ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 337 



duced auti-sera of high titre ; a dilution of 1 to 10,000 being suflEicient 

 to agglutinate the organism. 



Carbohydrate Fermentations by Bacillus pestis.* — H. W. Wade 

 states that comparison has failed to demonstrate any distinct difference, 

 qualitative or quantitative, between the fermentation activities of 

 Oriental (Philippine) and certain American strains of B. pestis. There 

 is, on the other hand, a rather remarkable agreement between the 

 different strains except solely with regard to glycerin fermentation. 



Bacillus resembling Bacillus tetani.f — R. S. Adamson and D. W. 

 Cutler make a preliminary communication relative to an organism which 

 morphologically somewhat resembles B. tetani. It is, however, larger, 

 and when young exhibits motility. It is a strict anaerobe, forms ter- 

 minal spores,and is Gram-negative. The colonies on nutrient media differ 

 materially from these of B. ietani. It is not pathogenic to laboratory 

 animals. 



Mycobacillus synovialis.J — A. Chantemesse, L. Matruchot, and 

 A. Grimsberg describe an organism which has affinities witli the Bac- 

 teriacese and Fungi. Hence they call it Mycobacillus synovialis. It was 

 isolated from the pia mater and from the endocardium. It was easily 

 cultivated on the usual media, and though an aerobe it was also a 

 potential anaerobe. In young cultures it was a motile rodlet, often with 

 a spirillary motion. Flagella were not demonstrable. In older cultures 

 the organism became filamentous and non-motile. Some parts stained by 

 Gram's method, others not. In quite old cultures spores were formed. 

 Pure cultures injected into animals sometimes gave rise to arthritis 

 and endocarditis. If the dose be massive the animals die quickly. 



Atypical Actinomyces.§ — S. Yamakawa isolated from an abdominal 

 abscess, which was cured by the administration of potassium iodide, 

 an atypical Actinomyces. It formed grains but not clubs. The filaments 

 were wavy, showed true branching and also small bulbous terminal 

 swellings. It was cultivated on the usual media, but growth was slow. 

 The microscopical appearances of the cultivated fungus were very 

 variable — wavy filaments, rodlets, branchings, and sometimes terminal 

 swellings. The older filaments were frequently granular and showed 

 Gram-positive knob-like forms. Pure cultivations were not pathogenic 

 to animals, though the original pus was. The author claims that the 

 fungus is a variety of Actinomyces, near type Bacillus Shiotas. 



Abnormal Colonies formed by Yeasts and Bacteria. |1 — H. Zikes 

 has found that on gelatin-plate cultures of beer-yeasts some colonies 



* Philippine Journ. Sci., xi. Sec. B (1916) pp. 159-82. 

 + Lancet, May 8, 1917, pp. 688-9. 

 t Comptes Rendus, cliiv. (1917) pp. 652-5. 

 § Mitt. Kaiserl. Univ. Tokio, xvi. (1916) pp. 17-31 (14 figs). 

 II Centralbl. Bakt., xlvi. 2te Abt. (1916) pp. 1-4, through Journ. Inst. Brewing. 

 xxiii. (1917) pp. 210-1. 



