ZOOLOUY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 175 



ability or inability to form spores in glycerin and innlin broth appear to 

 furnish a dependable method of dividing these bacteria into four sub- 

 groups. The source of a culture is no indication of the sub-group to 

 which it may belong. The strain of organism found in cow faeces 

 belongs to quite a different group to those isolated from human diarrhceal 

 stools, and in view of this it is suggested that the human gas bacillus 

 carrier may prove to be of greater importance in the spread of infection 

 than milk infected with the organism from bovine sources. The 

 majority of those strains isolated from the stools of patients suffering 

 from pernicious anaemia belonged to the same sub-group. 



Bacteriology of Leprosy.* — J. A. Johnston has inoculated a series 

 of rabbits and guinea-pigs with a strictly non-acid-fast Streptothrix 

 which he had previously isolated from the liver of a patient who had died 

 of typical leprosy. One of the pigs developed a pussy ocular discharge 

 eight days after inoculation, smears from which showed enormous 

 numbers of acid-fast bacilli. The animal died after nine months, and 

 the liver, lungs, spleen, and some of the lymphatic glands showed marked 

 nodular involvement and the presence of acid-fast bacilli in smears. 

 This result is in accord with observations made previously by Bayon and 

 Kedrowski respectively, and the author is of opinion that Bacillus leprae 

 is but the acid-fast stage of a remarkably pleomorphic Streptothrix. 



Significance of the Actinomycetes in Nature.! — This communi- 

 cation by A. Krainsky may be practically considered as a monograph 

 on the Actinomyces, giving as it does full details of the methods of 

 collection and separation of species, morphology, physiology, and 

 systematic identification of the varied members of this group of 

 organisms. Many species readily produce pigment (rose, grey, yellow, 

 black, etc.), and this capacity to form pigment appears to depend greatly 

 on the nature of the culture medium. As a basis for classification the 

 group may be divided into two sub-groups — Group 1, the macro- 

 actinomycetes ; Group 2, the micro-actinomycetes. With regard to 

 the macro-actinomycetes, the colonies are large (usually 3 to 5 mm.), 

 and are either coloured or colourless. On suitable media the aerial 

 hyphae are usually coloured. The colonies in glucose solution are 

 typically colourless, the solution itself being sometimes coloured. With 

 the second group, the micro-actinomycetes, the colonies are small (less 

 than 3 mm.), with both the colonies themselves and the aerial hypha? 

 pigmented. In glucose solution the colonies are commonly coloured, 

 but the solution itself is unstained. In contradistinction to the first 

 group, the second group organisms strongly attack cellulose. 



An excellent chromo-lithograph is appended, showing colonies of 

 various species in different stages of growth. 



Scarlet Fever in the Monkey .J— W. Mair, working with various 

 species of Jlacacus, has obtained very interesting results from the 



* Philippine Journ. Sci., ix. (1914) pp. 227-30. 

 t Centralbl. Bakt., 2te Abt., xli. (1914) pp. 649-88. 

 X Journ. Path, and Bact., xix. (1915) pp.;441-55. 



