ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 501 



Schizop hy ta. 



Schizomycetes. 



Spirochaeta morsus muris.* — K. Futaki, I. Takaki, T. Tanigiiclii 

 aud S. Osumi report the discovery of a new species of spirochaete in the 

 blood, skin and lymph glands of fonr patients suffering from rat-bite 

 fever. The spirochete is smaller than S. recurrentis, but larger than 

 S. pallida ; it is very motile, stains well, and shows a single flagellum at 

 each end, and does not possess an undulating membrane. The curves 

 are regular and range from two to nineteen, generally three or four. 

 The larger forms are found in the tissues, the smaller in the blood. 

 This spirochete is found in the blood of 3 p.c. of the house-rats in 

 Japan, and is considered by the author as the cause of Japanese rat-bite 

 fever. Mice are best for experimental inoculations, white rats next, 

 while guinea-pigs and monkeys often fail to become infected. The type 

 of fever produced in monkeys is not typical of the human condition. 

 Salvarsan cleared the blood of the monkeys in fourteen days, but relapses 

 then occurred. 



Streptothrix in Broncho-pneumonia of Rats.f — Ruth Tunnicliff 

 has examined a series of sixty white rats which showed evidence of acute 

 or chronic broncho-pneumonia, and in fifty-six a long, fine, straight, wavy 

 filamentous organism was found. This organism was not observed in a 

 series of twenty-four normal rats. It was Gram-negative, non-acid-fast, 

 and stained with difficulty, the best results being obtained with Giemsa 

 and carbol-fuchsin, and also by Levaditi's method for tissues. The 

 organism was isolated in pure growth on thirteen occasions, the greatest 

 success being obtained when the lesions were acute and when other 

 bacteria were present. The production of anti-bodies in infected rats 

 was demonstrated by the presence of specific opsonins and agglutinins. 

 The organism was pathogenic to white rats, but not to rabbits or guinea- 

 pigs, and but slightly to monkeys. As white rats are not known to 

 cause rat-bite fever, twenty-eight wild rats were examined, and the same 

 organisms and lesions in the lungs were found in one of them as in the 

 white rats. The organism is probably the same as that described by 

 Schottmiiller and others as Streptothrix muris ratti. 



Serotherapy in G-as Gangrene.| — ^Ym. Weinberg and P. Seguin 

 have given a mixed antitoxic serum (anti-perfringens, anti-Y. septique, 

 and anti-oedematiens) in cases of gas gangrene with apparently beneficial 

 results. Rapid local and general amelioration of symptoms was observed 

 in most cases. They claim that the serum not only neutralises the toxin 

 circulating in the organism and arrests the septicaemia, but also favours 

 the local defensive mechanism against infection and stimulates phagocytic 



* Journ. Exper. Med., xxv. (1917) pp. 33-44. 

 t Journ. Infect. Diseases, xix. (1916) pp. 767-71. 

 X Comptes Rendus, clxv. (1917) pp. 199-201. 



