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portions plated on plain agar. The plates were incubated at 20’ C, The figures in Table V give the average of three tests of composite samples of two fish each. The variation in the extent of bacterial contamination among the individuals of the different species before freezing is quite great and renders difficult an interpretation of the results of this nature. The data show, however, that there are no consistent differences in the numbers of bacteria in the skin, flesh, and intestines of the various fish before and after freezing and after storage, which might be attributed to the method of freezing. Examination of the character of the bacterial flora in the fish failed to reveal outstanding differences in the two sets of fish. The predominating microorganisms before and after storage appeared to be mainly those which are usually present in air and water. Among the bacteria identified were M . citreus Sternberg, M . luteus Cohn, M . aureus, M . JEavus,M . roseus, M . aquatilis, staphylococcus aureus, albus and citreus, Bact. refractans Wright, and Bact. desidiosum Wright. Pigment-producing yeasts and various molds, particularly Aspergillus niger, were fairly common. Itlthus appears that there is very litt’le choice between the two methods from the strandpoint of bActerial decomposition during storage.
Report on Chemo-Medical Research Under the title of “The Future Independence and Progress of American Medicine in the Age of Chemistry,” the Chemical Foundation is circulating the report of the Committee on ChemoMedical Research, appointed by the American Chemical Society in January 1919. The report draws a lesson from the results accomplished during the war, when chemists, pharmacologists, and experimental pathologists joined in defensive and offensive work on poison gas a t the American University Experiment Station. Great results may be expected in the battle against disease, says the report, through cooperation under ideal conditions of time and equipment l o r research. How can chemistry, cooperating now with medicine as it co6perated with the war and naval departments, help best in the battle against disease? The constructive chemist can serve in three ways. First, he can aid by the preparation of specific medicaments for the cure or alleviation of specific diseases, either by the synthesis of new products or by the improvement of natural remedies already known. So, too, the study of the pure principles of our organs of secretion opens up a field rich in promise; and another great line of effort in this direction should be the attempt to isolate the pure principles of antitoxins and serums. The third opening for the constructive chemist is the complete ultimate analysis of the constituents of our body cells and the components of our blood and tissues, together with the complete ultimate analysis of the components of our foods. For example, Fischer’s work on the structure and chemistry of the sugars opened the way for all the more recent work on carbohydrate metabolism and its pathologic variations. His work on the amino acids forms the foundation of all modern work on protein metabolism. The physical chemist has an important part t o play in this cooperation, for the matter of health is closely bound up in the delicate adjustment of speed of the various chemical reactions taking place in the body. Many of our bodily functions are dependent on the action of enzymes (or catalysts). So, too, in nerve and cell, the questions to be dealt with are largely those of colloidal chemistry. While there are in the United States a number of institutes and foundations for medical research, there is none in which problems are approached primarily from the chemical standpoint. To a large extent, chemo-medical research in this country has followed a few lines opened up in Europe. The professor in the medical school has little time for concentrated work on fundamental problems. Almost the only research work of the government laboratories bearing upon health is that of the Public Health Service, and especially of the Hygienic Laboratory. Data in regard to the amount of medical research in industrial establishments have been hard to obtain. It may be said, however, although many pharmaceutical and chemical
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 1-L. H. Almy and E. Field, “The Preservation of Fish Frozen in 13 (1921), Chilled Brine. I-The Penetration OF Salt,” THISJOURNAL, 927. 2-R. Plank, E. Ehrenbaum and K. Reuter, “Die Konservierung von Fischen durch das Gefrierverfahren,” Abhandlungcn ZUY Volkswnahrung, issued by the Zentral-Einkaufsgesellschaft, 1 (1916), 218. 3-R. Plank, E. Ehrenbaurn and K. Reuter, LOG.cit., 97, and facing 180 and 196. 4-1. M. Bottemaine, ”Notes on the Investigation of Preserving Fish by Artificial Cold,” Preliminary Report, 3rd International Congress of Refrigeration, 3rd Section (The Netherlands), Washington-Chicago, 1913, 25, 26. &E. D. Clark and I,. H. Almy, “A Chemical Study of Food Fish. The Analysis of Twenty Common Food Fishes with Especial Reference to the Seasonal Variation in Composition,” J . Biol. Chem., 33 (1918), 486. 6-E. D. Clark and L. H. Almy, “A Chemical Study of Frozen Fish 12 (1920), 656. in Storage for Short and Long Periods,” THISJOURNAL, 7-S. C. Prescott and C.-E. A. Winslow, “Elements of Water Bacteriology,” 3rd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1911, 141. 8-A. C. Hunter, “Bacterial Decomposition of Salmon,” J . Bact., 5 (1920). 353. 9-M. M. Ohst, “A Bacteriologic Study of Sardines,” J . Infect. Dis., 24 (1919), 158. IO-W. W. Browne, “The Presence of E . Coli and B . Welchii Groups in the Intestinal Tract of Fish (Stenomus chrysops),” J . Bact., 2 (1917), 417. 11-W. W. Browne, “Do Bacteria Play an Important Part in the Initial Stages of Decomposition of Fish during Storage in Ice?” Abstruds Bact., 2 (1918), 6.
manufacturers maintain research organizations which have been an important factor in reaching our present stage of progress, no commercial establishment can maintain a staff of specialists in the various branches of science such as would be required t o accomplish effective work of the character now required. It must be said, without fear of contradiction, (the report concludes) that there is not a single organization whose purpose is a determined cooperative attack on the problems of disease and health, where intense chemical and physical research goes hand in hand with the medical and biological study of disease. The importance of chemistry and physics has been recognized, but the direction of research is still essentially in the hands of medical men. No one of the scientific groups alone should be entrusted with leadership. All are needed for coping successfully with the complex and formidable problems. Complete cooperation of a staff of experts, peers in every sense, each in his own field, with emphasis on the fundamental chemical and physical character of the problems, has nowhere been accomplished. Consequently it is proposed that the attack be actually cooperative, from the selection of the problem and the formulation of the plan of work through the whole concentrated effort t o grapple with Nature and ultimately to conquer outpost after outpost of the complex world of life.
Petroleum Statistics Production of petroleum in the United States in 1921 amounted to 469,639,000 bbls., representing an estimated value a t the wells of $753,300,000. This is the greatest quantity ever produced in the United States in any one year and represents an increase of 26,237,000 bbls. over the production of 1920 and is more than double the quantity produced in the United States in 1912. World’s production figures for 1921 are not yet known, but preliminary estimates indicate a total not far from 750,000,000 bbls., as compared with 695,000,000 bbls. produced in 1920. Imports of crude oil into the United States during 1921 amounted to 125,307,000 bbls., as compared with 106,175,000 bbls. in 1920 and with 52,822,000 bbls. in 1919, these figures corresponding, respectively, t o 27, 24, and 14 per cent of the domestic production of the past three years. Exports of crude oil during 1921 amounted to 8,940,000 bbls. and during 1920 to 8,757,000 bbls. Estimated consumption (deliveries t o consumers) of domestic and imported crude oil during 1921 amounted t o 525,407,000 bbls., as contrasted with 530,474,000 bbls. in 1920. Consumption for the year just ended therefore amounted t o 55,768,000 bbls. more than the country produced.
