ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 615 



belonging to the Subtil is group, which is extraordinarily resistant to the 

 action of many chemical agents. 



The organisms were sown in ordinary, or glycerinated broth, or 

 better still in glycerinated yeast-broth. Fragments from the resulting 

 wrinkled scum, typical of this group of bacteria, were removed and 

 added to solutions of the various chemical agents for the desired periods 

 of time. The solutions were then removed and replaced by sterile dis- 

 tilled water or 95 p.c. alcohol, the process being repeated till all traces 

 of the original solutions were removed. The particles were aseptically 

 transferred to broth and incubated at 40° C. 



The duration of the resistance observed in the different solutions 

 studied were as follows :— Phenol 5 p.c, more than 50 hours ; formol 

 30 p.c, more than 25 hours ; • 1 p.c. tincture of iodine, between 24 and 

 48 hours ; Bouin's fixation liquid, between 13 and 24 hours ; alcohol 

 65 p.c. and 95 p.c, more than 14 months ; oil of cloves, more than 

 4 hours ; oil of turpentine, more than 15 hours ; cedar-wood oil, more 

 than 15 hours ; and chloroform, more than 14 months. 



Intermediate Group of Anaerobes in War Wounds.* — S. Costa 

 and J. Troisier describe a group of anaerobic organisms isolated from the 

 lesions of the wounded, the biological characters of which appear to be 

 intermediate between B. perfringms and B. cedematis maligni. These 

 bacteria are strict anaerobes, of large size with blunt extremities, are 

 Gram-positive, and grow singly or in short chains. They produce abun- 

 dant gas in sugar and albuminous media, pigment being deposited at 

 the bottom of the culture tubes. In the latter respect they resemble 

 B. perfringms, but in their motility and in the formation of subterminal 

 spores they are closely allied to B. cedematis maligni. The motility is 

 latent, being absent in sugar media, but being very marked when the 

 organisms are grown in pepton broth, 7 parts, to which 1 part of 

 alkaline egg albumin (Sacquepee and Delater) has been added. With 

 regard to hamiolysis, the bacilli forming this group differ among them- 

 selves, but generally speaking the reactions are mid-way between 

 B. perfringms and B. mdematis maligni. 



A table is appended giving the various reactions of the five strains 

 isolated. All the organisms were pathogenic for the guinea-pig, pro- 

 ducing hasmorrhagic oedema, gas, and local digestion of the tissues. 



Soil Protozoa and Soil Bacteria.! — In this communication E. J. 

 Russell criticizes certain conclusions arrived at by Goodey, in which 

 the latter definitely asserts that ciliates, amcebas and flagellates cannot 

 function as a factor limiting the numbers of bacteria in soil. 



Goodey inoculated cultures of various Colpoda (C. cucidlus, G. mau- 

 passii, 0. steinii), a Vorticella ( 1'. microstoma), and an unidentified 

 amceba and a flagellate, into partially sterilized soils free from protozoa, 

 and made periodic bacterial counts. The numbers of bacteria fell off, 

 but not to any greater extent than in similar soils to which no additions 

 of protozoa were made. He therefore concluded that such protozoa 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxxviii. (1915J pp. 430-3. 



+ Proc. Roy. Soc, Series B, lxxxix. (19151 pp. 76-82. 



