398 SUMMARY OF I CTRRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



not function as the limiting factor in the sense in which that term has 

 been used by Russell and Hutchinson ; the ciliated protozoa present 

 being probably in an encysted condition. The specimens of 1846 soil 

 did not contain any protozoa, nevertheless a gradual decrease in the 

 number of bacteria present in the soil was observed. On the other 

 hand, in the case of an 1865 (Broadlialk) soil, in which an abundant 

 protozoan fauna of aniceba? and flagellates was present, and presumably 

 active, the numbers of bacteria? were maintained at a high level. In 

 the latter case partial sterilization is obviously effected without the 

 elimination of , protozoa. 



Gas Gangrene due to the Vibrion septique.* — B. Weinberg has 

 isolated an organism belonging to the Bacillus mdematis maligni (Vibrion 

 septique) group from a case of gas gangrene caused by shell wounds. 

 The Bacillus perfringens was also present in the wound exudate, and in 

 such cases it is suggested that the injection of a serum antivibrion in 

 addition to a polyvalent antiperfringens serum would be likely to lead 

 to the best results in treatment. 



[This association of the two organisms in cases of gas gangrene is 

 in accord with the unpublished observations of workers in this country, 

 who are investigating these conditions.] 



Bacillus perfringens and Gas Gangrene.f — A. Orticoni concludes, 

 as the result of his researches on gas gangrene, that in a certain number 

 of wounds contracted in war, complicated by gaseous symptoms, with or 

 without gangrene, the causal organism may be other than the Bacillus 

 wdematis maligni ( Vibrion septique. of Pasteur). Foremost among these 

 organisms is the Bacillus perfringens, which appears to the author to be 

 the one that is most frequently met with in lesions of these kinds. 



The author has also isolated a pyogenic bacillus from one of these 

 cases. The organism was very motile, measured about ' 5 to 0*7 ,»., 

 was Gram-negative, and grew rapidly and abundantly on all the 

 ordinary laboratory media, producing a quantity of indole when grown 

 in peptone media. On subcutaneous inoculation in rabbits the organism 

 provoked abscess formation at the seat of inoculation. It does not 

 appear that the bacillus is of any significance in gas gangrene infection. 



The Constancy of the Association of B. perfringens and Gas 

 Gangrene. £ — H. L. Reverchon and E. Vaucher confirm the observa- 

 tions of Yamanoushi, Wright, Orticoni, Delage and Prat, by the finding 

 of B. 'perfringens in all cases of shell wounds accompanied by gas 

 gangrene that they have investigated. [Their observations do not. 

 however, exclude the possibility of the presence of other anaerobes, such 

 as Bacillus cedematis maligni, in the wounds.] 



Virulence of Tubercle Bacilli.§ — E. Burnet has examined the 

 virulence of different strains of Bacillus tuberculosis arising under 



■■& 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxxviii. (1915) pp. 141-3. 

 t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxxviii. (1915) pp. 126-8. 

 X C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxxviii. (1915) pp. 146-9. 

 § Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xxix. (1915) pp. 221-36. 



