ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 315 



Corynebacterium granulomatis mali^ni.* — With the reservation 

 that, in the present incomplete state of the evidence aVaihible, they are 

 not prepared to ap])ly the above name to the organism isolated, E. de 

 Negri and C. ^Y. G. Nieremet describe their bacteriological investiga- 

 tions upon material obtained from two cases of Hodgkin's disease. In 

 smear preparations from the spleen they found granular bacilli similar 

 to those described by Fraenkel and Much. On Bordet's glycerin-potato- 

 extract-agar they obtained a pigmented growth. Microscopic examina- 

 tion of films from this culture showed bacilli of varying forms ; the 

 short type was a short stout bacillus, showing at times well marked 

 polar staining or evenly distributed granules ; the long type was marked 

 with irregularly placed granules. Comma forms and giants and occa- 

 sionally branching were also observed. The organism appeared to be 

 non-motile. It stained well with ordinary dyes, behaved in variable 

 manner when treated by Gram's method, and was not acid-fast. On 

 the ground of its morphological character and staining reactions, it was 

 assigned to the genus Gorynehacterium. The authors consider that it 

 is identical with the organisms observed by Fraenkel and Much, but 

 find that it has only a limited degree of resistance to antiformin. 

 Serological investigations with patients' sera have not yielded any 

 positive results. Animal experiments are in progress. Until these are 

 completed, it cannot be claimed that the case for or against this organism 

 as the causal agent in Hodgkin's disease is complete. 



Susceptibility of Hibernating Animals.f — E. Bertarelli has in- 

 vestigated the nature of the intestinal flora and the degree of resistance 

 to bacterial infections shown by various animals during their winter 

 sleep. The results obtained are in disagreement with the findings of 

 Blanchard, who found that hibernating marmots have an increased 

 resistance to cobra venom, diphtheria and tetanus toxins, trypanosome 

 infections, and trichinosis. Bertarelli has found that the resistance of. 

 the marmot to rabies, anthrax, tetanus, and diphtheria is not increased 

 during the hibernating period. 



Denitrobacterium thermophilum sp. n.% — This organism was dis- 

 covered accidentally by A. Ambroz in the course of some experiments 

 on Azotohacter and allied bacteria. In one flask of potassium nitrate 

 broth, incubated at 65-70°, there appeared as a casual contamination a 

 sporing bacillus, which possessed at that temperature the power of 

 reducing nitrates. An investigation into the source of the contamina- 

 tion showed that the organism was present in the dust of the laboratory 

 and in the bottle containing solid potassium nitrate. The appearances 

 shown on various culture media are described. On agar plates, the 

 colonies assume strange and beautiful forms, which are compared to 

 frost figures, fern fronds, edelweiss, and so on. The organism is a 

 facultative anaerobe and strictly thermophilic. No growth takes place 

 at 37° C. 



* Centralbl. Bakt., Ite Abt. Orig., Ixviii. (1913) pp. 292-309. 

 t Centralbl. Bakt., Ite Abt. Orig., Ixviii. (1913) pp. 566-74. 

 X Centralbl. Bakt., 2te Abt., xxxvii. (1913) pp. 3-16. 



