ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 603 



tions a disease described by Nocard as " Lymphangitis simulating farcy " 

 in horses, and which is due to a bacillus morphologically and culturally 

 similar to the organism described above. 



Braxy-like Mortality among Sheep.* — J. A. Gilruth reports a braxy- 

 like epidemic occurring among sheep, particularly hoggets feeding on 

 turnips, and due to a specific organism which was isolated from the 

 heart-blood and from other parts of the animals dead from the disease. 

 The organism is a short anaerobic bacillus occurring in pairs and forming 

 spores ; it grows readily on agar at 87° C, giving rise to a slight pro- 

 duction of gas ; broth is clouded after 24 hours ; growth on gelatin is 

 slow and inconstant ; it stains by Gram's method. 



The disease differs from braxy in the small gas-production and in 

 the absence of the characteristic offensive odour. 



Experimentally the bacillus was pathogenic for sheep and guinea-pigs. 



Immunisation against Anthrax.f^ — J. A. Gilruth finds from the 

 results of numerous experiments that guinea-pigs, rabbits, and sheep can 

 completely resist the inoculation of large doses of virulent anthrax 

 bacilli, provided these organisms are mixed with a large quantity of 

 some other organisms that are non-pathogenic for these animals. The 

 anthrax bacilli must be mixed with the other organism, for if injected 

 at different parts of the skin no resistance results. An animal which 

 has suffered with absolute immunity a large dose of anthrax bacilli 

 mixed with a foreign organism may succumb later to a much smaller 

 dose of pure anthrax culture. Immunity to large doses of pure anthrax 

 ■could be conferred on rabbits and sheep, which received repeated doses 

 of both anthrax and Gaertner bacilli in increasing quantities. 



Micro-organisms in Acute Rheumatism.^ — E. W. A. Walker 

 considers that this disease is probably caused by a micrococcus which he 

 and other observers have isolated on a large number of occasions from 

 subjects of the disease, both during Hfe and on post-mortem examination. 

 The organism has been seen microscopically in rheumatic lesions, in the 

 synovial membrane of joints, in the cardiac valves, and in the meninges 

 in cases of acute rheumatic chorea, and has been cultivated from a 

 rheumatic nodule. On injection into animals it produces morbid lesions 

 similar to those of acute rheumatism. It has the appearance and 

 general cultural characters of a streptococcus, but it produces a con- 

 siderable amount of formic acid, which is not known to be produced in 

 like quantity by streptococci obtained from other sources. Though 

 many competent observers have failed to find any micro-organism in 

 acute rheumatism, and various objections have been raised against the 

 acceptance of this organism as the cause of rheumatism, the author sees 

 no reason to abandon positive results in favour of purely negative 

 •evidence, and claims that the Micrococcus rheumaticus is a distinct 

 variety of streptococcus. 



Chromogenic Variations of Micrococcus prodigiosus.§ — G. Peju and 

 H. Rajat find that the normal pigment-production by Micrococcus 



* Div. Ver. Sci. N.Z. Dept. Agric, Bull. 2, 1903. 



t Op. cit., Bull. 7, 1904. 



i Brit. Med. Jouru., 1907, i. p. 1233. 



§ C.R. Soc. Biol, de Paris, Ixii. (1907) p. 792. 



