Societies and Academies

Abstract

PARIS. Academy of Sciences, September 19.—M. Wolf in the chair.—On the clinical value of the agglutination of Koch's bacillus by human blood serum, by MM. S. Arloing and Paul Courmont. The results of over one hundred cases show that the aggregation of the tubercle bacilli when the blood serum is introduced into a culture may furnish, very rapidly, an important element of information in the early diagnosis of true tuberculosis. There were, however, two remarkable cases where the test failed, though tuberculosis was undoubted and in an advanced stage. The fact that positive results were almost always obtained when the tuberculous lesions were in an early stage renders the serum reaction the more valuable. Feeble aggregation was induced in some cases where tuberculosis was not found by the ordinary clinical methods, and the inference is drawn that latent tuberculosis may be consistent with the appearance of perfect health. One of the latter cases afterwards developed into tubercular laryngitis.—Observations and elements of the Perrine-Chofardet comet by M. G. Fayet.—Observations on the Perrine-Chofardet comet, made with the large equatorial at the Observatory of Bordeaux, by MM. L. Picart and Courty.—Synopsis of the solar observations made at the Royal Observatory of the Roman College during the first quarter of 1898, by M. P. Tacchini.—On the colorations of the less fusible porcelain enamels, by MM. A. Le Charpentier and P. Charpy. A list of the colours obtainable from various metals, all of which have been tested upon the manufacturing scale. The compositions are given of erbium and neodymium blues, erbium and neodymium greens, neodymium violet and erbium red.—Influence of gravity and light upon the dorsiventral organisation of the branches in inflorescences, by M. H. Ricome.—On the balloon ascents of June 8, 1898, on the occasion of the fourth international experiment, by MM. Hermite and Besançon.