96 SUMMARY OF CUKEENT EESEARCHES RELATING TO 



B. Technique.* 

 Q) Collecting: Objects, including: Culture Processes. 



Method for Discovering Fungi in the Sputum of Bronchitics.f 

 Bazin, after alluding to the difficulty of finding fungi in non-tuberculous 

 sputum, states that if the sputum be cultivated in a suitable medium at 

 37° C. for forty-eight hours colonies of fungi ^yill be found to have 

 developed. Raulin's fluid as a culture medium does well, but the author 

 prefers glucose-glycerin water. For examining lactophenol was used. 

 By the foregoing procedure he has identified five species of Aspergillus 

 and two of Sterigmotocystis. He adds a note to the effect that iodide 

 of potassium gives remarkable curative results. 



Rapid Differentiation of Amoebae Cysts. |—D. W. Cutler and R. 

 Williamson, with the intention of facilitating the rapid recognition of 

 intestinal amoeba, have applied the following method of examination : — 

 A loopful of faeces is emulsified in a drop of 1 in 1000 solution of neutral- 

 red in 0*85 p.c. sodium chloride solution. The preparation is covered 

 with a cover-slip, and examined with ^-inch objective and No. 10 eye- 

 piece. A warm stage is an advantage, but is not essential. In such a 

 preparation the vegetative form of E. Jnjstolytka takes up the neutral- 

 red, and the stained amoebse can be readily seen and recognized. The 

 pink dye is uniformly distributed throughout the endoplasm, while the 

 ectoplasm remains unstained. Entamceba coli is not stained, and appears 

 as a light grey body. The method forms an easy and satisfactory means 

 of differentiation between the two micro-organisms. The neutral-red 

 method presents no disadvantage in looking for cysts, which appear as 

 colourless refractile bodies. When difficulty has arisen in deciding to 

 what species of entamoeba the cysts beloug, the well-known iodine 

 method can be employed. The large amoebae of the " tetragena " 

 type are usually easily recognized without the neutral-red method. It 

 is the smaller form of hystolytka, known as the " minuta " form, which 

 appears only in the f ajces in numbers as acute symptoms abate, which 

 offers great difficulty in diagnosis. This type, however, reacts in 

 exactly the same way to the neutral-red as does the " tetragena " type. 



Studies in Cattle-plague. § — H. Schein has conducted a series of 

 researches on the etiology and treatment of cattle-plague in ludo-China, 

 and has arrived at the following conclusions with reference to this 

 disease : — 1. The goat is a good subject for experimentation. Its 



* This subdivision contains (1) Collecting Objects, including Culture Pro- 

 cesses ; (2) Preparing Objects ; (3) Cutting, including Embedding and Microtomes; 

 (4) Staining and Injecting ; (5) Mounting, including slides, preservative fluids, etc.; 

 (6) Miscellaneous. 



t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, Ixxx. (1917) pp. 771-3. 



t Journ. Path, and Bact., xxi. (1917) pp. 511-3. 



§ Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xxii. (1917) pp. 571-92. 



