ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICKOSCOPV, ETC. 497 



Schizophy ta . 

 Schizomycetes, 



Bacillus fallax and Gas Gangrene.* — M. Weiubercj and P. Seguin 

 have made further investigation with regard to the anaerobic organism 

 that they have previously descril)ed as Bacillus fallax, and find that it is 

 frequently present in war wounds. In four cases out of 125 it possibly 

 played an important role in the evolution of gas gangrene, though in 

 these cases its appearance was associated with the presence of other gas- 

 producing organisms. In the first case, B. fallax was associated with 

 B. cedematiens and the Vibrion septique ; in the second case with B. per- 

 fringens ; in the third case with B. 'perfringem, B. sporogenes, and the 

 Vibrion septique ; and in the fourth case with B. mdematiens, B. per- 

 fringens, the Yibrion septique, and other organisms. In one of the cases 

 in which a perfringens septicemia yielded to serological treatment, the 

 patient succumbed to a brancho-pneumonia caused by the B. fallax. 



New Species of Botryosporium.f — A Sartory has isolated a new 

 species of Botryosporiiwi, which he has called B. corda, from the intestinal 

 tube of the field-cricket {Gryllus campestris). The fungus grows strongly 

 upon licorice-wood, upon which it forms beautiful masses, at first white, 

 then pink, and finally poppy-red. It divides a certain number of times 

 with great regularity, so that the branches fall very evenly, forming a 

 sort of culture " en cascade." The spores are oval in shape, and mea- 

 sure some () /x. in length by 3 • 5 ^t in breadth. This species resembles 

 B. pyramidale, except in point of colour. The medium of election is 

 licorice-wood, but carrot and Sabouraud's medium are also excellent. 

 The red colour appears quickly on agar, and gelatin is liquefied in 

 twelve days. Milk is coagulated in fifteen days, the casein being 

 precipitated and then partly peptonized. The fungus ferments glucose 

 and maltose, but is without action on saccharose, lactose, and galactose. 

 The pigment secreted is soluble in ethyl-alcohol, chloroform, benzene, 

 toluene, carbon bisulphide, and xylol. It is insoluble in methyl-alcohol, 

 amyl-alcohol, and water. Acids and alkalies turn the pigment a deep 

 yellow colour. Spectroscopic examination of chloroform solutions of the 

 pigment reveal a slight absorption-band between the D and the E lines. 

 The organism was isolated on seven occasions, and appears to be a simple 

 saprophyte. 



Etiology of Scarlet Fever. | — W. Mair gives a further descri23tion 

 of a diplococcus isolated from the throats of scarlet fever patients, and 

 considered by him to be the causal organism of the disease. In its 

 most typical form, in cultures on serum agar or on serum broth, the 

 Diplococcus scarleUnie is an oval or oat-shaped coccus measuring about 



* C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, Ixxix. (1916) pp. 581-3. 

 t C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, Ixxix. (1916) pp. 516-7. 

 X Journ. Path, and Bact., xx. (1916) pp. 366-83. 



