ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 315 



filaments. On gelatin plates the colonies in one or two days resembled 

 yellowish-white points. On agar the growth was whitish-grey. There 

 was no growth on potato. 



(13) Bacillus annulatus aureus sp. n. was isolated from a silver coin - r 

 it is a thick short rodlet, often forming long filaments. It is motile. In- 

 cubation temperature is more favourable to growth and segment forma- 

 tion than room temperature. The growth is yellow on gelatin, agar 

 bouillon, and potato. Gelatin is not liquefied. 



(14) Bacillus odoratus sp. n. was detected in butter; it is a short 

 sometimes spheroidal rodlet with rounded ends and granular contents. 

 It is motile, and occurs mostly in pairs. It liquefies gelatin. The 

 colonies are grey with a brownish centre. The surface of agar slopes- 

 was covered with a thick white smooth overlay, and there was marked 

 gas production. On potato the deposit has a dry greyish appearance, 

 and exhales an odour resembling semen. Bouillon soon becomes turbid. 



(15) Oospora alba sp. n. was isolated from the heart-blood of a 

 guinea-pig ; it is a branching filament fungus, which stains well by Gram's 

 method. It grows better at room temperature than at 37°. On potato it 

 did not develope. On 4 p.c. salt-agar it throve luxuriantly. On gelatin 

 the growth was white, and the medium slowly liquefied. On agar the 

 growth was white, copious, and adherent. 



Sarcinastrum Urosporae g. et sp. n.* — G. Lagerheim describes a 

 marine bacterium parasitic on Urospora mirabilis. The organism presents 

 itself as cocci and rodlets, and secretes an enzyme by which the cuticular 

 layer of the host plant is dissolved. The organism forms aggregates or 

 colonies which are held together by a gelatinous substance. This sub- 

 stance gradually dissolves and so sets free the cocci, which in this way 

 are disseminated. The cocci are non-motile. In its action on the cells 

 of the host plant the Urospora parasite shows much resemblance to- 

 the bacteria which infest Florideae, and there is considerable similarity 

 between the Urospora cecidia and the Chantransia galls described by 

 Brandt. The affinities of Sarcinastrum appear to be with the Tricho- 

 bacterineae on the one hand and with the Myxophycese on the other. 



Micro-organisms of Nitre-formation. — According to A. Stutzer and 

 B. Hartieb f observations on the development of nitre organisms are 

 best started from pure cultures on nitrite-agar. On solid media and 

 on liquid with total exclusion of air multiplication proceeds by fission, 

 and when observed in hanging drops the division is seen to be accom- 

 panied by lively movements. The formation of filaments and their 

 length appears to depend on the composition of the medium. Some- 

 times these threads exhibit true branching, and usually the plasma 

 migrates to one extremity, so that this end becomes swollen. Occa- 

 sionally both ends participate in the swelling, from which new individuals, 

 arise. Hence these organisms resemble bacteria in certain of their 

 developmental forms, but in others are more like rnycele fungi. From 

 the latter, however, they differ physiologically in that carbohydrates are 



* Bihang till k. svenska Vetenskaps Akad. Haudlingar, 1900, xxvi. Afd. iii. 

 No. 4, 21 pp. (7 figs.). See Bot. Centralbl., lxxxv. (1901) pp. 280-2. 



t Mitteil. d. laudwirthsoh. Inst. d. Konigl. Univ. Breslau, 1899, pp. 75-101 

 (2 pie. and 22 figs.). See Beih. z. Bot. Centralbl., ix. (1900) pp. 512-4. 



