[04 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Bacterial Cytology.* II. IVnau, who lias previously carried out 

 earchea 1 1 } >• > 1 1 the minute structure of Endomyces albicans, here gives 

 an account iif liis application of similar methods to the study of Bacillus 

 megatherium. The organisms were grown upon agar media, ami ex- 

 aminations "i i lie cells were made at the end of 35 hours, 62 hours, 

 ami 5 days. For the demonstration of the three fundamental elements 

 metachromatic granules, nucleus, and basophile formation— different 

 methods of fixation were adopted. The two latter structures were shown 

 well in cells fixed by the method of Perenyi, while Lavdovsky's method 

 was found most suitable for the demonstration of the two former. In 

 young cells the cytoplasm takes up a uniform blue basophil colour with 

 Tuna's polychrome stain. .Metachromatic granules appear at the poles of 

 the bacillus. A small structureless nucleus may be shown by means of any 

 ordinary nuclear stain. A few bacilli are bin ucleate, fewer multinucleate. 

 The nucleus appears to divide by amitosis. No karyokinetic process has 

 been observed. The basophil formation may be seen in cells 36 hours 

 old, which have been stained with gentian-violet, in the form of a few 

 granules which grow into a network and then into an irregular banding, 

 al right angles to the long axis of the bacillus. Spores are the result of 

 exaggerated nuclear growth. 



Sporotrichum beurmanni in Man.f— M. E. Pinoy gives an account 

 oi three cases of human infection with this parasite.' An examination 

 ol caseous material from a gumma showed abundant organisms, some 

 free, some ingested by leucocytes. Dominici's eosin-orange-toluid in- 

 blue is best suited for its demonstration. One of these cases studied 

 showed a most remarkable degree of generalized sporotrichosis. Speci- ■ 

 mens prepared from this patient showed not only the presence of small 

 conidia undergoing phagocytosis, but also a large number of filaments in 

 the neighbourhood of the capillaries, which penetrated the walls of these 

 vessels and formed an interlacing network in the interior. Some of 

 these filaments were covered with spores. It appears, therefore, that 

 this species is capable of forming spores within human tissues. 



Soured Milk.+— R. T. Hewlett, in a review of the subject of the 



nature, preparation and uses of soured milk, considers, in the first place, 



the natural flora ol the human alimentary tract. The preponderance in 



cnjJdnood oi Gram-negative organisms of such types of Bacillus bifidus, 



lactic-acid producing bacilli, yielding in later life to an ascendency of 



putrefactive forms, suggested to Metchnikoff the hypothesis that (some 



lange, incident to senility, might be due to auto-intoxication. The 



>ui' to restore artificially the fermentation processes found in the 



ntestines oi children constitutes the fundamental principle of all sour 



11* treatment. In his search for an organism that would form lactic 



; , . r|<1 when introduced into the intestines, Metchnikoff turned his atten- 



;*'" o the milk ferments so widely used all over the East. From th< 



.ul-anan Yoghurt he obtained a bacillus which has proved to be a 



Powerful lactic-acid ferment. The bacteriology of the Oriental milk f 



i 



'•!■• 



* Comptes Rendus, clii. (1911) pp. 53-6. 

 it., pp. 286-8. 

 Nature, lxxxiii. (1910) pp. 159-61 : lxxsv. (1911) pp. 338-9. 



