510 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



its cultural characters for a long time. Litmus-milk is coagulated and 

 reddened, and fermentation changes occur in litmus-broth media con- 

 taining mannite, lactose, saccharose, and salicin, while inulin and 

 raffinose are unaffected. Passage through an animal bodv has no effect 

 in altering the biological characters of the microbe. It is pathogenic 

 to rabbits, and two out of four of these animals acquired vegetative 

 endocarditis after infection with pure cultures. The toxic effects are 

 the result of an endotoxin, and not of a toxin, which is excreted. The 

 results of this investigation are obviously of great importance. 



Bacillus fusiformis of Vincent.* — G. Repaci claims that he has 

 isolated and cultivated successfully the Bacillus fusiformis of Vincent. 

 The medium used was sugar-agar. The microbe is an essential 

 anaerobe. The colonies are discoid, dirty white with sharp and regular 

 margin. The bacillus grows easily in liquid media, forming a white 

 sediment. It does not form indol. It acidifies milk without coagula- 

 tion. It does not liquefy gelatin or attack white of egg. It does not 

 form spores or produce gas. The cultures exhale a most disagreeable 

 odour. Morphologically it varies in length from 6-16 p. ; it is easily 

 stained, but not by Gram's method. It is non-motile and uniformly re- 

 fringent when unstained, but in fixed and stained preparations the 

 bacilli show several granules. It is pathogenic to animals, but not 

 markedly so, and does not reproduce the appearances seen in cases of 

 Vincent's angina. 



Sarcina mucosa. | — E. Sauerbeck found this micro-organism in 

 sputum, and suggests that it is a new species. The growth on agar is 

 extremely like that of Friedlander's bacillus. Microscopically the 

 Sarcina is seen in packets of four and eight surrounded by a wide 

 capsule. It does not liquefy gelatin, has no action on sugars or on milk. 

 It is pathogenic to mice, rats, and guinea-pigs, but not to rabbits. 



Hemispora stellata.i — Gougerot and Caraven mention a fungus 

 which caused osteomyelitis. It is classed with the Oospora, but no 

 description or characters are given. It produced osteomyelitis in one 

 rabbit when injected into the epiphysis of a bone. 



Bacillus mucogenes bipolaris hominis.§ — V. and A. Babes de- 

 scribe a bacterium which causes hemorrhagic septicaemia. It is a 

 rodlet from ■ 5-0 * 6 /* long. It has a marked polar staining ; the polar 

 granules are Gram-positive. Each bacillus is surrounded by a thick 

 capsule ; on agar it grows freely, the colonies having a whitish centre ; 

 it liquefies gelatin ; on potato the growth is yellow, slimy, and abundant ; 

 it does not form gas, indol, nor coagulate milk ; it forms acid in 

 saccharated liquid media, which become cloudy ; it kills mice, but has 

 no effect on guinea-pigs or rabbits. 



Bertrand, G., & F. Duchacek — Action du ferment bulgare sur les princi- 

 paux sucres. Ann. Inst. 'Pasteur, xxiii. (1909) pp. 402-14. 



Bordet, J., & 0. Gengou — L'Endotoxine coquelucheuse. 



Tom. cit., pp. 415-19. 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxvi. (1909) pp. S60-2. 



t Centralbl. Bakt., lte Abt. Orig., 1. (1909) pp. 289-95 (3 figs.). 



% C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxvi. (1909) pp. 474-6. § Tom. cit., pp. 477-9. 



