REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE KING INSTITUTE, GUINDY

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A very careful record of the results obtained with the different seeds produced
by Nejland's method and various modifications has been kept and it will shortly
be possible to make a definite pronouncement as to the most suitable procedure
to follow to obtain the best results.

        (b) Type of lymph issued.— For the first time in the history of this Institute
glycerine lymph has been the only type of lymph issued as a routine measure
throughout the Presidency. This innovation was the result of a prolonged
investigation into the relative merits of glycerine and lanoline lymphs for a climate
like that of Madras carried out during the years 1921-22. The vaccination results
this year are therefore of exceptional interest for they constitute a searching test
of the validity of the conclusions reached under the experimental conditions of the
investigation. The various modifications of procedure rendered necessary by the
introduction of the glycerinated lymph have already been detailed and need not
be referred to again.

        Owing to the improved system of recording it is now possible to give full
details as to the use to which the lymph issued from the Institute has been put.
The consolidated returns give the following information as to the number and type
of the vaccinations carried out in the Presidency.

       (c) Primary vaccinations.—Statement 4 gives the monthly returns for the
primary vaccination performed in the Presidency for the year. The combined
success rate and insertion success rate for the whole year is 91.7 and 78.0,
respectively. This constitutes a very decided advance over last year’s figures.
Compared with the combined rates for lanoline and glycerine lymphs, the success
rate shows an improvement of 10.7 per cent and the insertion success rate of 21.6
per cent. The superiority over the lanoline figures alone which last year consti-
tuted about three-fourths of the total vaccinations is even more marked, being 14.6
per cent for the success rate and 29.6 per cent for the insertion success rate.
The introduction of glycerine lymph has thus been justified in a very striking
and convincing manner.

       Further, the results this year show a distinct improvement over the results
obtained last year with glycerinated lymph, the success rate being 2.0 per cent
and the insertion success rate 4.4 per cent better than the corresponding rates
for the previous year. Chart 1 shows in graphic form the monthly success and
insertion success rates throughout the year. Apart from the hot weather fall
which is seen this year in April, May and June, the monthly returns show a
remarkable degree of uniformity, the lowest success rate standing at 91.1, and
the highest at 95.4. The insertion success rate has shown a steady improvement
throughout the year.

       The number of vaccinations in May, June and July were markedly reduced.
Those for April remained too high for the season of the year. In spite of the
hot weather decrease, however, a record number of operations were performed
during the year owing to greatly increased activity during the winter months.
This is as it should be, for the more vaccinations carried out under the most
favourable conditions the greater will be the number of immune persons in the
community. If the monthly mean of the total number of vaccinations be taken

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