216 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



De Novo Origin of Bacteria, Torulae, and Moulds.* — H. Charlton 

 Bastian presented this communication to the Royal Medical and 

 Chirargical Society. He had begun his experiments with various saline 

 solutions containing ammoniacal salts, but after a time had found the 

 best results were to be obtained with one or other of two solutions, one 

 of which contained small quantities of sodium silicate, ammonium 

 phosphate, and dilute phosphoric acid in distilled water, and the other a 

 simple solution of sodium silicate with liquor ferri pernitratis in distilled 

 water. The solutions were placed in previously superheated tubes, 

 which, after being hermetiadly sealed, were heated again in a calcium 

 chloride bath to 239° F. (115° C), 248°, 257°, or 2G6° F. (l:-10°-C.), 

 for 10-20 minutes. The tubes were subsequently exposed, either to 

 diffuse daylight or else in the incubator, and mostly for periods varying 

 from five weeks to four months. No carbon was ostensibly contained in 

 the solutions. On examination of the contents of the tubes, organisms 

 were found always on or witliin the substance of the flakes of silica, 

 while the fluid above remained perfectly clear. The fluid would remain 

 in this condition, and quite free from micro-organisms, even for months 

 after organisms were known to be swarming in the silica itself. It was 

 contended that there was good prima-facie evidence tending to show that 

 silicon was capable of entering into the composition of protoplasm itself 

 — that was, wholly or in part taking the place of carbon. It was con- 

 cluded that the bacteria, bacilli, vibriones, micrococci, torulae, and 

 moulds which had been taken from hermetically-sealed tubes previously 

 heated to 115°, 120°, 125°, and 130° C. for 10-20 minutes must have 

 been engendered de novo within these vessels. 



Action of the Bulgarian Ferment on Milk.t — G. Bertrand and 

 G. Weisweiller, who have investigated the action of this ferment, 

 isolated and described by Cohendy, find that it hydrolyses by means of 

 an endolactose almost the whole of the milk-sugar, and then changes 

 the resulting glucose and galactose into a mixture of Ijbvo- and dextro- 

 lactic acid, the latter predominating. Besides the lactic acid, which 

 amounts to quite 25 grm. per litre, there are also formed small 

 quantities of succinic acid, acetic acid, and probably a minute quantity 

 of formic acid. This is the first real lactic-acid ferment known to 

 produce succinic acid, and is also the first example of a lactic ferment 

 which obviously splits up the lactose before transforming it into acid. 



Tropism and Geotaxis of Bacterium Zopfii. — E. Sergent % describes 

 experiments made with Bacterium zopfii for the purpose of ascertaining 

 what influences, such as gravity, elevation, position, etc., are the effective 

 cause of the vegetation characters of this bacterium when grown on 

 gelatin. Under certain conditions the cultures of B. zopfii present 

 appearances very similar to a feather, while under others the growth is 

 aborescent and ramified. 



H. Zikes§ has also investigated the cause of the plumule-like growth 



* Brit. :\Ied. Journ., 1907, p. 201. 



t Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xx. (1906) pp. 977-90. 



X Tom. cit., pp. 1005-17 (13 figs.). 



§ Ueber geotaktische Bewegungen des Bacterium Zopfei, Wien, 1906. 



