232 SUMMARY OF OURKENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



carbohydrates and by glycerin. The essential carbohydrate of the 

 slirne is soluble in water, but upon drying it becomes readily altered to- 

 an insoluble modification. The carbohydrate hydrolyses to arabinose 

 and galactose, the latter predominating. Besides forming galactan- 

 arabinian gum, the organism inverts the saccharose, producing ethyl- 

 alcohol, carbon dioxide, lactic, butyric, and traces of succinic, formic 

 and acetic acids. 



Presence of Cilia in the Genus Bacterium.* — D. Ellis, having 

 formerly demonstrated the presence of cilia in the Family Coccacecc,i has 

 set himself to show that the members of the genus Bacterium also- 

 possess cilia, although Migula classifies them as being destitute of these 

 organs. The author made his investigations with Bad. hirtum (Henrici), 

 Bad. tomentosum (Henrici), Bad. filamentosum (Klein), Bad. rugosum 

 (Henrici), and Bad. cervinum (Henrici). The author suggests that 

 in classification the genus Bacterium be omitted, and only the two 

 genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas retained, as follows : — 



Family Baderiacp.ee. 



Cylindrical forms. Organs of motion in the form of cilia. 



Endospore formation common. 



Genus Bacillus. Forms with peritrich cilia. 



Genus Pseudomonas. Forms with polar cilia. 



Bacillus carnis.* — E. Klein has obtained from a putrid meat infu- 

 sion a very virulent essential anaerobe, and has grown it under strictly 

 anaerobic conditions. It is a slender motile bacillus, 1 ■ 5-2 * 5/a by • 6/x, 

 with rounded ends. It stains with the usual dyes and is positive to Gram. 

 Its motility is marked in young cultures, and in the exudate in animals 

 after subcutaneous injection, and is due to the presence of peritrich 

 flagellar The microbe forms large oval spores. Spore formation can 

 be well observed by sucking into capillary tubes the exudate above 

 mentioned, sealing the ends and incubating at 37° C. B. camis grows 

 well in all media. It is gas-forming. It does not liquefy gelatin. 

 Guinea-pigs and mice succumb after subcutaneous injection in about 

 10 hours, one drop being a lethal dose for the former. Intra- 

 peritoneally it is much less virulent, and doses of 0*25-0 "5 c.cm. have 

 very little effect. 



Bacterium cyprinicida (n. sp.).§ — M. Plelm describes a bacterium 

 obtained from carp and tench suffering from red disease (Rotseuche). 

 1 c.cm. of a 10 times diluted bouillon culture, introduced into the stomach 

 by the mouth, or 0*2-0 ' 3 c.cm., injected intra-peritoneally, produced the 

 disease in healthy carp and tench. The bacterium was pathogenic also 

 to the Salmonidse. It is a capsule-forming, slime-producing organism, 

 about 1(jl by 0*8/x, neither spore-forming nor motile, but positive to 

 Gram. It stains best with carbol-thionin, which dyes the capsule red- 

 dish, and the bacterium itself blue-violet. It is aerobic. It grows on 



* 



Centralbl. Bakt. 2" Abt., xi. (1903) pp. 241-5. 

 t See this Journal, 190o, p. 109. 

 % Centralbl. Bakt., 1" Abt., xxxv. (1904) pp. 459-61. 

 § Tom. cit., pp. 461-7. 



