ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC.'", 363 



of experiments, the effect of symbiosis between two coliform organisms, 

 B. colt and B. lactis aerogenes, was studied. It was found impossible to 

 produce mixed colonies. The fermentation characters of B. lactis aerogenes 

 were to a great extent paralysed by the presence of B. coli. 



Morphological Differentiation of Bacillus paratyphosus and 

 Bacillus typhosus.* — Kuhnemann advocates examination by means of 

 staining the flagella as an aid to the differential diagnosis of these 

 organisms. He uses Loeffler's method of staining. In specimens so 

 prepared, he finds that the relative proportion of the whole mass of 

 flagella to the body of the bacillus is much greater in the case of 

 paratyphoid A, than in the B. tgphosus ; in the former, too, the flagella 

 themselves are longer and more convoluted, and tend to form an inter- 

 lacing network in which the body of the bacillus is enclosed. The 

 typhoid bacillus has fewer and shorter flagella, and these are but seldom 

 entwined into a network. The absolute number of flagella is variable, 

 but as a rule the paratyphoid bacillus has more than the typhoid 

 bacillus. 



Tuberculo-opsonic Index in Man and in Cattle. t — Strubell and 

 Felder, in a large number of observations of the indices of fifty 

 tuberculous patients, found that in 38 p.c. of observations the index was 

 within the normal limits (0*9 to 1 • 10), in 33 p.c. it was subnormal, 

 and 28 p.c. supernormal. The extreme limits of variation were between 

 0*37 and 2*1. Among healthy cattle, 88 p.c. gave a normal index to 

 the human tubercle bacillus, and 71 p.c. to the bovine bacillus. In 

 21 p.c. the index to the bovine bacillus was above normal. Tuberculous 

 cattle gave normal indices to human and to bovine bacilli in 83 and 

 58 p.c. of cases respectively. 34 p.c. gave supernormal indices to bovine 

 tubercle. In cattle inoculated with human tubercle, active sera gave 

 normal indices in 50 p.c. of cases to human, and in 45 p.c. to bovine 

 tubercle. The percentages of subnormal indices were 46 and 52 re- 

 spectively. Inactivated sera from the same cattle gave indices above 

 - 3 in 38 p.c. of cases against human, and in 7 p.c. against bovine 

 tubercle. The authors give tables showing the proportional diminution 

 of the index after inactivation of the serum, and the relative content of 

 immune opsonin. 



New Pathogenic Coccobacillus.J — L. Laven gives an account of a 

 hitherto undescribed micro-organism, which is pathogenic to rabbits, 

 guinea-pigs and mice, giving rise in these animals to suppurative pleurisy 

 and peritonitis. The organism was encountered first in the Institute of 

 Hygiene at Kiel in the case of a guinea-pig which had been inoculated 

 subcutaneously with a hard syphilitic chancre. This occurred in the 

 year 1900, and since that date there have been from, time to time, deaths 

 among the animals, due to the same infection. The organism is a short, 

 stout Gram-negative bacillus, almost as long as it is broad. It is non- 

 motile, possesses no flagellar, and does not form spores. It grows best 

 upon blood agar, but is also capable of growth upon ordinary media. 

 It does not multiply at room-temperature, and accordingly is incapable 



* Centralbl. Bakt., lte Abt. Orig. liii. (1910) pp. 473-5. . 



t Op. cit., liv. (1910) pp. 44-73. J Tom. cit., pp. 97-105. 



