ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 453 



ally was seen to consist of chains of ovoid elements (the ferment of 

 la graisse), and rods and elongated filaments, if the wine under exami- 

 nation had become turned or sour. The growth is increased by several 

 changes into fresh media, and takes place most favourably in vacuo. 

 Cultures, however, succeed in open tubes when sown in quantity. From 

 such, isolations were made, haricot bouillon being used solidified with 

 agar. The authors obtained thus : 4 bacilli from vins amers ; 4 bacilli 

 from vins tournes ; 2 mannitic ferments ; 1 coccus ; and 3 ferments in 

 chains. All these ferments had certain characters in common. They 

 were Gram-positive, non-spore-forming and non-liquefying. They were 

 killed by 10 min. at 65° C. They grew preferably in the depth of the 

 agar medium. Air hindered their development. 



The authors conclude that : diseased wines are invaded by a certain 

 number of species of microbes which are almost always associated. 

 Vins tournes contain sometimes almost all the species studied. The 

 ferment de Vamer is always accompanied by the ferment de la graisse. 

 The physiological properties of the two latter are nearly identical ; they 

 destroy ordinary sugars in the same way, with the formation of products 

 in the same proportions. They are able to develop in the same media, 

 and they proliferate indifferently in all wines, provided that they find in 

 them sugars and nitrogenous matters. The most widely spread of all 

 disease-producing ferments is that of la graisse. Wines poor in sugar 

 and nitrogen are stable as regards disease-producing ferments, but when 

 these two substances are present in sensible quantities, no constituent 

 element of this wine can offer a sufficient barrier to the development of 

 the microbes. 



Resistance of the Micrococcus melitensis to Moist Heat.* — ■ 

 P. J. A. Dalton and J. W. H. Eyre have determined the " thermal death 

 point" of M. melitensis to be 57*5° C, this temperature invariably 

 causing the death of all the individual organisms exposed to it for a 

 period of ten minutes. They experimented with the organism at the 

 period of its maximum vegetative growth. This was obtained by culti- 

 vating it aerobically on the sloped surface of nutrient glycerin agar 

 (5 p.c. glycerin) reaction + 10, for a period of 48 hours, at a tempera- 

 ture of 37° C. They employed a w T ater-bath, the heat of which was 

 regulated by a delicate and accurate thermo-regulator — Hearson's 

 thermostatic capsule. Emulsions .were made in the proportion of 

 1 mgrm. of the culture to 1 c.c. of 0"6 p.c. sterile salt solution. These 

 emulsions were filtered before use to remove clumps. The germ- 

 content of the emulsions was determined by plating out in dilutions of 

 j-^j- and tow^. The authors lay stress on the importance of not 

 using test-tubes the walls of which are thinner than 1 mm., which would 

 permit of a too rapid transmission of heat, leading to the evaporation 

 of the small quantities of fluid which frequently adhere to the glass just 

 above the upper limit of the bulk of the emulsion. When this happens, 

 the organisms previously suspended in that fluid become more resistant 

 to heat as the result of their desiccation, and fallacious results may be 

 obtained. Five different strains of the organism were employed. 



* Journ. Hygifne, iv. (1901) pp. 157-72. 



