A REMINISCENCE OF AN IRISH GIANT

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any changes’ in the cultural characters of the bacillus, thetoxins formed in a mixture of the urine of typhoid carrierswith 9 volumes of tap water caused the bacillus to changeinto an organism having a close resemblance to the bacillus

fsscalis alkaligenes. Intraperitoneal passage through a seriesof guinea-pigs did not convert this organism back again intothe bacillus typhosus, but a bacillus having many of thecharacters of bacillus coli appeared. These observations

obviously require extended repetition before they can be

accepted as demonstrating variations in the typhoid bacillus,and indeed Major Horrocks points out a possible source offallacy-viz., that the bacillus coli obtained in the passageexperiments in the guinea-pigs may have escaped from theintestine owing to changes set up in their coats by theorganisms injected into the peritoneum. At the same time

he gives reasons for discarding this explanation. The obser-

vations are of considerable theoretical and practical value,and we await the results of further experiments on theseMnes with interest.

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A REMINISCENCE OF AN IRISH GIANT.

PERSONS living at the beginning of the nineteenth centurywere often able to relate interesting reminiscences of the.giants who peopled the earth during their youth. Englishmemories of the end of the eighteenth century, though oftensensational, are none the less frequently worthy of credence.An amusing chapter of anecdotes concerns a giant, PatrickCotter of Kinsale (1761-1806), who has often been confusedwith his better-known predecessor the " Irish giant," whoseskeleton adorns the Museum of the Royal College of

Surgeons of England. Cotter, indeed, exhibited himselfunder the name of the Irish giant, and was known as CharlesO’Brien. A " Northampton Tonsor," writing in The Mirror,a popular magazine, in 1827, describes the visit of Cotter to

Northampton towards the end of the eighteenth century.He was then in his seventeenth year, remarkably healthy-ookiDg, of a mild disposition, and 8 ft. 7 in. in height."After the exhibition of the day, and when the

dwarfs of Northampton had retired to their cribs,this proud giant of the earth would take his morningwalk, measuring with amazing strides the distance between’the George Inn and Qaeen’s Cross." The barber trotted

behind him at full speed, and the giant now and then pausedto light his pipe at a lamp-post. He was a conversationalistand humorist, and his intelligence was above the average.He slept in two beds, placed end-to-end. After exhibitinghimself for some years he retired from the show businessand died at Clifton at the age of 46. He is buried at

Bristol, and the rumour of his grave turns up periodically inthe provincial press as though to dispute the authenticity ofthe skeleton of Charles O’Brien or Byrne, which John Huntermacerated and preserved in his famous museum. The periodof the French Revolution produced also in France its tale of’various monsters, but minds at that turbulent time were

zeady to believe anything. -

THE REAL TEST OF VACCINATION.

NOWHERE more than in communities that offer a virginaoil for small-pox do the beneficent effects of vaccination"3tand out with remarkable distinctness. The reason is notfar to seek. The issue in such cases is not confused by anysuch side issues as partial protection, worn-out vaccination,the respective shares of long-continued sanitation and vacci-nation, and so on. It is a clearly defined issue between theresults of the epidemic among those people who have neverbeen vaccinated and those who are efficiently vaccinatedsufficiently in advance of infection for vaccination to

become operative as a preventive. Such an instance isaforded in a recent report (with a copy of which

3 we have been favoured) by Dr. Victor G. Heiser,3 Passed Assistant Surgeon, United States Public Health} and Marine Hospital Service, and Chief Quarantine Officer of the Philippine Islands. Dr. Heiser says :3 " During December, a person afflicted with small-pox was) transferred from San Jose, Antique, to the island of) Caluya, which is a small isolated island south of Mindoro,! the inhabitants of which have heretofore not been system-; atically vaccinated. An old woman took some of the con-

, tents of a pustule from the small-pox case shortly before death: and commenced to vaccinate [inoculate] a number of the inhabitants ; small-pox in epidemic form soon resulted. The

population of Caluya and nearby islands is about 2000., Approximately, 1000 cases of small-pox occurred before thei facts became known to the outer world. Vaccinators

properly equipped were immediately sent to Caluya. Theyvaccinated 800 of the remaining 1000 persons. Of these, notone contracted small-pox who had a successful vaccinationthat was two weeks old. The undersigned i.e., Dr. Heiser]visited 10 families, ranging from five to eight in number.In six of these every member was stricken with small-pox.A physical examination showed that they had no vaccina-tion marks. In two other families six persons were

stricken and two escaped. A physical examination

showed that of the six stricken members not one had beenvaccinated. The two remaining members had successfulvaccination marks. Upon inquiry it was learned that theyhad visited Calapan a year previously and were vaccinatedwhile there. In two other families that lived in the midstof a small-pox stricken village there were no cases of small-pox. A physical examination showed that they had goodvaccination scars. Further inquiry elicited the statement thatthey had but recently come from another island where they hadbeen vaccinated. In one house one person was found with vario-loid. Upon inquiry it was learned that he had been vaccinatedduring childhood. Net result: Community of 2000 popula-tion ; 1000 unvaccinated persons contract small-pox ; 400 die ;800 are protected by vaccination ; no cases occur after the incu-bation period was passed ; no deaths occur. The remaining200 are semi-civilised and fled from the vaccinators, and theircondition is unknown." " This is only one of the object-lessons that the Philippine Islands, under the administrationof the United States Government, have afforded us as to theprotective value of efficient recent vaccination against small-pox. We cannot hope that it will influence those opposed tovaccination, but it should nevertheless be put on record andpublished as widely as possible.

WIND INSTRUMENTS AND LONGEVITY.

WITHOUT any definite grounds pathologists have ascribedto the blowing of wind instruments injurious effects on theheart and lungs. In the Yale .Medical Jowrnal for February,Dr. James F. Rogers states that he investigated the subjecta few years ago and found that this teaching is not correct,and that there is no evidence that emphysema of the lungsis produced, or that there is any increased proclivity to

tuberculosis or other pulmonary affections among performerson wind instruments. He also could find no evidence of anybad effect on the heart. Since the publication of thesefacts Dr. Forcheimer, in his Prophylaxis and Treatment ofInternal Diseases," has stated that "just as many playersof stringed instruments have emphysema as players of windinstruments," and after a long experience of musicians hehas come to the conclusion that "neither emphysema norits predisposition is a result of their occupation." To deter-

mine statistically the effects on longevity of playing uponwind instruments Dr. Rogers consulted Grove’s I I Dictionaryof Music and Musicians " and Champlin’s "Cyclopaedia ofMusic and Musicians," and calculated the average age of