In this paper we extend observations which have been made on various peripheral effects of nicotine and acetylcholine, these being effects which resemble those of sympathetic stimulation. The pilomotor action of acetylcholine on the hairs of the cat's tail was described by von Briicke (1935); Coon & Rothman (1940) confirmed this and observed that nicotine had the same action. These workers began by studying the effect of acetylcholine in causing goose-flesh in the human forearm and then observed that small amounts of acetylcholine and of nicotine caused erection of tufts of hairs on the cat's tail after intradermal injection. They observed that the action was unaffected by atropine but was abolished by ergotamine. Kottegoda (1953a) described the action of nicotine and of acetylcholine in causing acceleration and increased contraction of isolated rabbit atria; he found these effects were best seen in the presence of atropine. In a second paper (Kottegoda, 1953b) he described the action of nicotine and of acetylcholine in causing vasoconstriction in the perfused vessels of the rabbit ear; he found that this vasoconstriction was reversed to vasodilatation when an agent which reversed the constrictor action of adrenaline was added to the perfusion fluid. Thus the effects of nicotine on the rabbit atria and the perfused rabbit ear resembled the effects of sympathetic stimulation and seemed to be due to the release of an adrenalinelike substance. More recently, Thompson (1955) found that nicotine caused a contraction of the isolated nictitating membrane of the cat. Further observations have now been made on the pilomotor response, on the response of the vessels of the perfused rabbit ear and on the response of the nictitating membrane.

Incorporating telaprevir into treatment of acute genotype 1 HCV in HIV-infected men halved the treatment duration and increased the SVR rate. Larger studies should be done to confirm these findings. Clinicians should be alert to detect acute HCV infection of HIV-infected men to take advantage of this effective therapy and decrease further transmission in this epidemic.

1. The measured extracellular space of the taenia coli is large when small ions or molecules are used for the determination, and small when large molecules are used, even with identical experimental procedures. 2. Extracellular hyaluronic acid has been detected histologically. It is apparently reduced by hyaluronidase. 3. The extracellular inulin space increases after the tissue has been pretreated with hyaluronidase, although the ionic composition and wet weight are unchanged. 4. It is suggested that the hyaluronic acid prevents the free entry of macromolecules such as inulin into the extracellular space by steric hindrance. Monatomic ions such as Na+, Li+, Cl−, Ca2+ therefore have a larger extracellular space available than is calculated on the basis of the inulin space. 5. A slight shrinkage of the muscle cells can be detected when the incubation period is prolonged.

An unlinked anonymous study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in emergency department (ED) attendees at a London Hospital. Nine hundred and ninety-seven samples collected over a 12-day period were tested for HCV antibody (Ab) and reactive samples were further tested for HCV RNA. The HCV seroprevalence was 2·6% (26/997) with 1·2% (12/997) HCV RNA positive. A peak HCV RNA-positive prevalence of 4·8% (3/63) was found in males aged 35-44 years, this was compared to 0% (0/136) in males aged <35 years (P = 0·0614) and 1·4% (4/278) in males aged ⩾45 years (P = 0·2415). Assuming the cost for HCV Ab is £6 and HCV RNA is £40 per test, screening ED attendees aged 25-54 years would cost £360 per viraemic infection and identify 82% of those who were HCV RNA positive, yielding the most favourable cost/benefit ratio. HCV screening of ED attendees aged 25-54 years in this population could be an effective way of identifying patients and limit onward transmission.