234 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Glischrobacterium as the Cause of Mucous Fermentation of 

 Urine in Man.* — E. A. Rothman records a case of ropey urine in a 

 man. The urine, which resembled glycerin, was straw coloured, slightly 

 cloudy, of acid reaction, and sp. gr. 1 ■ 006 ; it contained a trace of serum, 

 albumin, and mucin, and showed 40-GO leucocytes to a microscope field. 



Stab cultures in agar, after 24 hours at 36° C, gave abundant growth 

 of mucous masses ; on agar plates the confluent colonies formed worm- 

 like figures ; examined microscopically, the younger colonies were finely 

 granular, round with smooth edges, and of a yellowish brown colour ; 

 the older being coarsely granular, and having indented edges. Smear 

 preparations showed short rods " 7 /a-1 ' 5 /x long by • 3 /x-0 ■ 5 //. broad, 

 imbedded in mucus. They stained best by Ziehl's carbol-fuchsin well 

 diluted with a 3 p.c. solution of carbolic-acid water, and also by 

 Gram's method. Hanging drop of broth culture showed active mole- 

 cular movement, and slight true motility. Stab culture on gelatin 

 showed growth along the stab, but mostly on the surface, gas being 

 produced in the depth of the medium ; the gelatin was not liquefied. 

 Anaerobic cultures grew more slowly. The optimum temperature was 

 36° C. Broth, milk, and 2 p.c. pepton solution in 0'85 p.c. sodium 

 chloride, became ropey like the urine, the broth becoming slightly 

 clouded, and having a copious sediment ; no pigment was formed. A 

 faint indol reaction was obtained. Growth was scanty on serum. The 

 organism was very sensitive to drying. It was only very slightly patho- 

 genic for animals. 



Rothman considers that this organism is the same as that described 

 by Salaris and Malerba, and named by them the Glischrobacterium ; but 

 he failed to obtain growth on potato, and the appearance of the colonies 

 on solid media is not quite the same as that observed by these authors. 



He refers to three published cases of ropey urine, and suggests the 

 comparison of this mucous fermentation with that noted by Pasteur as 

 occurring in wine — " vin filant " — produced by the Micrococcus viscosus, 

 and that noted by Van Laer as occurring in beer ; also the mucous 

 fermentation of milk described by Adametz, produced by Bacillus lactis 

 viscosus, and to similar conditions recorded by other writers. 



Pathogenic Capsulated Streptococcus from the Naso-pharynx.f 

 R. 0. Neumann has found on eight occasions capsulated streptococci 

 in the nasopharynx. They are characterised by their clear, glass-like, 

 water-drop, transparent colonies on gelatin and agar, and by their well- 

 formed capsules and the large size of the individual cocci. Two or four 

 cocci are seen lying together in one capsule ; chains occur rarely ; the 

 cocci are usually round, but sometimes oval, or rod-like ; some strains 

 stain by Gram's method, others do not ; the capsule stains slightly or 

 not at all by ordinary aniline dyes. Good growth is obtained on agar, 

 gelatin, glycerin-agar, and sugar-agar, but Loeffler's serum is unfavour- 

 able to growth. The colonies are sharp contoured, about the size of a 

 pin's head, and resemble small drops of saliva ; with low magnification 

 they show a homogeneous, finely-granulated substance, readily drying up 

 in the course of a few days ; in broth there is slight cloudiness without 



* Centralbl. Bakt., l te Abt., xxxvii. (1904) pp. 491-5. 

 t Tom. cit., pp. 481-4. 



