ABSTRACTS : PHYTOPATHOLOGY 27 



The disease was investigated in 1901, at the request of the planters of 

 Baracoa, Cuba, by Mr. August Busch, entomologist of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. In 1904, Dr. Erwin F. Smith, plant pathologist 

 of the same Department made further investigations in the districts 

 around Baracoa, and declared the disease to be a bacterial soft rot of the 

 terminal bud. Since that time it has been studied by a number of botan- 

 ists and mycologists. Investigations were begun by the author of this 

 bulletin in 1907 (in Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad, and British Guiana), 

 and continued until 1911. 



Signs of bud-rot in its incipiency are (1) the falling of the immature 

 nuts; (2) a staining of the opening flower spikes, partly or wholly, to a 

 rich chocolate brown; and (3) the dying and bending over of the middle 

 undeveloped leaves. 



The cause of bud-rot has been attributed to soil or climatic conditions, 

 insects, mechanical injuries, etc. Dr. Ramos, of Havana, believed it to 

 be due to a fungus, Uredo coccivoro. Dr. Davalos, also of Havana, 

 attributed it to what he claimed to be Bacillus amylohader, which he 

 isolated in 1886. Dr. Plaxton, of Jamaica, exhibited in 1891, shdes of 

 a micrococcus which he thought was probably the cause. 



Believing the disease to be a bacterial one investigations were con- 

 tinued along the lines planned by Dr. Smith. Material from many dis- 

 eased trees was obtained, and bacterial organisms were isolated from 

 these tissues, which consisted in general of two types: One which pro- 

 duced, usually, round, wet-shining, white and semiopaque colonies with 

 raised surfaces, and one (type most abundant) which produced colonies 

 of very thin growth, spreading rapidly over the plate, often with long 

 radiating branches, this type being also white, wet-shining, and semi- 

 transparent. 



In the course of the work such a close similarity of the coconut organ- 

 ism with Bacillus coli was observed that comparison of the two organ- 

 isms was made which "shows them to be practically identical. Many 

 special test reactions for the identification of Bacillus coli were used not 

 only in characterizing the coconut organism, but also in ascertaining any 

 differences that there might be between it and Bacillus coli from animal 

 sources, e.g., behavior in fermentation tubes, growth on Dolt's synthetic 

 medium, reaction to neutral red in various media, D. Rivas' tests, growth 

 on Endo's fuchsin agar, Stoddard's plate medium. Hiss's tube medium 

 (both of the latter used to distinguish B. coli from B. typhosus), etc. 



Special inoculations for the comparison of the coconut organism with 

 Bacillus coli (from animals) were made into coconut seedlings, a solution 



