636 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



nitrate. Though difficult to determine how or when changes in the 

 nitrifying process take place, it is certain that the nitrite stage may 

 be extremely transitory. The presence of sugars greatly accelerates the 

 growth of the organism and the nitrification. 



Gram-negative Cocci from the Human Conjunctiva.* — P. Verderame 

 describes three Gram-negative cocci isolated from different cases. Their 

 general characters are as follows : 1. Grows at room temperature ; does 

 not liquefy blood-serum ; does not hasmolyse the medium in blood-cul- 

 tures ; does not liquefy gelatin ; renders broth turbid and forms scum ; 

 does not coagulate milk ; colonies on agar yellowish grey. 2. Does not 

 liquefy blood-serum ; does not grow at room temperature ; does not 

 haemolyse blood-plates ; does not liquefy gelatin ; renders broth slightly 

 turbid ; does not coagulate milk ; colonies on agar yellowish to whitish 

 grey. 3. Grows at room temperature ; liquefies blood-serum and haemo- 

 lyses blood-media ; liquefies gelatin ; broth very turbid ; coagulates milk ; 

 growth on agar iridescent yellowish grey. Xone of the three are capsu- 

 lated, or form spores or indol, or produce gas. The first variety evidently 

 belongs to the M. catarrhalis group. The second occupies a position in- 

 termediate between Meningococcus and M. catarrhalis. The third coccus 

 belongs to a special group described by Kayser and Ruata, and is sharply 

 differentiated from gonococcus and meningococcus. Most of the cocci 

 appear to have been extracellular and feebly if [at all pathogenic to 

 animals and human beings. 



'& k 



Disease of Sheep caused by a Lanceolate Diplococcus.j — A. Gaertner 

 isolated an organism from the bodies of sheep which succumbed from 

 an epidemic disorder affecting chiefly ewes which had recently lambed 

 and also their offspring. The organism is a diplococcus running to 

 chains. It grows well on ordinary media and luxuriantly on blood-agar. 

 Pure cultivation caused the disease in healthy sheep by inhalation, intra- 

 peritoneal injection, and feeding. The name Diplococcus vel Streptococcus 

 lanceolatus ovium is suggested by the author. 



Germs in Mountain Air.f — B. Galli-Valerio confirms the fact of 

 the diminution of germs in passing from rooms to rooms, to open 

 spaces far from towns, and on mountains. His observations, of which 

 he gives records of 151, show that the presence of man and animals 

 increases the number of germs even of mountain air, and that the number 

 is also increased by the winds if the soil be not wet, frozen, or covered 

 with snow. The observations also showed that while the number of 

 bacteria decreased in passing from rooms to open spaces and to moun- 

 tains, the organisms then more frequently met with were Hyphomycetes 

 and even Blastomycetes. The only pathogenic species isolated were 

 M. pyogenes aureus and albus. 



Bottle-bacillus.§ — H. Dold gives an account of this bacterium, which 

 many dermatologists regard as the causal organism of certain skin diseases, 



* Centralbl. Bakt., lte Abt. Orig., liv. (1910) pp. 523-46 (l'pl.). 

 t Tom. cit., pp. 546-63. % Tom. cit. pp. 497-521. 



§ Op. cit., lte Abt. R©f., xlvi. (1910) p. 713. 



