The view that vaccinia is attenuated variola is well known, and has
been extensively adopted by English physicians. If the opinion means
anything, it signifies that the two diseases are in essence one and
the same, differing only in degree. M. Pasteur has recently found that
by passing the bacillus of "rouget" of pigs through rabbits, he can
effect a considerable attenuation of the "rouget" virus. He has shown
that rabbits inoculated with the bacillus of rouget become very ill
and die, but if the inoculations be carried through a series of
rabbits, a notable modification results in the bacillus. As regards
the rabbits themselves, no favorable change occurs--they are all made
very ill, or die. But if inoculation be made on pigs from those
rabbits, at the end of the series it is found that the pigs have the
disease in a mild form, and, moreover, that they enjoy immunity from
further attacks of "rouget." This simply means that the rabbits have
effected, or the bacillus has undergone while in them, an attenuation
of virulence. So the pigs may be "vaccinated" with the modified virus,
have the disease in a mild form, and thereafter be protected from the
disease. The analogy between this process and the accepted view of
vaccinia is very close. The variolous virus is believed to pass
through the cow, and there to become attenuated, so that inoculations
from the cow-pox no longer produce variola in the human subject, but
cow-pox (vaccinia). As an allied process, though of very different
result, mention may be made of some collateral experiments of Pasteur,
also performed recently. Briefly, it has been discovered that the
bacillus of the "rouget" of pigs undergoes an increase of virulence by
being cultivated through a series of pigeons. Inoculations from the
last of the series of pigeons give rise to a most intense form of the
disease. It will be remembered that the discovery of the bacillus of
"rouget" of pigs was due to the late Dr. Thuillier.--_Lancet._
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Very few persons realize the necessity of cultivating an equable
temper and of avoiding passion. Many persons have met with sudden
death, the result of a weak heart and passionate nature.
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