196 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Wine Bacteria.* — Muller-Thurgau and A. Osterwalder present a 

 full study of bacterial infections of wines and their effects. After a pre- 

 liminary review of the literature, the authors discuss the diseases of wine. 

 By suital)le cultural metliods, which cannot be adequately described in 

 an abstract, four different organisms were obtained in pure culture, 

 and were described as Bacterium tnannitopoetim, B. gracile^ Micrococcus 

 ucidovorax, M. varlococcus. Each of these types appears to repre- 

 sent a group of organisms, which show individual variations. The 

 morphological characters, which are of great diagnostic value, and the 

 fermentative qualities, are discussed in detail. In the concluding section 

 the authors describe the investigations carried out with a view to repro- 

 ducing wine diseases by artificial infection with pure cultures. 



Bacillus Hordei.f — N. van Laer gives this name to an organism 

 present in unsound beers, closely resembling B. snbtilis, and hitherto not 

 differentiated from that organism. B. horclei grows well in beer, repro- 

 duction continuing for thirty days. Its spores, after a lengthy storage 

 in beer, acquire a resemblance to sarcinag. Unlike B. sudtilis, its growth 

 is not inhibited by a gassy state of the beer It is capable of growth 

 aerobically as well as under conditions of extreme anaerobiosis. It pro- 

 duces indol in culture, whereas B. skMIUs and B. mesentericus vidgatus do 

 not. It has a bad effect upon the brilliance and flavour of the beer. It 

 occurs naturally in barley and malt and the dust of maltings. 



Spirillum bataviaB sp. n. — In the water of a spring on a coral 

 island near Batavia, F. C. von Faber has found a new species of Spiril- 

 lum, larger than Spirillum volutans Ehrenberg, the largest meml)er of 

 this class hitherto described. It grows well in water containing algje, 

 when kept in the dark, imparting to the fluid a deep red colour and a 

 strong indol smell. Details of structure can be readily observed by the 

 use of the Indian ink method. There are two small flagella at one end. 

 The individual spirilla show three or four convolutions, the length of each 

 being about 15 ft. Agar cultures show colonies, red at the centre, 

 yellowish-green at the periphery. It is Gram-positi ve, and produces 

 large quantities of indol. 



Chromogenic Properties of certain Bacterial Cultures. § — P. 



Lasseur and G. Thiry, making use of a synthetic culture medium 

 containiug asparagin 0*9 grm., glycerin 2 "5 grm , dipotassium phos- 

 phate ()*2r) grm., magnesium sulphate 0*5 grm., calcium chloride 0'04 

 grm., ferrous sulphate O'Ol grm., and water 100 grm., find that the 

 chromogenic properties of certain bacteria such as B. mesentericus ruber, 

 B. vulf/fftus, and B. suhtilis are exalted, and that othei" bacteria, such as 

 B. megatherium, hitherto regarded as achromogenic, produce coloured 

 cultures. 



Bacteriological Diagnosis of Rat-plague. || — Markl describes 

 certain difiiculties encountered at the port of Trieste in the routine 

 examination of ship rats for the presence of plague. In fresh specimens 



* Centralbl. Bakt., 2te Abt., xxxvi. (1912) pp. 129-338. 



t Journ. Inst. Brewing, xix. (1913) pp. 4-20. 



X Centralbl. Bakt., 2te Abt., xxxvi. (1912) pp. 41-2. 



§ Comptes Rendus, clvi. (1913) pp. 166-8. 



!' Centralbl. Bakt,, Ite Abt. Orig., Ixvii. (1912) pp. 388-97 



