134 HISTOEY AND CAUSE OF THE COCONUT BUD-EOT. 



from the excess of bacterial liquid inoculated. These tiny brown 

 spots were surrounded by water-soaked areas. The inner part of the 

 tissue was bro^vned and rotted for a distance of 2.5 centimeters. The 

 tissues were not soft rotted. The middle leaves were densely 

 covered with browTi water-soaked spots up to 2.5 centimeters from 

 the browTi-rotted area. From this inoculation 6 plates were made 

 on June 7 using Dolt's synthetic medium. On June 9 all of the 

 plates showed one or more pink colonies. Transfers were made from 

 the pink colonies to litmus milk and incubated at 37° C. After four 

 days two of the tubes had reddened and coagulated; five had red- 

 dened but remamed uncoagulated; and one had turned the litmus blue. 

 Transfers to nitrate bouillon showed after 48 hours that all of these 

 cultures except the one which had blued litmus were capable of 

 reducing nitrates to nitrites. Transfers were then made to fermen- 

 tation tubes containing neutral red and dextrose. These tubes 

 after incubation for 48 hours at 37° C. showed the greenish-yellow 

 reaction in the closed arm as in the case of the same cultures 

 that had both reddened the litmus and coagulated the milk. 

 Those which had only reddened the litmus without coagulating the 

 milk produced a deep-red color in both ends of the fermentation 

 tubes. Thus two, at least, of these cultures appeared to be Bacillus 

 coll. 



Inoculation No. 6, of May 7, collected on June 8 : The outer sheath 

 was brown and water soaked for 8 millimeters about the hole. The 

 inner leaves were browTi rotted 25 millimeters from the hole, but 

 there was no soft wliite rot. No platings were made. 



Inoculation No. 8, check: Browning of the tissue was only immedi- 

 ately about the inoculation hole. This discoloration did not extend 

 any appreciable distance. Absolutely no sign of rot or of destruc- 

 tion of tissue. 



The results of these inoculations show that all of the cultures 

 produced much more effect on the coconut tissue than did the bare 

 check inoculation; that in some cases there was a distinct rot and 

 that in two inoculations apparently Bacillus coU was reisolated. 

 These inoculations were all made with Bacillus coli, a strain desig- 

 nated as Hitchings, and made by one unaccustomed to work with the 

 coconut plant — a very important matter. Moreover, the plants 

 were in poor condition for the purpose, as they were just starting a 

 rapid growth which in several cases caused the central leaves to 

 develop into firm, resistant tissue before the rotting effect could 

 take place. The work would probably be more successful if the husk 

 were partly removed about the young shoot and the inoculations 

 made in the thickest part of the stem. As it was, all the inoculations 

 were made outside of the husk in the more or less unsatisfactory 



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