ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 317 



Bacterium pseudopestis murium.* — B. (itilli-Yalerio isolated an or- 

 ganism from the ganglia, thyroid, testicles, and spleen of Mus rattus. 

 The infection source is ascribed to a water from the Jura, and the fre- 

 quent presence of the bacterium in the thyroid is interesting. 



B. pseudopestis murium is a short stumpy rodlet with marked polar 

 staining. It is decolorized by Gram's method. It grows best at 

 3G-37° C, the colonies being small and whitish. It does not liquefy 

 gelatin, coagulate milk, ferment glucose, or form indol. The bacteria 

 from cultures present appearances similar to the fresh material, but in 

 addition elongated bacteria and filaments are present. This microbe 

 was found to be pathogenic not only to the rat but also to mice and 

 rabbits. 



Experiments made by means of Lausanne water were negative, but 

 water from the Jura killed the animals in three weeks. 



Bacterial Disease of Pisum sativum. f — Dorothy M. Cayley has 

 proved that a disease of culinary peas is caused by a large bacillus, 

 which is transmitted in the interior of the seeds of the plant. The life- 

 history is complicated by involution forms aud a zooglcea stage. The 

 bacillus is Gram-positive, non-acid-fast, very motile when young but 

 capsulated when at rest. The colonies are small and watery on the 

 surface of the medium, but those deeper are opaque. Under certain 

 conditions the colonies may have an orange tint. 



* Centralbl. Bakt., Ite Abt. Orig., Ixviii. (1913) pp. 188-94 (5 figs.), 

 t Proc.Roy. Soc, Ser. B, Ixxxvi. (1913) pp. 171-3. 



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