FERMENTATION BACTERIOLOGY. iJZd 



showed it to be almost wholly made up of spores of the organism, and 

 no color reaction with chlorzinc-iodin was apparent. 



The gas fermentation resulted in the liberation of hydrogen and car- 

 bon dioxid with no indication of marsh gas. 



Volatile acids were produced in considerable quantity, valerianic 

 acid being the most common, but there were no traces of rixed acids. 



Some of the higher alcohols were present, but in quantities too small 

 for determination. 



Have the common yeasts pathogenic properties? Katherine 

 E. Golden (Proc. Indiana Acad. Sri., 1896, pp. 184-188). — The author 

 made a study of common yeasts such as are taken into the system 

 through various sources to ascertain whether any of them possess.path- 

 ogenic properties. 



The first series of experiments indicated that yeasts taken into the 

 stomach of rabbits caused neither discomfort nor lesions in any of the 

 organs, even when a fermentable substance was eaten at the same time. 

 The experiments als > indicated that certain yeasts readily pass through 

 the intestinal tract without being killed, although their vigor is some- 

 what impaired. 



A second set of experiments, in which the yeasts were introduced 

 into the circulation, indicated that the common yeasts used possessed 

 no toxic properties for rabbits and guinea pigs. None of them multi- 

 plied when introduced into the animal body, and in 4 cases they were 

 destroyed within 48 hours. 



A new pigment-forming saprophyte, W. "W. Rodsewitsch ( Yracli 

 [St. Petersburg] (1897), No. 15, p. 436; abst. in Gentbl. Bald. u. Par., 2. 

 AM., 3 (1897), N~o. 21-22, p. 591). — While examining heads of wheat for 

 Tilletia levis the author found quite a number of bacteria, among them 

 Bacterium megatherium. Micrococcus tetragenus, M. rosetis, and an unde- 

 scribed bacillus. The organism is about 0.5 // long, grows best between 

 20° and 37° C, and was killed by an exposure of 1 hour to a tempera- 

 ture of 70° C. Subcutaneous injections on guinea pigs showed no 

 pathogenic properties. The bacillus forms an abundant yellow pigment, 

 especially when grown on potatoes or on grape sugar agar for 1 to 2 

 months, the substratum becoming wholly covered with the yellow pig- 

 ment. Spore formation was not apparent. 



The supposed alcoholic enzym in yeast, J. R. Green (Ann. Bot., 11 (1897), Xo. 

 ■14, pp. 555-562). — Following the directions of Buchner ' the author sought to isolate 

 iimler pressure the enzym reported to exist in yeasts. In the author's experiments 

 the evolution of earhon dioxid and formation of alcohol did not correspond to the 

 change in the specific gravity of the solutions. In one series there was no increase 

 in the quantity of alcohol at the end of the experiment. Considering the evidence 

 of his experiments the author believes that in the yeasts used there was no enzym 

 .such as described by Buchner. 



Enzyraic ferments in plant physiology, F. A. YVaugh (Science, n. ser., € (1897), 

 No. 156, pp. 950-952). 



l Ber. Deut. Chem. Gesell., 30 (1897), p. 117. 



