ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 497 



increase until a certain optimum is reached. The effects are dependent 

 both upon the intensity and the duration of the stimulus. The manner in 

 which the stimuli act cannot be explained, but no doubt the protoplasm 

 is affected, with the result that metabolic processes become more active. 



Investigations on Disinfection.* — C. Eijkman has experimented 

 with Bacillus coli communis under the influence of phenol. Previous 

 experiments made by this writer not being in agreement with those of 

 other investigators/the present experiments were made with the object 

 of discovering the causes of variation. The variations were seen in the 

 differing resistance against high temperatures shown by bacteria of the 

 same culture. A previous investigator has attributed this variation to 

 difference in age of the individuals of the same culture. The present 

 experiments were made in solutions of phenol of concentration of 0*5 p.c. 

 to 1 p.c, and everything possible was done to insure that the individuals 

 were all in the same stage of disinfection and of the same age. In spite 

 of this, considerable differences of resistance between individuals was 

 again evident. The author suggests that it is possible " that the power 

 of resistance during the development between two successive divisions 

 undergoes changes." Thus a daughter-cell, just formed and having a 

 relatively larger surface, may have less resistance than a full-grown cell. 



Metachromatic Granules in Acid-fast Bacilli.| — In young bacilli, 

 V. Babes finds that by the Ziehl-Xeelsen method these granules are not 

 differentiated. By means of an iodised safranin stain, however, the 

 metachromatic granules are clearly seen, especially in the case of the lepra 

 bacillus. The author uses a combined Ziehl-Gram-Weigert method, by 

 means of which the granules are stained blue, and the remainder of the 

 bacillus red. The contrast is better marked in older cultures. In old 

 cultures and in foci of long standing, it is possible to find all transitional 

 stages between bacilli and free granules. Also, in some living cultures, 

 and in some still-virulent foci, grannies alone are found. This leads to 

 the conclusion that these granules are the most resistant portions of the 

 bacilli. 



New Bacillus of the Hemorrhagic Septicaemia Group. :{:— During 

 a recent very fatal epizootic among cats in Bohemia, Z. Boucek had the 

 opportunity of examining the bodies of four animals which had died of 

 the disease. Post-mortem examination revealed a condition of haenior- 

 rhagic septicaemia and enteritis. From the blood and from various 

 organs, he obtained a small oval, non-motile, non-sporing, Gram-negative 

 bacillus, which showed well-marked polar staining. This organism grew 

 readily upon ordinary media, and inoculations of pure culture proved 

 fatal to kittens and mice. By means of giving a kitten protective inocu- 

 lations of the bacillus of rabbit septicaemia, it was found that immunity 

 against this organism of cat septicaemia was produced ; so that the two 

 types of organism must be closely allied. 



Tuberculosis in Salt-water Fish.§ — L. von Betegh gives a pre- 

 liminary note of his work on this subject. Up to the present, there is 



* Proc. Sect. Sci. k. Akad. Wetensch. Amsterdam, si. (1909) pp. 668-74. 



t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, lxviii. (1910) pp. 315-18. 



X Centralbl. Bakt.,lte Abt. Orig., liii. (1910) pp. 279-93. 



§ Tom. cit . pp. 374-7. 



Aug. 17th, 1910 -' L 



