Search

Climate and human welfare have long been subjects for discussion. The variables met with in the consideration of this subject are so numerous as to discourage the scientific mind which seeks to establish suitable controls as points of departure for rational reasoning. Man, in his effort to adapt himself to his climatic environment, is dealing with a fundamental situation which determines the expenditure of human energy. As Huxley says, “Changes of climate cause migrations, and migrations bring about not only wars, but the fertilizing intermingling of ideas necessary for rapid advance in civilization.” Climate is usually defined as the temperature and meteorological conditions of a country, or as the effects of the sun, atmosphere and earth upon living objects at a given place on the earth's surface. Thus, radiant energy, is one of the elements of climate, as are also humidity, rain, snow, wind, density, electrification and temperature, all of which determine, with other factors, what the atmosphere shall be.

Summary The experiments reported describe the actual cultivation of Mycobacterium leprae on artificial culture medium in a gaseous tension of carbon dioxide and oxygen through sixteen generations over a period of eighteen months. Several new mediums have been prepared and inoculated but no growth appeared after six weeks incubation. Organisms from the ninth, tenth and eleventh serial transfers failed to produce experimental tissue changes in older monkeys then were used several months earlier when the culture which was not so distant from the host produced granulomatous lesions by intradermal injection. Guinea pigs and several varieties of mice manifested no pathologic changes when injected intracutaneously with these cultures. Serological data are given as a matter of record. A discussion of the possible mechanism of infection in human leprosy is presented. These studies are being continued.