Experimental Studies in Poliomyelitis

The establishment of abortive and meningitic forms of poliomyelitis by Wickman has thrown much light on the epidemiology of the disease. In the efforts to produce the disease in monkeys by the injections of the secretions of abortive cases, there have been varying degress of success. Kling, Pettersson and Wernstedt1report six cases in which inoculations from the mouth or intestines in abortive cases resulted in lesions characterized by degeneration rather than infiltration in the brain and cord of monkeys. The inoculation of several monkeys—the number is not stated—gave negative results. Three of the positive results were obtained by washings done ten days, one and a half months and three and a half months respectively after the onset of the symptoms. On the other hand, Kling and Levaditi2were unable to obtain results in two abortive cases. They were unsuccessful, however, in a large percentage of their typical