236 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



B. coli in mammals and birds, they agree with Savage and McConkey 

 that at present there is no means of distinguishing these from the 

 B. coli of human origin. Their researches as to the occurrence of 

 B. coli in the lower Vertebrata and in cereals leads them to believe that 

 their discovery in these hosts is more or less accidental. In the fourth 

 paper the question whether the coli bacillus of man can be distinguished 

 from those of animals by means of the fixation of the complement is 

 definitely answered in the negative. The technique in all four papers 

 is very full and useful. 



Gum produced by Bacillus radicicola.* — R. E. Buchanan finds that 

 when Bacillus radicicola is grown on suitable media, a considerable 

 quantity of gum is produced. The organism was obtained from the 

 root-nodules of forty-one species of legumes, and these were tested on 

 saccharose-agar. The gum produced in saccharose solutions is closely 

 related to the dextrans ; it contains no combined nitrogen, does not 

 dialyse readily, and appears to originate from the outer part of the cell- 

 wall. The gum production is increased when certain substances are added 

 to the saccharose, the optimum concentration of which is 2 p.c. Some 

 of the favourable substances are salts of certain organic acids, glycerin 

 (with or without ammonium phosphate), potassium nitrate, and peptone. 



Intestinal Flora.j — E. Metchnikoff, in a study of the intestinal 

 flora and its relation to intestinal putrefaction, discusses at some length 

 the pathogenicity of Bacillus putrificus, B. sporogenes, and B. welchii 

 (B. capsulatus aerogenes, vel B. perfringens). The inference drawn is 

 that the intestinal canal contains a microbic flora, certain representatives 

 of which are able to decompose albuminoid substance, and set free 

 foetid products, that is to say, are capable of exciting putrefaction. 

 Owing to the presence of these putrefactive products which are absorbed 

 by the mucosa of the intestine, the intestinal tube becomes a source of 

 auto-intoxication . 



Red Coccus resembling Micrococcus cinnabareus.J — A. Clerc and 

 A. Sartory isolated from the walls of the cavity in the thallus of the 

 Alga Godium Bursa, obtained while dredging in the Mediterranean, a 

 coccus which, from its general characters, resembled the Micrococcus 

 cinnaoareus Fliigge. It was differentiated therefrom by its poly- 

 morphism, the non-viscosity of the cultures, the non-liquefaction of 

 gelatin, and its relative Liking for salt (chloridophilia), due possibly to 

 its special environment. 



Bacillus sporogenes non-liquefaciens.§ — M. Jungano isolated from 

 the large intestine of a Roussette a hitherto undescribed bacillus. It is 

 long and thin, with rounded ends. It is easily stained, and is Gram- 

 positive. It forms spores, and when it does so, becomes Gram-negative, 

 a feature also noticed in fluid media, though the sporulation does not 

 take place there. It is very mobile. The spore is terminal and ovoid. 



* Centralbl. Bakt., 2teAbt., xxii. (1909) pp. 371-96. 



t Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xxii. (1908) pp. 929-55. 



X C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxvi. (1909) pp. 20-22. 



§ Op. cit, lxv. (1909) pp. 716-18 (1 fig.). 



