS it during conw.lescence . :The recant work of Xrogh on the respiration Of insects `has shown at what point the respintory trrscts becomes sufficiently large to nccessiL%tc the res>irztory mot;on. In the srialler insects simple diffusion of air into the tubules is sufficient to mintain the oxidative processes necessary for lifa. In large inset ts where the tubules are too long to permit diffusion alone to maintain the necessary oxygen concen- tration in the air sacs, respiratory motions are necessaq. We have no way of measuring the size of the respiratory tract in man, except by measuring the volume of its air content. With this knowledge, and par- . ticularly with a knowlsdga of Mriations in size during diseased states, :qo m;iy have valuable infonration on tha facts controlling rate and depth Of respiration, mnosis. ?r. Lundsgaard and Dr. Van Slyke . Considerable attention has been given by Dr. Lundsgaard and Dr. Van Slyke to a consideration of the theoretLca1 and practical aspects of cyanosis, basing their st$y on a historical review of the literature and on the recent quantitative blood gas estimations made here and by Dr. Lundsgaard.in Copenhagen. L L Cyanosis is the name given to a peculiar bluish color of the skin and: ~cous membranes saen in various abnormalities of the cird mtory and respiratory systems, It has- been known to be dependent on @rigs@ $n the blood, particularly changes in the hemoglobin, and In most 1. asee $8 related to an increased amount of reduced hemoglobin in the cap- illary blood. Dr, Gundsgaard, through quantitative studies, has shown that the occurrence of cyanosis is directly dependent on the absolute i , 2 amount of reduced hemoglobin Tresent in the capillary Slood, rather t-ban On the ratio between it and tile amoilnt of oxyhemoglobin present. As a result of a saries of estimations of the oxygen saturation of the ar- terial and venous blood in nom-al persons and in sick persons showing various degrees of cyanosis, he has determined that in general the pres- ence of at least 5 grams of reduced hemoglobin per 100 c .c. of capillary blood is necessary before the skin acquires the bluish tint called cya- nosis. Now lack of normal saturation of the hemoglobin in the capillary blood may depend on one of seven1 conditions, chiaf of which are, first, failure of the blood to undergo complete oxydation on pas- sage through the lungs and, second, mixing of oxygenated and unoxygenated blood in the veeaels , duo to a shunting of part of the blood from the arterial to the various side of the circulation, this part of the blood being unexposed to aeration in the lungs. Drs. VQII Slyke and Lundsgaard have subjected the known facts concerning the latter condition to a mathematical treatment and have deduced formulae by means of which in any given case the fraction of blood which fails to pass through the lung can be estimated, if the degrees af unsaturation of the venous and of the arterial blood are known. By means of these forcrulae they have es- timated that for cyanosis to become evident at least une third of the blood must ~8s through the shunt and be unexposed to aeration. This is much more than was previously thought to be necessary but the con- clusions from the available data seem to be valid. In any case, their treatment of the subject has brought much clearness into a very complex and difficult problem and will undaribtedly be of great practical value in the rational application of oxygen therapy. Their paper dealing with the whole subject of cyanosis will shortly be published. ILeuqa',i c Feve r . Sinfx tHe last &IXG,\i report iA cllr2ice.l stiLdy of .rhcuF matic fever b;t Drs. Wift, Boot6 and :11111;?1* has bser. facilitC.tel `Cy great- er ease in securing slitable patients and by th? cooperation of those prevj ously &clmi t ted. It seems more and more probable that. the disease often persists in these patients for years and that the rolqses so fre- quently seen are due to a lighting up of latent infections, Thus rha9- matic fever IELY be tbmpared with syphilis or tuberculosis; disease9 of known etiology, in ivhich there are often long periods of -iatency, followed by relapses. The analogy may be' carried still further: :.n tuberculosis we know th3t the-most effective treatmsnt is the building up of the pa- tient N 8 general resistance, and keeping him always generally fit. The same may be applied to the trcA&ent of rheumatic fever. It is a disease accompanied by severe anemia and loaa of weight: the rate of improvemerit usually parallels the recovery in weight curve; relapses often accompany a fall in this `ourve. `...' .Ebmratib fever tiesembles s~hhf3 in its tendency to re- ' `l+p& &ii in the manner some cf. .tG cl3nical manifehatidns respond to certkn. d-s.. The le.sions .6f _ $&A&+ syphilis usua$ly Ustzppear when ., .' : s ' the pattent .%8 gr0en, rmff%cietit f&o&& af potassium iodid&,. even though this drug; doe&.ra&tTd;eat&y, the Treptim pallidurn. LikewIse, doses of I :`_ merMlry' or saiva~eiiti'~~&~fi&3ni to eliniinate comletely the Treponema ! _ from tk;e bodp .of, the, syphilitic @iWont oft& ar'rest and remove secondarjt lesions. . `, The action of the s'o-called specific anti-rheumatic drugs - compour& of salicylic and*ph&yl-&xh&inic acid - seem to us to be com- parab$e t0 the remedies ment&r,ed above. For nearly fifty years the I salicylates -izve bsen used succsssfully in combatting the fever and joint inflammation of patients ;;rith acute articulnr rheumatism, but the reason for this peculiar action is unknown. The lack of knowledge of the cause Of this disease is partiy responsible for the ignorance of tha mode of action of the anti-rheomtic drqs. Our clinical studies have elicited ovidonca t&t cvcn thoui;:? FJt; = &,nts under ths influence of salicylates fail to show such signs of activity of the irfoction as fever, sweating, rapid loss of weight, and inflammation of t.hc joints, thero may b-2 cv?dence of acute wrdiac involvcm,xt, and tic :-~i tlkrawa.1 of the lt71g 1 s o?`i;zn pron-ptl y followed by relapse. I) 1 !Ih pro:Jldrn imdiatoly presents itself 0~' de:e;T-inicg which patients are still harboring a latent infcctior. li?oi.r: to beccme active i.S so03 a; salicylates are wi thdlawn. It has been found that most of these patients continue to have leucocyte counts of 10000 to 12000 or ,more . Those mcdcrate degrees of leucoaytosis at times persist for months, and close clinical and electrocardiographic stx%Iy of the patients indicate that they are proba3L.y still harboring the infectious agent. Practically all of the patients who have shown a normal number of leucocytes for sev- era1 weeks have remained. free from relapses, We now regard the leucocyte curve as a valuable guide in the administration of the anti-rheunatic drugs. During the past year we have been studying th6 effect of treating rheumatic fever patients with coqounds of phenylcinchonic acid. These drugs have the trade names of atophan, or cinchophen, and novatophan, neocinchophen or tolysin. They were originally used in the treatment of gout as it was found that they increased the excretion of urates by the kidneys. Later, it was found that they diminished the fever and relieved the arthritis of acute rheumatic fever patients in much the same manner as did the salicylates. It has been alaimed that they `are less toxic than the s;licylcte;. Cha L s 1b.d ,e s j r.rlj c3 t 3 that cinehophen isuseful in re-. lieving the dist.ressir-g acute syrqtoms of rheumatic fever, but that it ,, is too mrkedly a gastric irritant; however, neocinchophen does not Mve this distressing effect, seems less toxic than the salicylates, and in thersrpeutic doses is especicll; less irritating to the kidneys. This compound will probably not replace the salicylntes, but is a valuable substitute in those Cases where the patients show an icXos:ncrasy to the older drug. Drs, Boots' and Cullen have completed the-; r qtucly of the reaction of joint fluids in the various forms of arthri',is, and `have shown that the rcaztion of the exudate in r11cum1ti-c i'evt-r ia practically the same as that of the blood; while j n those jrLln,a~atj 611s ef joints due to in%sion with hemolytic streptococci or staphylococzi'the reaction is acid. They have also shown that rabbits having an acute inflammation of the knees due to infection with non-hcmolytic streptococci also have exudates in these joints oc'ld in reaction. Those findings point to the improbability of recovering streptococci from the joints of rhewmtic fever patients, and also show that patients satumted with sodium sali- cylate could not have free salicylic acid in their joints. Dr. Boots has made a microscopic study of the joint fluids of rhemtic fever ptients, and found cell counts varying between 1000 and 32000; the higher counts occurred in the first days of inflammation when the predominating cells were po3jrz;orphunuclear leucocytes; later, large mononuclear cells were more in evidence. He has also studied the nature of the joint involvement in patients with serum disease, and shown that small amounts of turbid fluid having from 5000 to 20000 cells per cubic millimeter can be as- pirated from their joints. Both grossly and microscopically it is dif- .,, -L7L .*`f I. * i (8 t ficult, if not im>os;ible, to distinguish this exudate from that found in rheumatic fever. !%e gross signs of joint involvomont in serum d.isesc zrt, however, much less m&cd. Thcsa findings show that a distinct lnflEL;%:ation of the joints rmy be excited by a foreign pro- teir.. We *have studied the action of sodium salisylate on the arthritis of rabbits infected with ;rcanstrcDtococr.i. It has been claimed by some t,fvLt these streptococci, of low virujen&, are the cause of rheumatic fever, and that the lesions in IcbbilS infected with thorn am tha same as those of rheurratic favor Iz~tLop.:s. V!e hava been able to show that rihon rabbits were inoculctcri n*.th gr?en streptococci, aftor being put under tha influence of sodium salicylate, they de- elo P pe d arthritis in practically the same proportion as non-salicylated rabbits; but that the non-aalicylated animals had a considerably higher propotion of severely Inflamed joints. Although the effect of sodium salicylate &n these an$nmls was different from that seen in patients, this is the first demonstratign that this drug has a definite anti- bacterial action in the anir#J body, Cardiac Disease. lb. Cohn f&@, Dr. Dew. During the past year, the work in this laboratory has been &cted to a coptinuance of the study of the action of qtinidine both in patients stifering from auricular fibrillation and experimentally id dogs; to a continuance of the electrocardiographic study of the heart in rheumatic fever and to certain problems connected with the behavior of the normal electrocardiogram, Last year we called attention to the discovery which had beeti nmde in Gezfmny, that @-@J&US, a cinchona derivative, when given to a certain sercen kg3 cf Fersons suffsrixg from auricular fibrillation, I possessed the power of restoring the normai cardiac mechanism. At that time v4e uxamincd axpcrincntally in dogs, certain cf Its effects on the heart and circulation, describing eqxcially an augxcntiq action on the contractilo povizr of the ventricular muscle. Sine-5 t&n w3 have studied in detail thz prcciso mechanism by means of which tfi:: drug is abla to bring about a tennimtion of the fitr'il?tory ;~:OXSS. t/e proceeded on thd ass-xqtior. t.Ta+. thi ;.l:~ory of cir- cular CxAtation, as the basis of the fibri:.lator;- p.oc~-~s WCLO correct. That a procsss suc3 as this could be mede to ~5s `, WE ,;h.m in this CO'mt.ry in 1308 by A. C-. Flayer. lktor, !I, 13i:x, I". E. C;arrcy in Ameri- ca, and S. R. Mines in England cug;;ested this ;,r=,ccss a; the cause of fibrillation. Iator still, in 1921, Lewis demonstrated the probable d coorectness of this view in elabonte eqcrimcnts in dogs. In this theory, 1 t is supposed that an impulse can course in a circular fashion in a piece of muscle, provided it is sufficiently large, especially if the muscle Is in the form of a circle, The entrance of the great veins into the right auricle results in an arrangement of the muscle about them such that a cirdular strip of tissue is actually available, -. she uld there arise a stimulus ready to utilize it. Phe experimental evidence indicates that stimuli do arise which behave in this way. Now, in order that an irtqulse may travel round and round a circular strip of kuscle, it is obvious that a given bit of tissue at a given point of the circumference must be ready to receive it, must be ready to be re- excited by it, when the impulse returns to its starting point, Other things being equal, the only practicabl e way a circus movement such as this can be stopped, is to place the muscle in a `state in'which; when the stimulus returns, it cannot receive it. This might be done by length- I;,,! 3 .l' b,i: $ /. `1 bs ..I I ' ; j I CliilS the refractcq p2;`ioL of tlie muscle, that period during which the rrr~s~?-e cannot be excitsd by the returning stimulus, or by rendering the fkLt3 or' p;sage of the impulse so rapid that the impulse rc turn before the rcfxactcxy ps:io:: Y.d ;asced off. Whether thes;: assumptions were the facts, we determine3 to put to the test of cxperimcnt. For this ~~rposo we emplcyed araonthe tized dogs and studied with two galvanometers, the late of passage oi 5.e ic?ulse between two FOirts on the auricular surface to whit h t3e gil.vanor,eters wer3 connected. This WG cculd do easily since we knew the distance betzveen the two points, an!, by photographing the shadows of the Wo galvanome ter 8 trings , knew tk ti.x Interval bekeen the appearance of the action current at these t-No poin$s. The refractory period we learned by stimulating the auricle with induction shocks at various instants during diastole, and photograph- ing the cardiac action current during this procedure. The calculations which were made of the time elapsing between the last contraction and the stixmxlus were then arranged chronologically. It was apparent that there resulted first a series of such periods in which no responses on the part of the auricles took plaoe and then another series in which responses were obtained. The refractory period is the longest period in the first group, the group o f the no-responses. The experiments are laborious SO that not many were performed. Our *results were of great interest. we found first that the rate of conduction'was eather unchanged or made more rapid; it Was never slower, This is a result contrary to the one which is desizable for this purpose. ?a learned however that the increased spsed was not SO great as to `render ineffectual the effect which was obtained on the refractory period. The effect on this we found to vary, but there were cases in which the increase was SO to 100 per cent, quite enough to render % were able to shon then thAt w;: pbss~sscd J means for altc-,-in; c tuctlon oi t:-.cr knrL* rmscle in 3 Liw :tidil, sr.z: tir.t the cor,tir:z,rx C,, LiS circus i.:o$ crrznt which is 2.t ti`i) bF.sia of: the fib.- rillatory nrocosa is rendorod impossibiz. Tii ; f-..BTrL.b;2 1..su,t 19 not unifc rm. %a: it 15 not, dopcnJs it appsx~s C,I differcxcs-f'ror.: x.imzl to animal in the tono of tti cardiac ncrvcs. This inCLr `iAc3 IV? ttl1n.k is justified, for in a parallel series of expcrirrmts pedormed by Lewis, the inf'luence of the MNOS was exc1uJor.I and in his eqeriments the rocxit ; r3re uniform. The two series of exporinents are complementary; they indicate the essential nature of the action of quinidine; they sl=ow why ix pticnts that action is some tirms Trevantod. During the year we continued in cases of rheuratic fever to collect information on tha behavior of the heart from day to day. To the grosser forms of irregular heart action, such as heart block, we have already called attention; they were well `known. We found also that *nor changes in the coordinated contnxtion of the auricles and ventriclea weke to be deteoted. In `certain cases it was indeed possible to show that \ with each reck=ing bout' of fever, a dititurhence of minor grade took pi&e In the heart, even when no &dating manifestation qould be demonstratei'""- 1 .,A, in the joints or elsewhere. ye believe we possess evidence of a more - certain nature than hitherto, of the slight but continuous ravages of the disease. Bow slight `t&e changes am which my be reckoned as mnifesta- tions of disease we do not know. We have for this as well as for other reasons returned to a study of the no&b1 electrocardiogram. The nom1 electrocardiogram, we were taught, was a phy- sical.measurement so esct and so constant that it was placed in a &ss with tb 0 finger print method, as a means of identifying individuals. It w% known that in certain persons, the positicn of the body and the phases Of respiration influenced the form of the curves. In most instances the%3 dafhmces were unimportant, for curves could be nnde in a manner calcula- ted to exclude their effect. Althaugh these variations were sr-1~11, they might be sufficient to render the interpretations we were putting on cur- ves taken from rheumatic fever patients doubtful, Ve determined therefore to take series of curves for ten nearly consecutive days from a number of no-1 young individuals. The measurement of these curves is not yet com- plete. They are being measured not only with respect to the h eight of the wmes, but also with respect to their duration and the time intervals bet- ween them. Great care was taken In. making these curves* The individuals were always in the same position. V?e took care to know the extent and rate of thei: breathing. We did this by asking them to breathe from a SpirometS and by having the spfrometer connected with a signal n@gnet in such a way P that each alteration of 100 CC, in the position of the spirometer was com- municated to the signal hung before the electrocardiographic camera; the motions of the signal were photographed; In addition the inspiratory and e%?imtory motions of the spirometer were conveyed to a closed system of piston recottders. The lever of one of these also hung before the camera and was likewise photogmphed. The electrocardicgrams themselves were mde simultaneously with`three @.lvancmeters af the three usual leads,From cur- ves like these,the direction of pctential could he calculated without fear Of error by the method of Einthovan, `Berg&tisiub and BAjtel. Fe believe that we have obtained sets of curves having an exactness not hitherto attained. It is clear even from an inspection of them and without meas- urement; that the curves vary from day to day to an extent not previously belived to be 1ikeQ. ye learn from this that during the course of di- sease; alteration In form of a grade disclosed in these series of normal I Ones, arc not to 2e ;ivan too great significanca. We learn also that in a no-1 series, the time relations bekveen the waves are constant to such an extent as to pernit the inference to be dram that a patho- ,I' lOgical process Is present whsz there aro varktions as great c as those which we found in the curvea %kerr oT rheu,=tic fever patients. Vie have a sound basic then for comidarin;: the belGvior of the curves of the , I patients as evidence of a pathological process. Having gone so far iq 0220 elaboration of ox tecSnique we determined to apply it in another direction. It is well known that when the heart enlarges, it gives riss to alterationeln the electro- oardlogmn; the curve takes on one form whan the left ventricle is hype% trophic, as in aortio insufficiency; ib takes on an oppoelhte form when the right ventricle ie principally involved, as in mitral stenosis. These electrical signs have been useful in the clinic, but they have in our experience been on accasion misleading, for we have obtained CWV~S resembling those found in erlbrged hearts, in young soldiers and in civi- lians who, we were quite certain, were not the subject of disease. It Occurred to us that the position Q# the heart in the chest might be an I. iqportmt contributing facto+ `ih `producing the ,abnormal- eleotrocardiogrsms. !Qst m+ .cImhges in' the cums are poefsibla es the result of respiratory movement8 we Mre &ady mentioned. An exeggexeted instance occure in : .. dexttotx%rdiS; here "the heart is' t&aed to the' right' rather than the. left side of the body and the eleatrooardiogm assumes the appearance of a rPirrored image of the usual curve. ?Ia?ing these experiments to guide us we plazined to discover In a systematic manner precisely what was the ef- . $ feet of the position of the heart in the chest. Obviously we could not rotate'ihe heart in the chest, but we could rotate the chest about the . . iI, heart, Our method was a$ foliovv~; &stead of taking leads from the limbs $ R ;`f the apicUo of tkie lar,7;e;`, equilatcml triangle which we could apply to the c:?cs t , the *.XLSG 02 t:;e tri-lnglo s tru tchin;: bz tv:Gor, th3 shoulders, tho a:ex below ths ste:mr:. Us assured oursolves t`=t L,hG curves taken from those lords rossmblad accumtaly those from the lir.lb lesds. T/e procezdcd then to route this tx&mgle throuzh successivs arcs of 400, takin;: cun~s nt each new position frorr those.pdints of the chest wall t0 which the apices of the trian@ pointed. By this mans, we did in effect rotate the chest about the heart. In noxnxxl individuals, by quite smll chznges in tIm position of the triangle of leads, by ch&n,-OS quite possible in an crllrrtomiml sense, vm obtcLined mnws which xt~lly resembled curves found in disease 2nd resembled closely those often thought to be abnonz~l found in the yoq soldiers ati civilians already mentioned. These were curves like those seen when the left side of the heart is large; in other positions, though uzntomiczlly quite improbable, we ob- tained curves resembling enlargement of the right side of the heart. But this is not all. We tuwd next to patients whose . hearts were known beyond doubt to be diseased and whose curves were characteristic ,of this condition. In these patients just as in the nor- ml p&rsons we applJed't,& 'technique ju6t described. We found that at * - some position in the' co&e of rc+,t& `the leads, curve 8 ~6r0 `0btZsa . . . s... . nthich resembled nomml carves. In these cases, that Curves Of ap&oximatel Ly norm1 anearance can be &`tgLlnecl is of theoreticsrl i&rest, &t that in obviously no-1 persons, yielding abnomal curves, honnal curves can be obtained by a alight altention of the position of the heart in the chest, is a nrrtter of getine pr;actical. importance. It does not sim- plify the interpretation-f electrocardiograms3 but it does soothing more iqor:an',; it shows bon- the normal individual may be saved from bsing considered the subject of chronic heart disease because of an abnonrality in the curve. It need scarcely be pointed out that this danger is not theoretical, \ye kuvo not by these aqeriments solved th0 p roblem of the relation of hypertrophy 02 tile heart to patent abnoxxality in the electrocardiogram, but we `have sho:vn syctorztic3lly and clearly that, especially in doubtful cases, the position of the normal heart in the chest must be t&On into account as a factor in the production of abnormal curves as well as the position of the abnofina1 heart in the chest in the production of no-1 ones. Clinical Studies of CMnidine. The importance of the 6tudy of quinidine is better un- derstood when it is appreciated that fibrillation of the auricles is present in about 43 per cent of the cardiac irrogularitieo. In 6any instances the presence of the disorder is in itself serious. A rrajor- ity of these individuals complain of unpleasant symptoms which are di- rectly related to the presence of the irregularity. In about half of the cases trerted with quinidin.6 (in our own series 44 per cent) it is possible to restore the normal cardiac r'hythm. ; In May 1921, a preliminary rsgort was l&lished dealing with the therapeutic effects of quinidins sulphate in cases of auricular fibrillation. This work has been continued during the past year; _ twe;:ty five patients have been closely followed over relatively long ;?eriods of time. Before attempting to alter the heart r*hythm, we have found it better to combat heart failure, if this is present by rest in bed and by giving digitalis. A satisfactory plan of treatznent has been Outlined in which, after preliminary small doses to test for the presenw i of SCiOcpi.ra-,y to meder;: ol the CSnc!lona gro~r, gradually increasing amo-mts of the drq v;sre Elver. over a fix day period. It is rarely neCessJ?y t0 COntinw thezpy after the fifth d&y, for tf the rioma1 rhythm has no' c ensued after five days of trec?.k~er.`:, i+ 5~ill prytzbly not result from further doses; or, if it should appear, w.-orn. the. .vazixs~ C&SBS of auricular fibrillatiok which present themselves those which do well-with quinidine . In view&f Ithe,possibility 6f the appearance .,., .. of toxic qymptoms, the tre&tmknt shotild"be carried out with the patient , in'ied,. pP&erabiy in a hospitals where` the beh&%cr of the heart an.y be . : . . . . iwied with the aid of g.raphic records. `Carefully administered,. this : 1 . . k31,. d-7;: is a Y-.,2-.apsutIc ?.g,a.i1; x? ,-rcat value; indiscriminately given, it %.~y on occasion, be eqected to cause disastrous effects. 4j 73 lqpQJt.enC pI"L-ph&c S tU&y G f .- *he Sire of `he Heart in Pneumonia. with -I-,,& _-_- b -_-- Consideration of ths Fffocts of i.)ixifaiis Theraav. Observations nnda tist year `have been continued and amplified. In brief, it has bctsn shown that in a large percontige of Cases of lobar pneumonia and in J somewhat smaller number of cases of bronchopneumonia, there is, In the ccurse of the disease, a signifi- cant dllatn2ion of the heart, with return to normal size during con- valesccnce. The increase in the cardiac ailhoue tte probably represents an attempt on the part of the heart to nupent systolic output by in- crew3 i:? the length of its muscle fibres. According to the Vaw of the . heart", as stated by Stading, such an increase is favorcblo up to a certain point. gct@r that optimum is exceeded in pneumonia it is not possiblo to say, though signs of circulctory failure are conspicuous " by their absence. Digitalis administration, early and in sufficient doses, apparehtly setied, in a number of instancss in which dilatation tight have been anticipated, to prevent sAteration in heart size. It is now known, through our esrlier experiments that ; :,b digitalis, ia therapeutia doses; ,x .' augments myocardial contraction and . increases ventricular volume output. .FOF this reason it maJree no dif- y ' fexence whether the `increase in the size of the haart is compensatory or hele te rious. 1% eithsr event the drq is of bansfit. In the first in- stance ii, serves to aid the heart in its effort to maintain an adequate circulation during A period of stress; izl the second ixxtaace it hslps, at least in certain cases, in preven.ting diiatation of the cavities of the heart which' in all probability is the result of severe toxemia. 3r. I.~un~?s,~:+sr~., Dr. Vaz-~ 31~2c, Dr. Stiilman and Dr. Linder. By thorough clinical investi@tion, blood analyses and functional tests, the clinical histories cf patients have been folloned with a view to obtaining as logical a classifiation of nephritis as Cny ba possible crd of trzatmnt a:cordlng to classification. Among the observations made in connoctlon with the blood chemistry have been the repeated determination of the urea index employed in conjunction with urea feedings tests. This was done in the anticipation that a more definite estimte of the reserve pav;ers of urea excretion may thus be made IJerihle. In connection with this work Miss Hiller has elaborated a new m.th,d for the determination o$ urea in srrall quantititos of blood. If 1s intended while these data are being accumulated by rela- tively short observation periods on a fairly large number of neph&itics of all :-,irlds, to attack, one at a time, certain specific problems that arise in connection with the study. For example, the abnormally high blood fat of patients of the so-called ?iephrosisl' type raises the Westion 05 the nature of the metabolic' disturbanue which @uses lipemia. Alx~=?b ld `fat.is norm&y either burned or deposited in the body's fat depots so `mpidly that it never' rises in the blood to' the A. heights found `in these patients. k!i~e` question is' presented ds to whkthe'r such patients fail to burn fat as rapidly' as do no-1 Individuals. qotal me tabolism experiments following fat feeding have been rrAde, therefore, on some normal persons and on patients v.4 th nephritis accompanied by excessive lipemia. Another specific question Is *:Jhether in so-called hydremia there is really a dilutio n of the blood with increased or whether the low protein content of the blood is due total blood volume, to decrease in the tirtCL `.3lCod prots!.r, cc;!:`;*;`; I,< t:;c, >oQr wiLh3ut increase lr blood VO~JDI~. i3r. Lindzr `has followed thti vzri;t.ions in plxxxt I;rotsir-s 2nd has mde repeated observations upon the blood volume in seven1 of ths cases. His resUlt8 indicate a considerable degree of constancy In tho plas:ra volume, in spit0 of rx%rkod changes in the plasm proteins, in tha amount of edmm a;ld in the clinical stato. It therefore appears probable that the "hy- dremics" of nephritis is no y 4 a condition of dilution of the blood, but depends upon a loss of protein f ram the plasm, The nature and quantity Of the protein found in the urine is thereforo engaging our attention. SMdiee on Acid-Ease Equilibrium in th=c Blood Carried on in the C&mical Iaborato@ndar the Direction of Dr. Van Slake. Drs. Austin, Sullen, Hastings, Heldelberger and Xeill. The stbdy of diseases in which there is a disturbawe in the acid-base equilibrium of the blood Is dependent upon a knowledge of the quantitative relationships existing between the various substances which contribute to the maintenance of this equilibrim and presupposes fnfomdion regarding the Iimits of variation to be found in nomal in- divid`ua2.s. It has been the pu-ose bf the tOrk done in this laboratory to advance our knowladgo"`of \bs' quantiliative ketitionshipe involved,. $0 J detemine the limits of vari&ti& tip be found in non-ml variations and. to apply the results .&s obtained to the study of bphritis and pxmmonia. Intirmtely concerned wit@ this,problem Is the etU&r of n-2 rospimtory processes which is also under investigation. lbe &actions involved `in the respiratory changes of the blood my be qualitatively represented as follows:- (I) 3:: co3 + k +.:. ?rotein I! Tro tein + ITa ECL - (2) H;! CO3 + 1. Cl ? 3 IbHC03 + HCl -- 4 ? 4) Z!IcA f 2 K IIbo2 # - : 5) Hz CO3 + I$ pod Y Incr~sfw the %? c 03 concentration in the tissuee causea the forneLti.on of Ih fI C 03 in'the pl+mrm and K H C 03 in the cel&s. m resulting acidification of hemglobfn causes the partial liberation of oWFk-~-C~nyerW4, increasing the 02 conoentra tion in the lungs sends the react%& n the L opposite direction and aids in the freeing of 'C 02 quantitative xmasurement of these reactions has re- ceived our attent-on during the past year. &Z 9-r to clarify the conception of buffer substances which play such an important role in biological fluids a theoretical papor was writ&n on the s-abject of buffer measurement, and the buffer values of neak acids, bases end amphoteric substances, of various disso- ciation constants. Despite the work that has been done with buffers, theso relationships hxve not heretofore boen worked out; in fact, there has not even been a unit for e-ressing buffer effect in qualitative xlumrrial terms. As such a unit we have used the amount of strong alkali or acid required to cause unit chaxe of PH. On this basis, a solution possossos a buffer value of 1 when the pH chan;;os at the nte of 1 unit . per gram equivalent of added strong acid or alkali. titheatically eX- pressed, the buffer value of a solution is d B. when dB is the increment d PH of added strong base (%LCH or KOH), d pH the accomp anying increment of PH. From the quntitative known relationships, fonnulatod according to the TILISS law, of hydrion concentmtion to the ratios buffer salt free buffer acid and buffer salt (in the casesof weak acids and weak bases respectively free buffer base acting as buffers) it was possible to derive by means of the differential calculus a genenl equation expressing the buffer value of any Wfer solution, viz. Buffer palus d B d For weak acids as buffers, K = Ka, the acid dissociation COnStXh. $4 ForweakWses K= 1% , K where 5 is the dissociation constant of the, buffer base, FQrbsolutions near enough to neutrality SO that p+] and &)q are relatively negligible, viz. between PH 3 and pH 11. a zone covering nearly all biologioal solutions, the equation simplifies to Buffer value = d B d PH A; is ed Lmt, tk 2ffzctivcaes.s of 3 giver, buffer is Ciffercnt for 3vcl-y \;`+`j Tnc e?fccti-,-an:ss of cvcly buffe: at vclrying pH fol- lows tt-2 s1riic CUTJT) v;hich rsxh;s 1 ts VLLXiXiU xhen R z []:j (or lo?* FH) , 2111 b9cows insi@f iant v&m tha r;tio-Tc. falls oatsido the pit-j lirr,its 100 r.AL, t'k t i c , ;' .I-.;r. -log K differs from pi3 by xio:`e t&n salt. At this po?nt tk the buffer is 2.3 K2 (2K) 2 d-'i'3l work on these problems has been c;;rricd on by Austin, Cullen, IQstings, Heidelberger and Ieill. For Our experimcntil wor!r iL, vc+s first necessary to imljrove our methods of ar3.1;`ais and technique of `handling blood and gases. Ni th a new cons&ant volume .bl.~od 30 a,-_mratus we wore able to obtain results which h3d an LL verai; error of 1 prt in 500, The modified Iialdane appzatus for the anQyso s of gas mixtures has an error of similar ml.gli tudo . It was further necessary to have at our disposal relatively large quantities of pure oxyhemoglobin. A method for ob- tcLinlng th$s has been paccessfully developed by Dr. Heidelberger. Tha oxyhomoglobin Is procipit ated from water solution by saturation with a mixture of C 02 and 02 in the ratio of 4 to 1. It is then recrysta11iz8d several times by dissolving in alkali and repeating the precipitation process. Separation from electrolytes is finally effected by dialysis under pressure in collodion s&s. The hemoglobin thus obtained retains its full owgen combining power and is practi- . tally free from electroiytes and other foreign substances. ! V$th this +terial and tech&we we have obtained the data whioh is given below: (1) Tns amount o f oacyhemoglobfn is (2) The amount of s3G.i l#ound at pH 7.40 to a gram molecule 2.13 2 0.10 equivalenta. of additional alkali which 1 molecule of reduced hemoglobin takes up when it is converted tto oxyhemoglobin at pH 7.40 is 0.6 8 2 0.10 equivalents. (3) The ratio of alkali combined with hemoglobin to the change in oxygenation, i.e. d B is constant for all degress of oxygenation. d H b02 This bears out L. J. Henderson*8 assurgtion. (4) 19~ mo!.c;ul.~.r b~$fcr clue of o;ryhemoClobin, p0 = 2.64 The mu 1 3 a;ll:Lr 3'Lil- , `fr r vslue of reduced hemoglobin, pR = 2.45. (This lztttir ml-x is obtnimd indirectly 2nd is subject to revision.) T&se value; arc constant over the physiological range of pH. Usin; t:-,ese moloculnr b-ufror values and applyin;; the princ',ples laid do-tin in the be shown that at reaction between theoreticr.1 buffer paper written by Van Slyke it an least 5 monovslcnt acid groups are involved in the al&~11 and hemoglobin over the physiological range. (5) 38 relationships existing bet;Jeen oxyhemoglobin, reduced hemoglobin, base bound by hemoglobin 3r.d pH are smrized In the oqu3 tion B (6) for horse made with = 2.64 [Hb02j (pH - 6.585) + 2.45 ffij (pH - 6.80) It is important that the above const;ints which ara those hemoglobin are different for dog hemoglobin. Performing expe&&nts on horse blood, similar to those hemoglobin, we have obtained the following results: The average buffer 7,5 yas.?ound to be T&3 and (2) Frdm pH 7,2 .+c 7.5 value of oxygenated blood from pH 7.2 to for reduced blood 24.4. the bffer klw of Wood was Constant, .' the degree of oxygenation being constant.. (3) The hemoglobin was foupd to be responsible for about 765 of the total buffer va&ue ,of. the oxygenated blood and abou$ 735 of the buffer value of the reduced blood. The per cent of the buffer value attributable to the bicarbonate was 6.9 and 9.0 respectively. !Che loss in buffer value of hemoglobin when blood is reduced is thus only partially compensated by the increase in BHC03, (4) `I"ae decrease in BHCO3 per molecular increase in oxygen, i .e. the d B Iis& ratio varied from 0,50 to O-59 at pH 7.30 and were con- (5) c'!ith increasing pi-I the dB ratio increased at the rate of dEbOZ 0.02 per 0.1 pH over the range 7.2 - 7.5. Assuming that only one acid ~rslp in the hemo@obin molecule is changed it will be possible ni th this data to estimate the dissociation constants of this group when reduced hemoglobin is changed to the oxygenated state, A theoretical paper on Vl'he No-1 and Abnormal Vari- ation of the Acid-Base Balance of the Blood" @s been published. In it the demonstration Ixis been r&rde on the basis of facts f ound in this and other labomtories, that associated with each condition of hich, nom1 or low blood bicarbo%to my be a high, normal or low pH. The re are thus 9 possible and actally observed combinzfians of BXO;, and pH, of which only 1 Is normal, viz. that in which both plI and i3HC33 are no-l. mch of the other 8 conditions indicates a specific abnorma- 1 ity either in the metabolic processes by which non-volatile acids are formed and excreted, or in the respiratory processes by which the CO2 tension in the ?jlaod is regulated, For the general diagnosis of an abponnal condition, determination of both the pH and bicarbonate ex- isting in the circulating blood becomes obviously necessary, although in special conditions abnormality is one factor is so characteristic, such as the low BBC03 in diabetic acidosis, that the other can be neg- lected. Since, if two of the three variables pH, 3HCO3 and H2 CO3 "a% known, the other may be c;Llculated and the acid base condition of the individual is determined, we have undertaken to determine the first two in nor ml individuals, in nephritis and in pneumonia patients. The method used for the total Co2 of the blood has already been described. !. 1 \-I j A colorim~tric mcthoci for the detenA.nation of the pH which is simpler than e$ectTomztric and noye acc=zrate than Frevious colorime tric ones `W;LS deviesd by Cullen,, !Che pH of plasm diluted 20 times under oil with nautrnl saline, without ioss of C02, de tenlined colorime trically at room temperature nay by a;~ empirical correction, y,vhich is cono!:o.zt for each species, be convezted tc tile pi! vrhich vlould have ob'aitied at 38O. !Ele question imS recently raised by Evans, of England, as to xhcthor electromtric pfI estimtions on CO2- containing solxt ions are valid. Evans claimed that some acid is formed by reduction of CO2 at the electrodes, a3xi c~.uses the gH to be rmrke'dtoo low. Cullen and .das flnrp I've chcclsii -,hz rzxtta: ~`1 carefully on ;?hosphate oolu- tions with and wi that COdI 2nd foun? theoratirLxJ. rl;su!.fs in both cases. They believe i3vsns coul1 n; t have hen s-ufficianslp accux.t.e in regu- latirq the CO2 t ensions in his electrodes, In connzctios wit'n our nephritis service, tulle deter- mination of the acid-base hslance by combined prZ and BEC03 estirations has already prove,: of clinical ~$1~3. V!e ara a2plyin,r tlhese principles and me thqds to the study of the acid-base balance in pneumonia. An experimental application has also been rsde to the acidosis produced by anesthesia. Since the relation between the reaction, the CO2 ten- sion and the bicarbonate content is conveniently exljrensed by the &as- elbalch equation pH = pK' + log BHC03 oc. co;! it wag thought necessary- to redetermine the two conuY,$n&pK' and& with accuracy in order. to make the equation clinically useful. Ve , .- -_ wereable to confirm the value for W , the soluhility coefficient for CO2 in blood, as originally determined by Bohr. Ve found. the value for pK' as originally determined by Hasselbach to be correct for plasn~t but incorrect for the whole blood or hemoglobin solutions. Studies of Protein Chemistr:. Miss Hiller. The investigtfon of the behavior of the different pro- tein precipi tats used in studying blood and protein dlzests have been cough ted. The precipitant8 studied include picriu, trichloxastic, metaphosphoric, and tuqs tic acids, colloidal iron, mercury salts, and olcb hoi. The amino and peptide nitropns were detemined in the fil- trates from blood with and without the addition of known amounts of amino acid and pepetone nitrogen. The action of* the precipitants on Wi tte peptone solutions was also studied, in order to aecertain which ones remove most completely the intermediate protein products, and which re- move the protein with a minimum of the intermediate&I. The data obtained Will enable future investigators to choose precipitant8 adapted t& their e8PCial Object8 in a way that ha6 not heretofore been pO88ible. The ixnediate Object of this work was to ascertain condition8 for studying the absorption Of intermediate products along with the amino acid8 during protein dig;es tidn. It i8 hoped to attack this problem, which i6 an ulb fiai6hed pertion Of the otudy of the fate of protein dige6tion product8. %JI?US COLE