710 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



group 3 white, without the nutrient medium being affected ; while in 

 group 2 the medium assumes a pinkish hue, though the colonies are but 

 slightly chromogenic. None of these groups are pathogenic. From 

 the foregoing the author concludes that it is practically impossible to 

 diagnose the presence of the true JB. diphtherise in a milk sample by 

 microscopical tests alone, and that the identity of the Klebs-Loeffier 

 bacillus can only be established by careful consideration of its bio- 

 logical and pathogenic characters. 



Relations of Symptomatic Anthrax and the Septic Vibrio. * — 

 MM. E. Leclainche and H. Vallee, after alluding to the close biological 

 relations of the bacterium of symptomatic anthrax and the septic vibrio, 

 state that it is possible to distinguish the two microbes ; for while the 

 septic vibrio produces in the serum of the specific oedema and in the 

 peritoneal sac of guinea-pigs long forms, these are constantly absent in the 

 case of symptomatic anthrax. The same methods for immunising against 

 anthrax are applicable to the vibrio, and the immunising serums are in 

 both cases rigorously specific. The same holds good for agglutination 

 by these serums. Animals vaccinated against anthrax are not immunised 

 against the vibrio ;' ; and reciprocally vaccination against the septicaemia 

 does not protect against anthrax. 



Filament Formation by Plague Bacilli-t — Dr. T. Skschivan calls 

 attention to the formation of filaments by plague bacteria when culti- 

 vated on agar. The tendency to form filaments in some samples, 

 especially when cultivated on suitable media, is so great as to deserve 

 the term bacterial mycele. In some filaments lateral branchings were 

 noticed, and this tendency was not confined to the longer forms, but was 

 also manifested in the shorter ones, which then might assume a distinct 

 Y-shape. The filaments were produced most copiously on glycerin-agar. 

 Cultures on NaCl agar containing fish-muscle were remarkable for invo- 

 lution forms or heteromorphism. 



New Pathogenic Streptococcus.^ — Dr. E. Libman isolated from the 

 stools of a case of enteritis a streptococcus which produced a surface 

 growth on glucose-agar and lactose-agar, the medium becoming milky- 

 white. The whiteness appeared to be due to the formation of acid by 

 which the albumen of the medium was precipitated. Saccharose-agar 

 did not become white. The streptococcus was pathogenic to mice, and 

 caused acute inflammation of the intestinal canal. 



Other pathogenic organisms were found to be able to precipitate 

 the albumen from human blood-serum in the presence of grape-sugar. 

 The growth of most species is much stronger on glucose agar to which a 

 small quantity of serum is added than on the ordinary serum-agar. 



Diplococcus of Rheumatic Fever.§ — Dr. F. J. Poynton and Dr. A. 

 Paine isolated from cases of rheumatic fever a diplococcus which was 

 cultivated in bouillon and milk, acidified with lactic acid, and then trans- 

 ferred to blood-agar. Pure cultures injected into rabbits produced endo- 

 carditis, pericarditis, polyarthritis, and chorea. From the lesions in 

 the animals the diplococcus was regained. The coccus was stained with 

 carbol-thionin. 



* Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xiv. (1900) pp. 390-6. 



t Centralbl. Bakt. u. Par., I 1 " Abt., xxviii. (1900) pp. 289-92 (4 figs.). 



t Tom. cit., pp. 293-4. § Brit. Med. Journ., 1900, ii. pp. 1188-9. 



