The theory of uniform convergence was treated by Cauchy (1821), his limitations being pointed out by Abel, but the first to attack it successfully were Stokes and Seidel (1847-48). Semiconvergent series were studied by Poisson (1823) and Jacobi (1834). Fourier's series were investigated as the result of physical considerations, and Fourier (1807) set for himself the problem to expand a given function of x in terms of the sines or cosines of multiples of x, a problem which he embodied in his Théorie analy tique de la chaleur (1822). He did not, however, settle the question of convergence of his series, a matter left for Cauchy (1826) to attempt and for Dirichlet (1829) to handle in a thoroughly scientific manner. Among other prominent contributors to the theory of trigonometric and Fourier series have been Riemann, Heine, Lipschitz, Schläfli, Du Bois-Reymond, Dini, Hermite, Helphen, Krause, Byerly, and Appell.

For an introduction to infinite series involving tests of convergence, applications to physics, and relations to integration, consult Osgood, Introduction to Infinite Series (Cambridge, 1897). An historical development of the subject is given by Reiff, Geschichte der unendlichen Reihen (Tübingen, 1889). Also by Bôcher, chap. ix. of Byerly's Fourier's Series and Spherical Harmonics (Boston, 1893). For history and theory, consult Merriman and Woodward, Higher Mathematics (New York, 1896); Jordan, Cours d'analyse (Paris, 1893). An elementary treatment is given in Chrystal, Algebra, vol. ii. (Edinburgh, 1889); Bonnet, "Mémoire sur la théorie genérale des séries," in the Mémoires couronnés of the Brussels Academy (1850); Martone, Introduzione alla teoria delle serie (Catanzaro, 1891-94).

ally the latter outranked the former, unless serjeants held special patents of precedence. The decay of this order in England is due in part to the fact that the Judicature Act of 1873 renders it unnecessary that a person should be admitted to the rank of serjeant before appointment to a Supreme Court judgeship, and in part to the abolition of the exclusive right of audience in the Common Pleas. Consult: Manning, Antient Privileges of the Serjeants at Law (London, 1840); Pulling, The Order of the Coif (London, 1884).

SERLIO, sâr'lуo, SEBASTIANO (1475-1554). An Italian architect and writer on art, born at Bologna. He worked as an architect at Pesaro from about 1510 until 1514, then, after having frequented in Rome the school of Peruzzi, he was employed at Bologna and Venice, and in 1540 went to Paris, where he became royal architect in 1541 and was engaged in the work on the Louvre and the Tuileries, and at Fontainebleau. He is remembered chiefly for his treatise on architecture, in which he embodied all the precepts of Vitruvius and which was published in seven books (Lyons, 1537-51, 1575). Consult Charvet, Biographies d'architectes (Lyons, 1869). SERMONISM. See NOMINALISM.

SEROTINE (from Lat. serotinus, late, from

serus, late). A large, dark-brown bat (Vesperugo serotinus) of particular interest for its very wide distribution, since it is known all over Europe, south of the Baltic, in Africa north of Asia, and in most of North America. It seems to the equator, throughout the southern half of be identical with our 'dusky' or 'Carolina' bat. Several color varieties are locally distinguished.

SEROUS FLUID (from Lat. serum, whey, serum; connected with Gk. ópós, oros, whey, Skt.

SERINGAPATAM, se-rin'gå-på-täm', or SRIRANGAPATAM. A town in the native State of Mysore, India, 9 miles northeast of the city of Mysore, on an island in the Kavery River (Map: India, C 6). It is poorly built and unhealthful. A portion of the palace of Tippu Sahib, within the inclosure of the old fort, still remains. Other objects of interest in clude the Darya Daulat Bagh, the handsome summer residence of Tippu; the Lal Bagh (garden) with the tombs of Tippu and his father, Hyder Ali; and the ancient temple of Vishnu Shri Ranga, from which the town derives its name. Seringa patam was the capital of Mysore until 1799. On May 4th of that year the town was stormed by the British, Tippu Sahib being killed. Population, about 12,000.

SERJEANT-AT-LAW. The highest rank of barristers (q.v.). It is a title of great antiquity, but now nearly extinct in England, although still common in Ireland. In early times the degree was conferred only on barristers of sixteen years' standing; but this qualification was dispensed with later. A serjeant was appointed by a writ under the great seal, upon the nomination of the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, in whose court he was entitled, for centuries, to exclusive audience. Socially serjeants took precedence of King's counsel, while profession

various parts of the animal body, distinguished from mucus principally by its limpidity and by its being found in closed cavities only. It contains a little albumin, a trace of fibrin, about 6 per cent. of solid constituents, and 94 per cent. of water. Serous fluids have been arranged under three heads: (1) Those which are contained in the serous salt of the body, as the cerebrospinal fluid, the pericardial fluid, the peritoneal fluid, the pleural fluid, the fluid of the tunica vaginalis testis, and the synovial fluid. (2) The fluids existing in the eyeball, the amniotic fluid, and transudations into the tissue of organs. (3) Morbid or excessive transudations, such as dropsical fluids, the fluids occurring in hydatids, and in blebs and vesicles on the skin, and transudations from the blood in the intestinal capillaries, as in cases of intestinal catarrh, cholera, or dysentery.

All these fluids bear a close resemblance to one another, both in their physical and chemical characters. In so far as relates to their physical characters they are usually clear and transparent, colorless or slightly yellow, of a slight saline, mawkish taste, and exhibiting an alkaline reaction with test-paper. They possess no special formal or histological elements, but on a microscopic examination blood-corpuscles, cells of various kinds, molecular granules, and epithelium may occasionally be observed in them. They also contain fats, animal soaps, cholesterine, extractive matters, urea (occasionally), the same inorganic salts which are found in the serum of

the blood, and the same gases as occur in the blood. As rare constituents, and only occurring in disease, may be mentioned sugar, the biliary acids, salts of lactic and succinic acids, creatinine, mucine, etc.

SEROUS MEMBRANE.

There are seven

serous membranes in the human body, three being medium and single, while two are double and lateral. They are the arachnoid, the pericardium, and the peritoneum, with the two pleuræ and tunicæ vaginales testis. Thus they are connected, with the obvious view of facilitating motion and affording general protection, with all the most important organs in the body. Each sac or continuous membrane consists of two portions-a parietal one, which lines the walls of the cavity, and a visceral, or reflected one, which forms an almost complete coating or investment for the viscera contained in the cavity. During health the opposing surfaces of these serous membranes are in contact and only enough fluid is secreted to render them moist and capable of easy movements. After death from certain diseases, however, considerable fluid is frequently found, probably due to post-mortem exudation. An accumulation of fluid may occur during life. Of their structure it is sufficient to state that they consist essentially of (1) epithelium; (2) basement membrane; (3) a stratum of areolar or cellular tissue, which constitutes the chief thickness of the membrane, and is the constituent on which its physical properties are mainly dependent.

SER'OW (East Indian name). One of a group of goat-antelopes (genus Nemorhoedus) nearly allied to the gorals (q.v.), but more shaggy. They inhabit Southeastern and Eastern Asia, and make their home upon high and difficult mountains, where they go about in pairs or family parties, much after the manner of the wild sheep. The common serow (Nemorhœdus bubalinus) is an inhabitant of the Himalayan Mountains, and is a rather large, ungraceful animal with coarse blackish and reddish hair, and with rough black horns about a foot long, standing upright upon the head, with a backward curve. Another well-known species is the 'cambing-utan' (Nemorhœdus Sumatrensis), which inhabits hilly districts from Eastern Tibet southward to Sumatra. Other smaller species are known in Japan and in Formosa. Consult Blanford and other writers upon East Indian zoology, and Kinloch, Large Game Shooting in Thibet and Northern India (London, 1885). See Plate of GOAT ANTELOPES.

SERPA PINTO, ser på pex'to, ALEXANDRE ALBERTO (1846-1900). A Portuguese explorer. He entered the Royal Military College in Lisbon, and in 1864 became an ensign. He went from Benguela to Durban, across the continent of Africa, in 1877-79. This expedition he described in a volume translated into French and German (1881-82). In 1884-86, accompanied by Cardozo, he led another expedition to Mozambique, where the Portuguese power was extended to Lake Nyassa. In 1889 he went once more to Africa, but was finally recalled in 1890 on account of

England's opposition to his strongly Portuguese policy in Matabeleland.

SERPENT. See SNAKE.

SERPENT (OF., Fr. serpent, from Lat. serpens, creeping, snake, pres. part. of serpere, to

creep; connected with Gk. prav, herpein, Skt. sarp, to creep). A powerful bass musical wind instrument, consisting of a tube of wood covered with leather, furnished with a mouthpiece like a trombone, ventages, and keys, and twisted into a serpentine form, whence its name. Its compass is from Bb to bb'. When skillfully played it exhibits the most startling inequalities of tone, in consequence of there being three notes, d, a, d, much more powerful than the others. The serpent was invented in 1590 by Edme Guillaume, a canon of Auxerre in France.

SERPENTARIA (Lat., snakeweed), or VIRGINIA SNAKEROOT. The root of Aristolochia serpentaria and other species of Aristolochia. It contains a volatile oil, a resin (a camphor) and a bitter principle (aristolochine). It has a pungent odor and a warm camphoraceous taste. In small doses it acts as a simple bitter, increasing the appetite, assisting digestion, and mildly relaxing the bowels. In large doses it causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It is a heart stimulant and a cerebral excitant, and in large doses causes fullness of the head, vertigo, and exhilaration. It is an aphrodisiac, and also a diuretic. Its principal use is in bronchitis, in which it increases the bronchial secretion. There are three official preparations: the infusion, the fluid extract, and the tincture.

SERPENT-CHARMING. See SNAKE-CHARM

ING.

SERPENT-EAGLE. A crested and spotted eagle of the East Indian and African genus Spilornis, the species of which include snakes in their food. The largest and best known by this name is the 'cheele' (Spilornis undulatus) of and white head, round white spots on the lower India and eastward, which is brown with a black surfaces, and a broadly banded tail. name is given to the harrier eagles (Batastur), and especially to the secretary-bird (q.v.).

The same

SERPENTINE (OF., Fr. serpentin, from Lat. serpentinus, relating to a serpent, from serpens, creeping, snake). A hydrated magnesium silicate mineral that crystallizes in the monoclinic system. It has a resinous to greasy and earthy lustre, and in color ranges through the different shades of green to brown, and sometimes yellow. Serpentine is rarely found crystallized, as it most commonly occurs in fibrous or lamellar aggregations. It takes a high polish, and is frequently employed as a material for ornaments. Serpentine frequently occurs in sufficient masses to form rocks, and in such cases it is generally blende, tale, calcite, magnesite, chlorite, chroassociated with other minerals, viz. fibrous hornmite, and oxides of iron, with residual portions also of augite, olivine, and hornblende crystals. The color of the rock, which is generally some variety of green, and the streaks of brown iron oxide, are responsible for the name serpentine. As a building stone, serpentine has great toughness and durability, combined with beauty of color, and being soft, is easily cut. It not infrequently contains, however, numerous crystals of a variety of garnet known as pyrope (Bohemain garnet, Cape ruby), which, while adding

some beauty to the stone, offer by their extreme hardness a serious obstacle to its working. The fibrous variety of serpentine, asbestos (q.v.), is utilized in the manufacture of fire-proof materials. Serpentines are the principal source of

or

chromite, and deposits of nickel and platinum are sometimes associated with these rocks. Serpentine with calcite, magnesite, or dolomite forms a beautiful mottled veined rock to which the name ophiolite or ophicalcite, or, more commonly, Verde antique, is given. This material is used for ornamental pillars and decorative purposes.

SERPENT MOUND. A remarkable earthwork near Peebles, Adams County, Ohio, 71 miles east of Cincinnati. It is in the form of a huge serpent, 1000 feet long, 5 feet high, and 30 feet wide at the base. The tail ends in a triple coil, and between the open jaws lies an egg-shaped mound 109 by 39 feet. It is supposed to be the work of the Mound Builders (q.v.). See ARCHEOLOGY, AMERICAN.

SERPENT-WORSHIP. SHIP; OPHITES.

See NATURE-WOR

SERPETTE, sâr'pět', GASTON (1846-). A French composer, born at Nantes. He studied at the Paris Conservatory (1868-71) under Ambroise Thomas, and won the Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata Jeanne d'Arc. In 1874 his first opera, La branche cassée, was produced in Paris, and he subsequently brought out more than thirty similar works, of which the best known are Le carillon (1896), Cendrillonnette (1890), and La dot de Brigitte (1895).

SERPULA (Neo-Lat., from serpere, to creep). A marine annelid worm which secretes a tubular calcareous shell, more or less coiled, and often forming large detached masses of reddish rock. The large, solid limestone tubes of these worms materially assist in building up coral reefs, especially on the coast of Brazil. Serpulæ have been noticed by A. Agassiz to often form on coral reefs incrusting masses of considerable extent. Serpulæ occur at great depths in the The worms (Serpida vermicu- Gulf of Mexico, laris) are shown with expanded while tentacles, as if under water.

A GROUP OF BERPULE.

some were

dredged by the Challenger Expedition at depths of nearly 3000 fathoms. A mass of serpule with all their crimson tentacles expanded is a very beautiful object. SERRA, sĕr'rå, MIGUEL JOSÉ. See JUNIPERO. SERRADELLA, or SERRADILLA (Port. serradilla, diminutive of serrado, serrate, from Lat. serratus, saw-shaped, from serra, saw), BIRD'S-FOOT (Ornithopus sativus). An annual leguminous plant indigenous to Southern Europe and Northern Africa, cultivated for forage, hay, and green manuring. It prefers a moist climate and a sandy soil of good tilth. When broadcasted the land is harrowed and sometimes rolled to press the seed into the soil. In drilling the seed is planted about an inch deep. Two cuttings are obtained during the season. If sown about

April 1st it can be used for green forage in July and a second cutting may be obtained in September. It is cut for hay at the close of the blossoming period.

The green crop (cut when in bloom) has the following average composition: Water, 79.9; protein, 2.9; fat, 0.7; nitrogen-free extract, 10.0; crude fibre, 3.4; ash, 3.1 per cent. The hay contains: Water, 9.2; protein, 15.2; fat, 2.6; nitrogen-free extract, 44.2; crude fibre, 21.6; and ash, 7.2 per cent. Like other leguminous crops, it has a fairly high protein content. In feeding value it does not differ greatly from red clover. It has the advantage that it may be fed up to nearly the end of the blooming period without deterioration. When the hay is cured care must be taken to prevent loss due to the breaking of fine leaves and stems.

SERRA DO MAR, ser'rå dô mär. The southern division of the Brazilian Coast Range, running along the southeastern coast of the country through the States of Paraná, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. To the south, in Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul, runs the somewhat disnorthern division of the Coast Range bends west tinct range known as the Serra Geral, while the toward the Serra da Mantiqueira, which runs parallel with the Serra do Mar, separated from it by the valley of the Parahyba River. The range is the outermost escarpment of the great Brazilian plateau, and forms the divide between the Paraná River and the very short streams running into the Atlantic Ocean. Near Rio de Janeiro, where it reaches its highest elevation (from 6000 to 7000 feet), it is very rugged with numerous sharp granite crags, which from a distance suggest the pipes of an immense organ, whence this portion has been called the Organ Mountains.

SERRANIDE (Neo-Lat. nom. pl., from Lat. serra, saw). The family of sea-bass (q.v.), many species of which are called 'serranos' by the fishermen of Spanish America.

SERRANO Y DOMINGUEZ, sĕr-rä'nô ê domen'gâth, FRANCISCO, Duke de la Torre (181085). A Spanish statesman and general, born near Cadiz. He fought against the Carlists from 1833 to 1839, and attained the rank of brigadiergeneral. Elected to the Cortes from Malaga in 1839, he joined with Espartero in bringing about the overthrow of the Queen mother Christina in 1840, but three years later turned against the regency of Espartero and was Minister of War for some time after the beginning of the personal reign of Isabella II. He became lieutenant-general in 1847, captain-general of the army and military Governor of New Castile in 1856, Ambassador at Paris in the following year, and from 1859 to 1862 was Captain-General of Cuba. His services in the reconquest of Santo Domingo gained him the ducal title, and on his return to Spain in 1863 he was made Minister of Foreign Affairs. A faithful follower of O'Donnell, he succeeded the latter in 1867 as chief of the Liberal Union, and in spite of his intimate relations with Queen Isabella plotted assiduously against her Government. With other leaders of the Opposition he was transported to the Canary Islands in July, 1868, but returned to Cadiz in September after the outbreak of the military revolution, assumed charge of the movement together with Prim, Topete, and Sagasta (qq.v.),

and at the head of the revolutionary forces defeated the royal troops at Alcolea (September 28th). Isabella fled to France and Serrano was declared by the Cortes Regent of the kingdom in June, 1869, having acted in the interval as chief of the provisional Government. Under King Amadeus he was at the head of two short-lived Ministries (January-July, 1871; June 1872), and carried on an active campaign against the Carlists (1872). Serrano looked with disfavor upon the establishment of the Republic, following the abdication of Amadeus, and upon the overthrow of the Government by General Pavia in January, 1874, became chief of the executive, holding office till the accession of Alphonso XII. He died in Madrid.

SERRET, se-râ', JOSEPH ALFRED (1819-85). A French mathematician, born in Paris, and educated in the Ecole Polytechnique. In 1861 he became professor at the Collège de France. Serret's mathematical text-books are very valuable. The following list comprises his most important treatises: Cours d'algèbre supérieure (4th ed., 1879); Traité de trigonométrie (7th ed., 1888); Eléments de trigonométrie (1853); Cours de calcul différential et intégral (4th ed., 1894). Serret also edited the works of Lagrange (7 vols., 1867-92) and Lacroix's Calculus (1881). SERTO'RIUS, QUINTUS. A Roman commander in the latter years of the Republic. He fought, B.C. 105, in the disastrous battle on the Rhone, in which the Roman proconsul, Quintus Servilius Cæpio, was defeated by the Cimbri and Teutones, and took part in the splendid victory at Aqua Sextia (now Aix), B.C. 102, where Marius annihilated the Cimbri and Teutones, and on the breaking out of the sanguinary struggle between the party of the nobles under Sulla (q.v.) and the popular party headed by Marius (q.v.), B.C. 88, he espoused the cause of the latter. No other Marian general held out so long or so successfully as he against the victorious oligarchy. He fought in conjunction with Cinna the battle at the Colline Gate (B.C. 87) which placed Rome at the mercy of the Marians, but he had no hand in the bloody massacres that followed.

He got his own troops together, and slew 4000 of the ruffianly slaves whom Marius was permitting to plunder and ravish at will through the city. On the return of Sulla from the East (B.C. 83), Sertorius withdrew into Etruria, and thence he went to Spain, where he continued the struggle in an independent fashion. At the invi

tation of the Lusitanians, he collected an

army composed of natives, Libyans, and Romans,

and after a time became the virtual monarch of the whole country. In B.C. 76 Pompeius was sent against Sertorius, but the latter drove him

over the Iberus (Ebro) with heavy loss; nor was the campaign of the following year (B.C. 75) more favorable. Finally Perperna and other Roman officers of the Marian party who had fled to Sertorius in B.C. 77 assassinated him in his own tent in B.C. 72. Plutarch wrote Sertorius's Life and Corneille made him the subject of a tragedy.

SERUM (Lat., whey, serum). See BLOOD;

SERUM THERAPY.

SERUM THERAPY. As stated in the arti cle on IMMUNITY, the accepted theory of immunity is the antitoxin theory, in accordance with which theory it is believed that artificial

immunity may be acquired through the introduction of attenuated cultures of microorganisms into the animal body. By this means the body is rendered immune to virulent forms of these organisms, through the antitoxins developed in the blood. The use of blood-serum containing antitoxins in the treatment or prevention of disease is called serum therapy.

Dr. Nicolas Lambadarios, of the University of Athens, has published a volume on the serum therapy, organo-therapy, antirabic and antileprous treatment of the old Greek physicians. Galen used the flesh of the viper's body as an antivenene. Mithridates fortified himself by taking all the known antidotes, and experimented also upon condemned criminals, finally succeeding in rendering himself immune to snake-bite. For the latter purpose he took the blood of animals which fed on venomous snakes. Attalus, King of Pergamon, Andromachus, Nero's chief physician, and Galen used similar antidotes. The discovery by Pasteur in 1857 of the bacterial origin of fermentation led to the discovery of different antitoxins and the establishment of serum therapy in these latter days.

BLOOD-SERUM. The germicidal action of bloodserum has been tested upon cultures of staphylococci, streptococci, typhoid bacilli, and colon bacilli. Blood-serum from healthy persons shows practically no germicidal power over the staphy cidal action on the typhoid bacillus. Blood of lococcus or streptococcus, but a marked germicachectic people suffering from various diseases also exhibits marked germicidal power over the typhoid and colon bacilli. persons in the death agony or a few hours after colon bacilli, but not actively so toward staphy death is strongly germicidal against typhoid and lococcus or streptococcus.

Blood removed from

In preparing serum for therapeutic use the same general methods are employed in various productions. The following description of the preparation of anti-pneumococcic serum will serve as an example of the process:

ANTI-PNEUMOCOCCUS SERUM. Violent bouillon

cultures of pneumococci (the bacteria causative of pneumonia) are injected into a horse, after

prolonged heating at 60° C. After the animal the organisms in the culture have been killed by has obtained a certain amount of tolerance to these injections, living cultures of pneumococci are injected in increasing quantities until such injections fail to show constitutional symptoms. Rabbits are infected with living pneumococci meanwhile. From time to time the horse serum is injected into these rabbits. Where the serum of the horse is found by experiment to protect rabbits so that infection does not occur after injection of living pneumococci it is withdrawn from the horse for use, preserved with an antiseptic and bottled. Differing reports have been made as to the efficacy of this serum. used first in 1896 by Pane and De Renzi of Naples. Conflicting reports have been received regarding the results; but it is believed by successful experimenters in Naples, Munich, and Berlin that if not deteriorated by age, if used early and in large doses, it will always ameliorate if not cure lobar pneumonia.

It was

ANTIVENENE. Dr. Albert Calmette, of the Pasteur Institute at Lille, France, devised a serum obtained from animals inoculated with rattlesnake poison, termed antivenene. This is not a

true antitoxin, and in cases of snake-bite it apparently produces temporary cell stimulation instead of immunity. It should be used within 80 or 90 minutes after the reception of the poison in dosage of 10 c.c. hypodermically. Antivenene is to be issued to all the military hospitals in India, in which country the mortality from snake-bites during the 10 years preceding 1900 averaged 12,000 annually.

ANTICHOLERA SERUM. A series of experiments with this serum has been made at Calcutta, where cholera has been very prevalent and fatal for years among the coolies employed by the tea planters, with a result of a reduction of mortality from cholera of 72 per cent.

ANTITUBERCLE SERUM. The best figures attainable regarding the use of antitubercle serum are those of Stubbert, formerly of the Loomis Sanitarium, Liberty, N. Y., who reports marked improvement in 78 per cent. of the cases in which the serum was used.

ANTITYPHOID SERUM. This serum has been used extensively in Netley Hospital, England, and among British troops in India and South Africa as an inoculation to prevent contraction of ty phoid. Less than 1 per cent. of the inoculated men fall victims to the disease, and of these less than 25 per cent. die; while of uninoculated men over 22 per cent. contract the disease, and of these over 22 per cent. die.

DIPHTHERIA ANTITOXIN. The best known antitoxin is that used in combating diphtheria, and obtained from serum of animals which have been inoculated with cultures of the Klebs-Loeffler bacillus. While there are a few men of ability and experience who deny its efficacy, a vast number who have thoroughly tested its usefulness contribute an overwhelming and convincing mass of evidence in its favor. It is given by hypodermic injection, preferably between the shoulder blades, as early as diagnosis is made, and is of rapid efficacy in children. The mortality from diphtheria in cases treated with antitoxin is from 9 to 13 per cent., against 35 to 40 per cent. in cases treated by other methods.

ERYSIPELAS SERUM. For purposes of immunizing as well as for curative endeavor in any stage of an attack Marmorek's serum is used. It is composed of two parts of human blood serum mixed with bouillon, one part, sterilized and used in fluid form.

ANTISTREPTOCOCCUS SERUM. Many diseases become rapidly fatal through the virulence of streptococcus infection added to the original bacterial invasion. Scarlet fever, diphtheria, and tuberculosis are almost always complicated by streptococcal infection, while erysipelas, phleg mon, septicæmia from infected wounds, and also most cases of puerperal septicemia are directly caused by the streptococcus bacillus. Marmorek's serum very frequently effects their cure; but better results have been obtained from an antistreptococcal serum, which has reduced the mortality of puerperal septicemia to 25 per cent. Daily injections for at least a week appear to be necessary.

ANTITETANIC SERUM. It was not till 1897 that pure cultures of the germ of tetanus were made by Kitasato, although it was discovered in 1894 by Nicolaier. Formerly the disease was almost uniformly fatal. In the United States this mortality has been reduced to less than 35 per cent., through the use of the serum.

SARCOMA ANTITOXIN. A mixture devised by Coley, of New York, from cultures of bacillus prodigiosus has been successful in a fair proportion of cases.

CARCINOMA ANTITOXIN. Reynier, of France, has reported success with injections of a serum in cases of carcinoma. His serum is that obtained by Wlaeff from the inoculation of birds with blastomycetes isolated from human cancers.

TRUNECK'S SERUM. A preparation improperly termed 'inorganic serum' has been used by Truneck and others by hypodermic injection in cases of arteriosclerosis. It is a solution containing the sulphate of chloride, phosphate, and carbonate of sodium, with sulphate of potassium. It increases the alkalinity of the blood and is supposed to dissolve phosphatic deposits in the walls of the vessels.

ANTIPEST SERUM AND HAFFKINE'S FLUID. Yersin's antipest serum is blood-serum taken from horses that have been inoculated with the plague. Hypodermic injection of the serum causes immediate immunity, which, unfortunately, lasts only 12 to 14 days. A difficulty in securing acquiescence in repeated injections at once arises, and as a popular treatment it is under a disadvantage. It is, however, the only actual remedy for the plague after it has appeared, for if given early in the disease it is curative. Haffkine's fluid is a liquid in which the bacillus of plague has been cultivated and rendered virulent by special methods, the bacilli after abundant growth being killed by an exposure of the culture to a temperature of 70° C. for several hours. Inoculation with Haffkine's fluid confers immunity which lasts from a few days to several months. A great disadvantage in its use lies in the facts that during immunization the person is more susceptible to plague; and if he has already contracted even a mild form the inoculation might be fatal. Authorities recommend the provision of antipest serum for prompt use in order to avert an epidemic in the first cases and the employment of Haffkine's fluid to inoculate the people dwelling in localities threatened with an invasion of the disease.

SERUMS FOR THE LOWER ANIMALS. The Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture has been for years experimenting with serums made from the causative bacilli of hog cholera and swine plague, with a resulting recovery of 80 per cent. of the treated animals, against a recovery of from 15 to 29 per cent. of animals not treated. A serum devised by Loeffler and Uhlenhuth, of Austria, gives immunity for 4 to 8 weeks to animals exposed to foot-and-mouth disease. See VACCINATION, and each of the diseases mentioned; ANTITOXIN; TOXIN. Consult: Sternberg, Immunity, Protective Inoculations in Infectious Diseases, and Scrumtherapy (New York, 1895); Landau, Die Serumtherapie (Berlin and Vienna, 1900); Stetson, Serumtherapy in the Light of the Most Recent Investigations (Providence, 1902).

SERVAL (South African name). A large, long-legged African wildcat (Felis serval), which may reach 40 inches in length, with a tail 16 inches long. It is varying tawny in color, with black spots, tending to form two longitudinal bands on the back, and rings on the tail. Its fur, known in trade as 'tiger-cat,' may be recognized by two characteristic horizontal black bands on the upper inner surface of