ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 221 



giving a biological account of Mycetozoa, their growth and reproduction. 

 Torrend concludes that they are related to fungi rather than to animals, 

 and retains for them the title Myxomycetes. He gives directions to 

 the student how to collect and how to preserve these minute organisms, 

 and how to make microscopic preparations. He gives detailed keys to 

 families, genera, and species, and publishes plates of genera and species. 



Mycetozoan Parasites.— J. E. Blomfield * and E. J, Schwartz have 

 studied the tumours of Veronica chamsedrys, and of the organism causing 

 them, a parasitic Mycetozoon, Sorosphaera Veronicas. The tubercles vary 

 in size from a pin's head to that of the last joint of the little finger. 

 The parasite is largely local in its action, and does little damage to the 

 host-plant. The Mycetozoon has no power to penetrate through the 

 cell-walls, and spreads by the dividing of the host-cell containing it ; 

 primary infection takes place in the vicinity of the growing points of 

 the stem. At the final stage the infected cells are mostly filled with 

 the spherical zoospheres of wedge-shaped spores. Nuclear division was 

 observed, and is carefully described. 



E. J. Schwartz f publishes a preliminary note on another species of 

 Sorosphaera J unci, which attacks the roots of various species of Juncus. 

 The life-history is very similar to that of S. Veronicas. 



Schizophyta. 

 Schizomycetes. 



New Bacillus in Cheese. J — H. Huss describes Pseudomonas 

 cowardi, a new bacillus isolated from a sample of Cleveland cheese sent 

 to him from Yorkshire. This is a short, Gram-positive, motile, non- 

 sporing organism, possessed of one flagellum. It grows well on ordinary 

 media and ferments dextrose, but not lactose or mannite. Indol is 

 formed. Gelatin is not liquefied, nor milk clotted. Associated with 

 " rusty spots " in cheese, this bacillus also forms a reddish-yellow 

 pigment in cultures, which is soluble in absolute alcohol, but not in 

 water. 



New Lactic-acid Streptothrix.§ — From Dadhi, an Indian sour-milk 

 preparation, G. C. Chatterjee has obtained an organism, which he assigns 

 to the class Kornchen bacilli of Lehmann and Neumann, a group allied 

 to the Streptothrices. It grows well on glucose-agar, forming convo- 

 luted chains. In specimens stained with methylen-blue, it is seen that 

 while the bacillus stains blue, it contains pink granules placed at regular 

 intervals. It has been thought that these are glycogen granules ; they 

 are certainly not spores, as they are not resistant to heat. In other 

 respects, this organism resembles B. bulgaricus and its congeners. It 

 coagulates casein in milk, and produces a large quantity of lactic acid. 

 When inoculated with certain pathogenic bacilli into milk, it destroys 

 them rapidly. 



* Ann. Bot.xxiv. (1910) pp. 35-43 (1 pi.). t Tom. cit., p. 236. 



X Centralbl. Bakt., 2te Abt., xxv. (1909) pp. 401-6. 

 § Op. cit., lteAbt.Orig.,liii. (1910) pp. 103-12. 



