630 SUMMARY OF CUKRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



their maximum hue (red) in 7 days, after which the colour faded away. 

 The first sub-cultures were pale red, but the third and fourth genera- 

 tions were quite white. 



Spore Formation in the Dispone Bacteria.* — C. C. Dobell, in an 

 article on the so-called "sexual" method of spore formation with dispone 

 bacteria, contests the views of Schaudinn, formed as the result of the 

 latter's observations on Bacillus biltschlii. These views, possibly pro- 

 moted by Schaudinn's belief in the diphasic nature of protoplasm, were 

 to the effect that the peculiar event immediately preceding -sporulation 

 should be interpreted as representing a primitive or degenerate method 

 of conjugation. The author made observations on two bacteria, one 

 B. spirogyra already described, and a new species Bacterium lunula. 

 This latter has an average length of 11/*, is curved, and, like B. spirogyra, 

 possesses a chromatic filament with nuclear properties. The author's 

 researches lead him to corroborate Schaudinn's facts, but he interprets 

 them in a different way, and instead of seeing a degenerate sexual process 

 he regards the phenomena as merely expressing an abortive cell division. 



Anaerobic Vibrios from the Mouth. f — G. Repaci describes three 

 vibrios, two of which are motile, the third motionless. All three are 

 essential anaerobes, stain well, but are Gram-negative. They do not form 

 spores, and in old cultures at 37° C. do not present involution forms. They 

 are easily distinguished by the manner and character of the growths on 

 artificial media. 



The positive characters of Vibrio A (2-3/* x 1 ■ 2/x), are that the 

 primary culture on agar does not appear for 4 or 5 days, while sub- 

 cultures are visible in 24 hours. The colonies are target-like, i.e. show a 

 series of concentric rings. It ferments glucose and lactose. It kills 

 guinea-pigs in about six days. 



Vibrio B (4-5/a long), attains its maximum growth in 24 hours. It 

 ferments glucose, lactose, and saccharose, and acidifies milk. It is 

 non-pathogenic. 



Vibrio C (8/x long), attains its maximum development on agar in 

 about two days, the colonies looking like little balls. It attacks glucose, 

 lactose, and dextrose. It acidifies milk. The cultures exhale an odour 

 of rotten cheese. At incubatiou and room temperature they live quite a 

 long time, and successive sub-culturing does not exhaust their vitality. 

 This vibrio is non-pathogenic. 



Bacillus of Septicemic Cerebro-spinal Meningitis.^ — Cohen 

 describes a bacterium which he has discovered in cases of meningitis. 

 It is a small, thin bacillus ; Gram-negative ; stains feebly with 

 toluidin-blue, but more deeply with Ziehl-Nielsen and with Giemsa ; 

 occurs often in pairs and in short chains ; is usually extra-cellular. 

 It is non-motile, is essentially aerobic, with an optimum temperature 

 of 37° C. Its viability is limited to about 3 weeks, and it is easily 



* Quart. Journ. Mior. Sci., liii. (1909) pp. 579-96 (1 pi. and 3 text figs.), 

 t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxvi. (1909; pp. 630-2. 

 X Ann. Tnst. Pasteur, xxiii. (1909) pp. 273-311. 



