It is a general impression that multiple donations of blood at intervals of 1-3 months usually give rise to no harmful effects on the donors. While anemia may occur frequently from such procedure in the female, it is rare in the male. This impression is largely gleaned from the foIlowing reports. In 1923, Giffin and Haines (7) made a careful study of 84 donors of the Mayo Clinics. Forty-nine of this series gave 20 0r more donations at an average interval of less than two months. About half of the donors gained weight and one-fourth of them stated that they felt better after they had begun to donate blood. No anemia was present in the male donors after a single or a long series of donations. However, 22 of the 33 woman donors developed anemia of various degrees. It was, therefore, concluded that multiple donations of 500 cc by healthy males at intervals of 4-5 weeks led to no harmful results.
In the reviews of the literature on sulfanilamide and its related compounds by Tyson (1), Holman and Duff (2) and Keefer (3) the toxic manifestations cited are: cyanosis due to sulphemoglobinemia or metahemoglobinemia; anemia either of the aplastic or of the hemolytic type; agranulocytosis; skin lesions such as eczema, generalized maculo-papular and morbilliform rash, urticaria, exfoliative dermatitis, toxic erythema, and purpuric rash; acidosis; pyrexia; anorexia; headache; vertigo; malaise; diarrhea; cardiac irregularity; optic neuritis; and circuIatory collapse. No mention was made of hepatitis.
Many clinicians, pathologists and roentgenologists have recorded cases of pulmonary syphilis. This condition was recognized about a century ago (1). Nevertheless, some observers still doubt the existence of syphilis of the lung. This skepticism is due largely to the fact that the disease is rare and that its diagnosis is beset with many difficulties. Well proven cases are relatively few in the medical literature.
It was once the belief that syphilis remained a localized infection during the period of the primary chancre, and that by excision of the lesion, penetration and generalized dissemination of the infection from the portal of entry could be prevented. Although this conception is no longer held, the rate at which Treponema pallidum spreads from the site of inoculation to invade the blood stream in the human subject remains unknown.
Anderson and his co-workers (1931 and 1933) by using a heated blood agar medium containing potassium telIurite described the existence of Gravis, Mitis and Intermediate types of C. diphtheriae. They further showed that a correlation existed between the types of organism and clinical severity. These important findings have now been confirmed by many other workers. A review of the observations which have accumulated with regard to the significance of diphtheria types from 1931-1935 was made by Cooper et al (1936).
Although the schistosomiasis area of the Futsing district, Fukien province, has been known for several years, its range of endemicity and the incidence of infection among the rural population are not de. finitely known. In a former publication (Tang, 1936) the writer 1isted onIy 29 localities in which snail intermediate hosts were collected. Recently a survey of this area was conducted by Chen (1939) with several more places added to the list.
It is well known that trachoma is a very common disease in China. Pi (1) is of the opinion that about one third of the population is suffering or has suffered from the disease. It has been and still is one of the great medical and public health problems of this country and is the cause, directIy and indirectly, of much blindness. In a review of the Chinese medical literature on blindness, one finds the following opinions expressed: Harston (2) found trachoma to be one of the chief causes of blindness in South China. Lossouran's (3) investigations show that trachoma is the third numerical cause of blindness in China.
In countries where the teaching of modern medicine is most progressive, autopsies are generally available on cases ending fatally after adequate ante-mortem studies and treatment. The professor of pathology acts as official pathologist to the hospital and this close relationship with the clinics makes possible the study of autopsy specimens in the light of the clinical records.
