244 GENERAL SYSTEMATIC BACTERIOLOGY 



small rod-forms commonly present in freshlj^ drawn cow's milk. These forms 

 were described in an earlier publication (Evans 1918) as bacteria related to 

 "Bacterium abortus. ' ' Some of them vary from the typical Brucella in the produc- 

 tion of a slight amount of acid from the carbohydrates. The genus Brucella 

 should also include the species bronchisepticus, which varies from the typical 

 Brucella in being motile. A number of other species should also probably be classi- 

 fied in the genus Brucella. 



Meyer and his associates have continued the use of the abbreviation "B." 

 for the generic designation of melitensis and abortus. Since that is the accepted 

 abbreviation for the genus Bacillus, there should be some other for the Brucella. 

 The abbreviation Br. is proposed for that genus. 



But the point may be made here that whenever a generic name is referred to in 

 any paper it should be printed in full the first time it is cited in the article. 



Every investigator since 1918 who has compared the Malta fever and the 

 contagious abortion organisms has found a close relationship between them. 

 The literature on this subject is reviewed in the following paper. The accumulat- 

 ing evidence of the close relationship between the strains of bovine and human 

 origin has culminated in the conclusion by Burnet, that melitensis and abortus 

 are not distinct bacteriological species, but merely distinct serological varieties 

 or subspecies of one and the same species. All the literature on the subject leads 

 to this conclusion. Observing priority of publication as determining the nomen- 

 clature, we must adopt as the specific name for the melitensis-abortus group the 

 name melitensis. 



Butyl-Bacillus. A casual name used by Fitz (1878, p. 48) to desig- 

 nate bacteria capable of producing butylic fermentation. 



Butyribacillus. A generic name proposed by Orla-Jensen (1909, 

 p. 342) to include the butyric acid bacteria. It is the first genus of the 

 family Butyribaderiaceae. These forms are anaerobic peritrichous 

 rods which as a rule split certain kinds of sugar with the development 

 of gas and butyric acid, and do not ferment pectin or cellulose, and 

 do not attack proteins actively. 



Nach Pringsheim^ ist C. Pasteurianum nur ein einzelner Reprasentant einer 

 weitverbreiteten Gattung von Erdbakterien, und laut einer vorlaufigen Mitteil- 

 ung von Bredemann^ konnen alle echten Buttersaurebakterien zur Stickstoffas- 

 similation befahigt werden. Eine Gruppierung derselben in solche, die sich mit 

 anorganischen Stickstoffquellen begniigen konnen, und in solche, die nur gedei- 

 hen, wenn sie organische Stickstoffquellen zur Verftigung haben, ist deshalb 

 nicht statthaft, sondern wir miissen alle diese Organismen, wozu nach Grassber- 

 ger und Schattenfroh auch Bacillus Chauvoei gehort, unter der Gattungsbezeich- 

 nung Butyribacillus sammeln. Wahrscheinlich sind die altesten obligat anaero- 

 ben Bacillen auch die altesten Sporenbildner, denn ohne die Fahigkeit zur 

 Erzeugung von Endosporen wiirden diese Bakterien im allerhochsten Grade der 



1 Centralbl. f. Bakt., Abt. II., Bd. XX, 1908, p. 248. 



"Berichte der Deutschen botanischen Gesellsch., Bd. XXVIa, 1908. p. 362. 



