358 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Picquenard. C. A.— Lichens du Finistere. (Lichens of Finistere,) 



[The author gives notes on the influence of clim;ite, etc., on distribution ; 

 there is one new species recorded, Biatora erysibetta.} 



Hull. Acad. Intern. Geogr. Bot. xiii. (1004) pp. 1-48, 108-32. 

 See also Ann. Mycol. iii. (1005) p. 121. 



Stamatis, M. — Contribution a la flore Lichenologique de la Roumanie. (Contri- 

 bution to the Lichen Flora of Roumania.) Ann. Sci. Univ. Juxxy, 1904, 17 pp. 



See also Ann. Mycol. iii. (1905) p. 12L 



Zopf, W. — Zur Kenntnis der Flechtenstoflfe. (Knowledge of Lichen substances.) 



Justus Liebig's Ann. Chemie, cccxxxviii. pp. 35-7 L 



Mycetozoa. 



Lister, A. & G. — Mycetozoa from New Zealand. 



[The specimens, including one new to science, were collected by Miss 

 Hibbert-Ware. Graphic notes of the localities are given with descriptions 

 and lists of the species.] Joum. Bot. xliii. (1905) pp. 111-14. 



Schizophyta. 

 Schizomycetes. 



Bacillus hypothermos, a Micro-organism Pathogenic for Cold- 

 blooded Animals.* — C. Scharz isolated this organism from a lizard, 

 Hatteria punctata. The animal had died, and the autopsy shaved abscess 

 cavities about the sternum, filled with caseating contents resembling 

 tuberculous deposit ; microscopic examination of this caseous matter 

 showed a large number of small rods 1 /a-1 ' 4 //. long, which from their 

 small size and their frequent arrangement in pairs, gave the impression 

 of diplococci ; they stained by the ordinary dyes, but were decolorised 

 by Gram's method ; when freshly obtained and stained with Loeffier's 

 blue, they showed deep polar stainings. They were actively motile, 

 having numerous long peritrichal flagella. Spore formation was never 

 observed. The optimum temperature was between 15° and 20° C. 

 The bacillus grew readily on ordinary media, under both aerobic and 

 anaerobic conditions, a slight alkalinity of the medium apparently 

 enhancing the vigour of its growth. Its peptonising action on gelatin 

 was very much diminished under anaerobic conditions. After 20 hours 

 on a gelatin plate it formed round, scarcely visible, membranous, super- 

 ficial colonies, at first resembling those of B. typhosus ; later these 

 became brown in the centre with clear transparent margins, and floated 

 in the cup of liquefaction ; on agar plate after a few hours, it formed 

 small, round, membranous, finely granular colonies, the centres coloured 

 brown, fading away to the periphery ; the deep colonies being round or 

 whetstone shaped with smooth margins of a yellow-brown colour ; cultures 

 in broth and in pepton water became, after a few hours, uniformly 

 clouded, and a pellicle was never formed ; milk was firmly coagulated 

 after 48 hours, but no acid was produced ; on blood serum there was 

 abundant growth and rapid liquefaction. The growth on potato was 

 very remarkable ; whereas the earlier growth appeared as a quite un- 

 characteristic yellowish-white membrane. After five or six days small 



* Centralbl. Bakt., 1'- Abt. Orig., xxxviii. (1905) p. 11. 



