478 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECOBD. 



starter made from one culture was sufficient, while it required 3 per cent of 

 p.nottier. The B. htilgaricus starters could not be seen to have any effect on 

 the formation of the eyes or interfere with the flavor or texture. It is be- 

 lieved that the proper use of B. bulgaricus starters will go far toward making 

 a more uniform cheese during the summer months and will make it possible 

 to produce good Swiss cheese during the entire year." 



The normal bacteria of Swiss cheese, E. E. Eldredge and L. A. Rogers 

 (Centbl. Bakt. [etc.], 2. Aht., 40 (19U), No. 9-10, pp. 164, 165).— The authors 

 made numerous investigations of the bacteria of the cheese of the Emmental 

 type, and a detailed study of their fermentative abilities. Three morpho- 

 logical groups were separated, the long rod, the short rod, and the coccus. 



It is stated that "at the beginning of the ripening the bacterial flora con- 

 sisted almost entirely of the short rods. The long rods appeared in the early 

 stages of the riijening and increased steadily. The short rods decreased and in 

 each of the three cheeses made up about 50 per cent of the bacteria at 7 or 

 8 weeks, a period corresponding in a general way with the end of the eye forma- 

 tion. Glycerin-fermenting cocci appeared in small numbers in each of the 

 cheeses at an age of 5 or 6 weeks. At the end of 20 weeks the bacterial flora 

 was composed almost exclusively of the long rods." 



It i.s concluded that " the essential bacteria of Emmental cheese are evidently 

 not ubiquitous." 



VETEEINAEY MEDICIITE. 



Some minute animal parasites or unseen foes in the animal world, H. B. 

 Fantham and Annie Porter (London, 1914, pp. XI+S19, pi. 1, figs. 56; rev. in 

 (Science, n. ser., 40 (1914), ^0. 1020, pp. 105-101). — This is a popular account 

 of the protozoa responsible for diseases of man and animals. The review is by 

 ii. N. Calkins. 



New remedies: Their composition, action, and use, C. Bachem (Netiere 

 Arzneimittel Hire Zusammensetzung, Wirkung und Anicendung. Berlin and 

 Leipsic, 1913, pp. 144)- — This is a compilation of new but chiefly nonofficial 

 remedies, most of which are prepared on the European Continent. 



The staining of yeasts by Gram's method, A. T. Henrici (Jour. Med. Re- 

 search, 30 (1914), ^^0. 3, pp. 409-415, pi. i).— "It has been shown that yeast 

 cells retain Gram's stain more firmly than the common Gram-positive bacteria. 

 It has been further shown that, unlike the bacteria, the cytoplasm of the yeast 

 cell is not homogeneous with regard to its ability to retain the stain, certain 

 granules api>earing in the decolorizing cell which hold the dye longer than 

 others. It is suggested that the ability of these granules to resist decolorization 

 is in direct proportion to their ability to resist autolysis." 



The complement fixation test (Gay's modification of the Besredka method) 

 in the differentiation of acid-fast bacilli, W. H. Harris and J. A. Lanford 

 (Jour. Infect. Diseases, 13 (1913). No. 2, pp. 301-308, table J).— It was noted 

 from this work that rabbits injected with whole bacilli or with extracts of 

 the acid-fast group produced antisubstances of a high titer. The whole bacilli, 

 however, produced antibodies of lower potency than those obtained with the 

 Besredka antigen. The Besredka antigen showed the strongest production of 

 antibodies when it was intravenously giA'eu at -S-day intervals for four in- 

 jections. The animals were bled eight days following the last injection. 

 " Regai'dless of the various methods used to produce these sensibilizators, no 

 clear-cut specificity for complement fixation has been found for the acid-fast 

 bacilli made use of in those experiments." 



Alterations produced in complement-containing' sera by introduction of 

 lecithin, J. Cruickshank and T. J. Mackie (Jour. Path, and Bad., 18 (1913). 



