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Although it has long been recognized that cases of virus hepatitis without jaundice outnumber those with jaundice, particularly among children, only recently-with the introduction of tests to determine the activity of serum transaminases-has it become possible to assess with any accuracy the real frequency of the anicteric forms. In the present paper, the authors report on an investigation in an institution for children in Rome. Some 1000 serum enzyme determinations were made on 104 children and 11 adults; detailed results are given. It was found that among the children anicteric hepatitis predominated over icteric hepatitis in a ratio of 30: 1 and that the total frequency of virus hepatitis of both forms was strikingly high. The clinical and epidemiological implications of these and associated findings are discussed.

The search for substitutes for chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides has led to the trial of organophosphorus compounds. Fenthion is promising as a residual spray in malaria eradication, but information on its human toxicology is scanty. In the work reported in this paper the inhabitants of a Nigerian village have been studied during a trial of fenthion. Moderate depressions of plasma cholinesterase were observed for five weeks after spraying, though there was no effect on red blood cell cholinesterase. A search was also made for other possible effects, including measurements of peak expiratory flow rate. No serious toxic effects were found.

The problem with which human ecology confronts medical librarians is that of inherent complexity combined with vagueness of definition and thought, associated with the risk of dispersing effort and funds ineffectually and too widely. Much of this paper is concerned with explaining why ecology must primarily be concerned with the "physiology of ecosystems," an ecosystem being an organized assemblage of populations of various living organisms plus all the nonliving components with which they interact or through which they exchange information. This is the broadest view of synecology. Much of the great complexity of an ecosystem is only apparent, because the integration of the components gives it statistical simplicities and, especially, some reliable homeostasis. In practice, fragmentary studies must be made, the lowliest of these being the autecology of an individual or a species such as man or the Norway rat. It is only in such studies that the term "environment" has meaning: the concept of environment disappears in the ecosystem, of which environments are simply component parts. For such fragmentary studies, it is recommended that the prefix "aut-" be retained, or that "bionomics" be used instead. Such studies should be made always with the intention of relating them to the ecosystem. An ecosystem becomes much more difficult to study if it is rapidly evolving. Ecosystems which include man as a dominant species are not only evolving, but contain whimsical and irrational human social elements lacking in animal groups. It should suffice to restrict the responsibilities of the medical librarian to catering for modern epidemiology (medical ecology). The range of disciplines involved is summarized and some practical hints added; the contributions of an active group (department, institute, or another) and cross-campus cooperation are stressed.

Ghana, with a population of 6 700 000, largely distributed in rural districts, is representative of many a country where the problem of water supply is associated with the construction of numerous small supplies for the villages and towns scattered over the whole area. This paper gives a general impression of the various methods in use for tackling the problem. Well-sinking, drilling, and pond-digging, and the advantages and disadvantages of a variety of methods, are described, and the problems met with under different geological conditions are considered. Details of the various systems for pumping the water from the source to the villages and towns are given. The important question of standardization, both in design and equipment, is dealt with, and reference is made to the operation of supplies and to the training of operatives.

Endemic syphilis and similar conditions are compared in this paper with yaws. Both are non-venereal and endemic, and they have very similar epidemiological characteristics. There is also considerable similarity in the clinical manifestations at the various stages of yaws and endemic syphilis, the differences that do appear being mainly due to different environmental and living conditions. No antigenic or immunogenic differences between syphilis and yaws have yet been demonstrated, and the sensitivity of both to penicillin is the same. Control measures for both diseases may be based on similar principles.The author considers the treponematoses to be closely related infections, and stresses the "unitarian" view put forward by various writers.