o72 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



unless sucrose or maltose are present. Cultures of anthrax-y are very 

 abundant on potato. 



After short periods of irradiation, cultures inoculated on media 

 devoid of carbohydrates develop but little, whereas the culture is abundant 

 in the presence of carbohydrates. For longer periods of irradiation the 

 reverse is true. Apparently, under the influence of the irradiation, the 

 anthrax bacillus loses its capacity for secreting proteolytic enzymes 

 whilst retaining the power of producing amylolytic enzymes. Such a 

 bacillus placed on a nutritive medium would' require carbohydrates for 

 its development, and would thus change its mode of feeding, and as a 

 result its form and all its biochemical and biological properties would be 

 modified. A new form would thus be obtained which would retain its 

 acquired characteristics through thousands of generations. 



Bursati.*— Bursati is a disease affecting horses in India, though 

 similar phenomena have been described by writers in the United States, 

 Australia, Europe, and North Africa. Swellings in the cutaneous and 

 subcutaneous tissue which break down and ulcerate are the principal 

 features The cause of this disease has been ascribed by some to the 

 presence of Nematode worms, but the author, J. D. E." Holmes, has 

 proved the presence of a fungoid growth in all the cases he examined. 

 Micro-sections show that the tumours consist of an inflammatory fibrosis 

 in which were found, after treatment with caustic potash, spores and 

 mycelium. In character the mycelium is much like that of a Streptothrix. 

 Successful cultures were obtained on Sabouraud's agar. About the fifth 

 day after inoculation growth appeared ; this gradually spread till the 

 surface of the agar was covered with a white chalk-like substance, 

 which is easily removed and shows underneath a dry opaque skin 

 which adheres firmly to the agar. Preparations from this culture 

 showed fine branching mycelia and numerous spores which appeared to 

 be formed inside the mycelium and of ten ran in chains resembling cocci. 

 Hence it would seem that this fungus ought to be classed with Sporothrix 

 rather than Streptothrix. Inoculation experiments on horses, guinea-pigs, 

 and rabbits were negative. 



Variability among Bacteria.f— M. C. W. Young, in a paper read 

 before the British Medical Association, gave a general account of the 

 hypothesis from which the work had started and the methods which 

 had been employed in the transformation of the bacteria. This hypo- 

 thesis was that all bacteria formed merely stages in the history of a 

 group of organisms with an extremely complicated life-cycle, part of 

 which was protozoal in character, and often (possibly always) parasitic. 



The connexion between the bacterial and protozoal aspects could 

 frequently be demonstrated by examining with the dark-ground illumi- 

 nator perfectly clear and apparently sterile serum which had incubated 

 for some time. The serum chiefly used for study was taken from 

 subjects with rheumatic affections or arterial disease. In it there might 



* Mem. Dept. Agric. India, ii. (1914) pp. 119-52 (5 pis.), 

 t Brit. Med. Joura. (1914) ii. pp. 710-11 (2 figs.). 



