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Dr. V. Korenchevskynnds, in confirmation of Evans’sexperiments, that the former stimulate the develop-ment of the generative organs and the cortical portionof the adrenals, whereas the latter have the oppositeeffect. At the same time the nitrogen metabolismof animals is reduced below the normal.

Department of Protozoology.EFFECT OF GAMMA IRRADIATION ON BODO CAUDATUS.

The knowledge of the cultural conditions of Bodocaudatus obtained in the course of her previouswork has been used by Dr. M. Robertson in an attemptto test the effect of exposure to radium upon the growthof cultures under various experimental conditions.Bodo is very resistant to the gamma rays and the

actual death of a culture has not so far been achievedby exposure to a combination of radon and radiumequal to 175-200 mg. of radium (screened with 0’5 mm.of lead sheeting) at a distance of 1 cm. for five days.Two types of experiment have been tried. In the first

an actively growing culture is divided equally between twohard glass tubes. One of these is exposed to radium; the otheris not and serves as the control. From these two tubes, platesare made at various intervals under precisely parallelconditions. The growth on the plates is followed by meansof sample films made at intervals ; the films are stained andthe numbers in division and the various phases of divisionare counted per thousand individuals. A second type ofexperiment is now being worked out in which the bodosare cultivated upon plates but in such a manner that theplate sequence-of initial lag and active rise of multiplicationwhich drops gradually to a cessation of division with highabsolute numbers and a final dying down to low numbers inan almost quiescent state as regards division-is reducedto a minimum, and the bodos, which are moved daily onto a fresh plate, are kept multiplying continuously at anapproximately uniform rate.

This work is being carried out in association withMr. Bernard W. Williams of the Surgical Unit atSt. Thomas’s Hospital.

Department for the Study and Preparationof Antitoxic Sera.

Experimental Production of Pneumococcal Endo-carditis.-Dr. G. F. Petrie’s experiments have nowfurnished clear evidence that recurring blood lossespredispose to the production of valvular lesions in

highly immune rabbits which are given repeatedintravenous doses of living virulent pneumococci.The experiments, as a whole, throw some light uponthe pathogenesis of infective endocarditis in man, forthey indicate the risk of an infective valvular lesionlighting up in consequence of the leakage of bacteria(streptococci or pneumococci) into the blood streamfrom a cryptic focus, especially in a patient who issuffering from a secondary anaemia. An acquiredimmunity to the infective organism does not

necessarily interpose a barrier to the lodgment andproliferation of the cocci upon the endocardium.

Poliomyelitis.-A horse has been successfullyimmunised by Dr. W. T. J. Morgan by repeated intra-muscular inoculations with a filtrate of a potentpoliomyelitis virus.’ The serum has been tested onmonkeys by Dr. Fairbrother and found to possessantiviral properties comparable with convalescentsera. During the whole course of the immunisationno definite signs of a reaction in the horse wereobserved. The different serum proteins have beenseparated and purified by the methods in generaluse for the concentration of diphtheria and tetanusantitoxins. The examination of a limited number ofsuch preparations makes it appear that a considerablepart of the antiviral substance is in the euglobulinfraction. The reconcentrated pseudoglobulin andthe serum albumin are apparently free from the

protective substance.

MEDICINE AND THE LAW.

The Duties of a Police Surgeon.IT has lately been necessary to make a public

protest against misconceptions as to the duties of apolice surgeon. Proceedings had been taken in theManchester City Police-court against a man chargedwith having been drunk and disorderly and withhaving assaulted a tramcar driver. It appeared thatwhen the accused was taken to the police station heasked for a doctor and that a telephone message wasthereupon sent to the divisional police surgeon.The surgeon, it was stated, answered that it was nogood his coming. Whatever the answer may havebeen, it seems subsequently to have been twisted intoa refusal to attend without a fee. The presidingmagistrate commented upon the refusal as a breachof the surgeon’s duty to the city and as a denial ofjustice to the accused. His remarks received consider.able publicity in a Manchester evening newspaperthat night under such headlines as " Doctor refuses.to see man-Bench insist on duty to city-Presidingmagistrate’s stern comments." Next day the

magistrate withdrew his observations not unhand-

somely, explaining that he had spoken under a.

misapprehension and that the police surgeon had beenunder no obligation whatever to attend in consequenceof the telephone message. It was thereupon explainedto the magistrate that a police surgeon is not a.

municipal official. He renders his service under an

agreement. The public has no call upon his services.His agreement is that he will attend at the request.and on the instruction of the police to make certainexaminations and certain reports and, if necessary,to give evidence. Being thus a potential witness forthe prosecution, he seems hardly the most appropriateperson for an accused person to call in as a prospectivewitness for the defence. Perhaps in no other countrybut Britain, where the fairness of quasi-officialwitnesses for the prosecution is so conspicuous towardsthe accused, could it be thought that a divisionalpolice surgeon was at the beck and call of everydefendant.The magisterial comments, which otherwise might.

considerably have damaged a medical practitionerboth by charging him with laxity and selfishness.in the execution of his duties and by prejudicing his.reputation with his patients and friends, were thussatisfactorily withdrawn and the incident endedhappily. The misunderstanding as to the policesurgeon has its parallels in the popular misconceptionsas to the general practitioner. Not infrequentlyat coroner’s inquests and elsewhere a witness complainsthat a doctor was summoned and callously refusedto attend. Many who in their own persons insistupon a rigid limitation of their hours of daily toil,look upon the medical practitioner as an automatonwho never eats or sleeps and who never has public orprivate engagements. A patient can be forgivenfor forgetting the claims of other patients. But if aperemptory demand for the immediate attendance ofa doctor is put as a matter of legal obligation, it is.necessary to say frankly that no such obligation is.known to the law. Nobody can compel a firm ofsolicitors to accept him as a client, much less to attendhim and take his instructions at midnight or on

Sunday afternoon. Analogy between the legal andmedical professions is obviously imperfect owing to,the difference in the services which each renders.But, as a matter of contractual relationship, there is no-more obligation in the one case than in the other.