ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 233 



case of ulcerative angina. Colonies of 1-1 " 5 mm. appeared, after two 

 days, in the depth of serum agar ; they had a felty, branched appear- 

 ance, and when fully grown were often prismatic in shape, of a pale 

 yellow colour, and smelling offensively ; the medium became clouded 

 but was not liquefied ; growth was only obtained under anaerobic 

 conditions ; in serum broth there formed, after 24 hours, large white 

 flocculi, which sank to the bottom ; no growth was obtained on 

 ordinary agar, glucose agar, Hesse's agar, or on ordinary broth. 



The bacillus is a non-motile, slender rod, with pointed ends and 

 faintly and irregularly staining protoplasm ; in length about 5 /x-12 /*, 

 and at times forming very long threads ; it stains by Gram's method and 

 by Weigert's, but not by that of Claudius ; it contains no Babes -Ernst 

 granules. The author refers to the similar organisms isolated by Yeillon 

 and Zuber, and also to Vincent's bacillus. 



Septicaemia affecting Geese. * — Riemer gives details of two 

 epidemics of septicaemia occurring among geese. From the blood of 

 these cases, taken after death, he isolated an organism, identical in each 

 case, which resembled the bacillus of swine erysipelas. It consisted of 

 fine rods " 3 fi- 1 fi long and ' 1 fi broad, two being often linked 

 together end on ; in agar and broth cultures abundant threads are 

 seen ; after several days' incubation only coccal forms are found ; these 

 stain well and simulate contamination. The bacillus stains by ordinary 

 aniline dyes but is decolorised by Gram ; it is non-motile, and flagella 

 are absent ; spore formation not observed. Growth is good on faintly 

 alkaline media ; slight acidity hinders, and strong acidity completely 

 stops growth ; the cultures are relatively short lived, 14 days' to 3 weeks' 

 incubation killing the rods, so that frequent subculture is necessary ; 

 the optimum temperature is 37 - 5°C. Gelatin is not a favourable 

 medium, growth showing on the surface after 2 or 3 days, as small 

 depressions, in which, under microscopic examination, are seen to lie. 

 small, smooth-edged, yellow colonies with finely granular surfaces ; m 

 gelatin stab cultures, growth occurs only at the surface, and after a 

 week the gelatin is almost entirely liquefied, and has a slimy consistence 

 in which floats a white soft bacterial mass. In agar stab, growth 

 takes place only at the upper part, and, on the surface broadens out as a 

 delicate pellicle. Broth cultures are clouded, and in some cases a 

 pellicle is formed which consists of long interlacing threads ; in other 

 cases no pellicle is formed. In milk and in glucose broth there is a 

 similar growth ; no change of reaction occurs in the milk, nor is it 

 coagulated ; in the glucose broth there is a slight addition of alkali, but 

 no gas production ; there is no growth on potato. Growth is best on 

 Loeffler's blood serum, forming yellowish white colonies ; the bacilli are 

 larger and stronger than on other media, and the above mentioned 

 double forms rarely occur ; later the medium is stained brown, and 

 slightly liquefied. A 24 hours' old culture was killed by exposure to 

 56° C. for 5 minutes. Riemer found the organism was pathogenic if 

 injected into geese, but not so if given with the food ; it was less patho- 

 genic for ducks, and innocuous to fowls and pigeons and to the ordinary 

 experimental animals. 



* Centralbl. Bakt., 1* Abt, xxxvii. (1904)"pp. 641-8. 

 April 19th, 1905 R 



