»19] ykterinary mkdicixk. 479 



"The production of hemolysis of the blood on blood agar, the liquefaction of 

 blood scium, the clotting and subsequent peptonization of the milk, [ami] the 

 liquefaction of geJatin. run parallel. The organism that produces most hemoly- 

 sis produces liquefaction of tin- blood scrum ami gelatin ami a greater digestion 

 <>f tiie milk proteins. 'I'll'' organism that does m.t produce any hemolysis "t the 

 blood docs imt liquefy the blood serum ami tin- gelatin, does m>t clot the milk, 



ami has only a small action on the milk proteins. These characters Can he used 



advantageously in the Identification ami classification <>f tin- actinomycetes. 



Some pathogenic actinomycetes grew readily on synthetic mediums." 



A case of rat bite fever, Ruth Tlnmci.ii-k and K.vi 'Iikkixk M. M \ii it (Jour. 

 Infect, Diseases, 2.1 {1918), Xo. 6, pp. 555-55S. pi. 1). — It is pointed out that a 

 streptothrix (streptothrix murig-ratti) has been isolated from the blood of 

 three patients with rat-bite fever by three separate Investigators and observed 

 In the fresh blood in a fourth case by Tileston (E. S. It., 35, p. 4S7). Organisms, 

 culturally ami morphologically similar, have been found in bronchopneumonia 

 by the senior author (E. S. R., 30, p. 678). Another streptothrix (S. putorii) 

 lias been isolated by Dick and Tunnicliff from the blood of a patient bitten by a 

 weasel (E. S. EL, 39, p. 889). In the latter case the clinical picture was similar 

 to that of rat-bite fever, although the streptothrix differed both culturally and 

 morphologically from .v. muris-ratti. 



In the present paper the authors report upon a fatal case which occurred in 

 Chicago, in which the streptothrix was found to be more closely related cul- 

 turally and morphologically to S. putorii than to S. muris-ratti. The chief 

 points of interest in this case are the presence of a Streptothrix in the poly- 

 morphonuclear leucocytes during life, in blood cultures after death, in smears 

 of bone marrow, and possibly in the ganglion cells near the suprarenals. 



A note on bleeding guinea pigs and on preserving sheep's erythrocytes, 

 J. J. Wknnkk (Jour. Immunol., S (1918), Xo. 5, pp. 389-393; abs. in Jour. Amer. 

 Med. Assoc, 7/ (1918), No. 26, p. 2179).— The author, at the Connecticut Storrs 

 Experiment Station, describes a method for bleeding guinea pigs in which the 

 blood is obtained from a partial incision in the jugular vein. After from 10 to 

 15 cc. of blood has been drained from the vein, cotton is pressed into the wound 

 and the animal placed on its back until the flow of blood stops. The cotton is 

 then removed and the wound treated with alcohol and closed. 



The method is said to yield practically as large a quantity of blood as when 

 the animal is bled to death, and to have the further advantage that this amount 

 may be obtained repeatedly from the same animal. 



The method of preservation of sheep's erythrocytes by the use of formalin, 

 essentially as described by Bernstein and Kaliski (E. S. H., 29, p. 876), is also 



described. 



An improvement in the method of isolating and recovering the bacillus of 

 cattle abortion through guinea pigs, E. W. Smillie (Jour. Expt. Med., 28 

 (J918). No. 1. pp. 5S5-605, fuis. 2).— The method employed by the author for the 

 cultivation of Bacillus abortus is described in detail, and experiments under- 

 taken for the purpose of determining the possibility of shortening the life period 

 of the inoculated guinea pig without impairing the chances of obtaining cul- 

 tures are also described. 



The spleen was found to be the organ in which the bacteria are regularly 

 present and in largest numbers. The number of living bacteria in the spleen 

 of the guinea pig is larger between the third and fourth weeks than later, al- 

 though the macroscopic lesions become more pronounced as the bacteria decline. 



The author suggests that for a diagnosis based on the isolation of B. abortus 

 guinea pigs should be killed between the third and the fourth week, while for 



