1) The mortality rate of bacillary dysentery was remarkably reduced in recent years. This was partly attributed to the progress of chemotherapy and to a relative decrease of infections caused by Shigella dysenteriae in the total group of bacillary dysentery. The importance of' gradually increasing mild infections was likewise taken into consideration.
2) The author described an epidemic in a board. All the boarders were found uniformly exposed to infection. They were submitted to rectoscopy, regardless of their clinical symptoms. Of the 39 cases thus examined, only 5 had normal mucous membrane. In all the remaining cases, more or less distinct changes were observed. Only 19 cases of the latter group were associated with clinical symptoms of dysentery.
3) Rectoscopic investigations of so-called healthy carriers revealed in 3/4 of the cases more or less apparent dysenteric changes. This suggests, that a considerable number of so-called healthy carriers represents mild dysentery cases with slight lesionsin the rectum, in spite of the absence of definite clinical disorders.

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Agar plates containing sulfathiazole in a concentration of 100 mg/dl (100 mg/di-ST-agar) inhibited the growth of coliform organisms and Proteus, while sulfathiazole-resistent Shigellastrains underwent no suppression. For the isolation of these strains, the 100 mg/di-ST-agar was more suitable than Endo culture medium and BTB-agar, and even superior to SS-agar. Better results were obtained with the concentration of 100 mg/dl, than with that of 25 mg/dl
Of the sulfonamide derivatives, Thiasin, Sulfadiazine and Domian could substitute sulf athiazole.
Additional malachite green or brilliant green in a concentration of 0.05 mg/dl, exerted occasionally no significant inhibitory action on sulfathiazole-resistent Shigella-strains, in. spite of a better suppressive effect on other bacteria.
Of the 1513 strains of dysentery bacilli which were obtained from the patients in Toshima Hospital in the previus one year, 84.8% could be isolated with the 100 mg/di-STagar. Considerable difference in the percentage of isolation with the medium was observed according to the types of dysentery bacilli: more than 90% of Shigella flexneri 1 and 2, 28.6% of Shigella flexneri 3a and 10.6% of Shigella sonnei could be cultured.

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It was lately disclosed that mumps is not a localized disease of the parotid gland, but a generalized infection, caused by mumps virus. In recent years, it was revealed furthermore, that a certain type of aseptic lymphocytic meningoencephalitis is comprised in the group of mumps infection. The prevention of the disease has thus become a matter of importance in pediatrics. In order to establish reasonable preventive measures against mumps, it is necessary to make clear the epidemiologic characteristics of this infection. Indispensable to the investigation is a reliable skin test, which enables the investigator to make an accurate estimation of the grade of group sensitivity or of the immunity of community inhabitants to this disease.
The first report on the skin test of mumps was that of Enders, which was followed by the reports of Cabasso, Henle, Kono, Ashiwara and other investigators. The antigens employed by them, however, were not of uniform property, and they were evaluated with various methods, which made an application of these antigens to epidemiologic investigations impossible. In the present report, the author made an attempt to devise an adequate standardization method with an antigen of constant potency.
According to a comparative study of Ashiwara, the antigen solutions which were employed by the above-mentioned investigators, all contained the antigen of complement fixation test in a concentration of 1 u/0.2 ml approximately. Among these antigens, Henle's so-called soluble antigen was characterized by its constant potency and by the least stimulation to antibody production. For these reasons, Henle's antigen and a corresponding control solution were employed in the present investigation.
0.1 mg of the antigen and the control solution were carefully injected intracutaneously on the inner side of forearms of 431 examinees, who had been divided into 3 groups of 80, 208 and 143, to each of which one of 3 lots of the antigen was given. The diameter of the resulting erythema was measured in 24 and 48 hours, and its frequency distribution was pursued statistically.
Statistical analysis justified the following standard f or the estimation of the skin reaction.
The reaction must be evaluated by the size of erythemae 48 hours after the injection. Erythemae larger than 10 mm in diameter represent a positive reaction. Those smaller than 4 mm in diameter a negative. In the range from 5 to 9 mm the reaction is an ambiguous one.

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The significance of the concentration of plasma protein fractions as one of the regulating factors in the E.S.R. has been generally recognized. There has been, however, an unf ortunate tendency in the study; to regard the concentration of these fractions an independent quantity from one another. The method usually taken in dealing with these problems has been to presume an acceleration factor of the E.S.R. in finding out a simple correlation between the concentration of protein fractions and the value of the E.S.R.
At present, when we are not yet qualified to assume, that the protein f ractions are always subjected to independent changes from one another, we should realize the difficulty in the acknowledgement of the validity of the correlations, unless the fluctuation of each fraction were examined in the course of various diseases. For instance, when. a-globulin shows a significant simple correlation to the E.S.R., and if a correlation is likewise to confirm between α-globulin and β-globulin, the correlation of α-globulin to the E.S.R. may represent a so-called f alse correlation, a secondary phenomenon due to the true correlation between β-globulin and the E.S.R. Of course the relation of the both globulin fractions to the E.S.R. may be reversed.
In the present report the quantitative correlation of plasma protein fractions to one another was discussed in scarlet fever. Correlations were observed between each two of the plasma protein fractions with a level of significance of 99% to 95%, with the exceptions between albumin and α-globulin, albumin and fibrinogen, and γ-globulin and fibrinogen. Furthermore, it was made clear that these correlations were not simply due to the change of the blood water content. Of the protein fractions, albumin, α-globulin and fibrinogen, each of which showed a correlation to the E.S.R., a definite correlation was confirmed between α-globulin and fibrinogen, while- no correlation was discovered between albumin and a-globulin, and between albumin and fibrinogen, respectively. It may theref are be stated almost with certainty, that the correlation of albumin to the E.S.R. is a veritable one, but that of α-globulin and fibrinogen to the E.S.R. can not be regarded as such. The correlation might be simulated in the latter group by that of α-globulin to fibrinogen, and represent a false one. Further studies are required regarding the problems by means of the examination of partial correlation.

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In the first report attempts were made to find a simple correlation of the E.S.R. to plasma protein fractions, and significant correlations were indicated of the E.S.R. to albumin, a-globulin and fibrinogen. In the second report, furthermore, the study was perf ormed to discover the correlations of the protein fractions to one another. It was revealed that, while albumin proved to be correlated to the E.S.R., neither a-globulin nor fibrinogen had any correlation to albumin. Thus the correlation between albumin and the E.S.R. was demonstrated as a true one. On the other hand, because of the apparent correlation between a-globulin and fibrinogen, further studies were required to elucidate the question, if an independent correlation of the E.S.R. to a-globulin and fibrinogen actually existed. The discrimination of a true correlation from a false one was therefore considered indispensable to the study.
In the third report the author et al. perf ormed a study on the partial correlation, with which method true and false correlations were discriminated. By the examinaton of the partial correlation of, the E.S.R., α-globulin and fibrinogen, the existence of a correlation between E.S.R. and a-globulin was excluded, that is, the apparent correlation observed between the both variables proved to be a so-called f alse one, due to the correlations between a-globulin and fibiinogen and to that between fibrinogen and the E.S.R. Accordingly the f actors in plasma protein, which had true correlations with each other and to the E.S.R. in the course of scarlet fever, consisted only in albumin and fibrinogen. The former had a negative, and the latter had a positive, correlation to the E.S.R.
The summarized results indicated, that a decrease in albumin and a increase in fibrinogen played a major role in the E.S.R. as true acceleration f actors.

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