ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 



533 



and of fluid media containing tellurium salts is of great service in 

 facilitating the diagnosis of diphtheria. They discuss the relative 

 merits of various enriching methods, but consider that the direct inocu- 

 lation of tellurium plates gives the best results. 



Cultivation of the Myxobacteriaceae.* — E. Pinoy describes his 

 attempts to cultivate Glumdromyces crocatus, a highly developed type of 

 the Myxobacteriacege, upon artificial media. He found that the organism 

 would not grow upon ordinary sterilized media, but only in symbiosis 

 with lower organisms. In association with a certain micrococcus, allied 

 to Micrococcus latens, the organism gave good growth on artificial media. 

 It grew, but with less freedom, upon cultures of the micrococcus which 

 had been killed with chloroform. 



Use of " Thermos " Flasks for Biological Work.t — V. Baldasseroni, 

 after alluding to the uses and structure of the thermos flask, shows 

 how it may be rendered useful for biological work. He advises a 

 spherical shape, a short neck and a case, cubical or cylindrical, lined 

 with felt and having at the bottom a rubber cushion (fig. 77). The 



Fig. 77. 



stopper, made of cork or rubber, is perforated to admit the tubes. The 

 tube or tubes containing the objects to be impregnated with paraffin or 

 to be warm-stained are placed in the flask, which is to be filled with 

 water of the requisite temperature. The cap is then screwed on. The 

 apparatus retains its heat for some hours and would be of service when 

 any overheating is undesirable. 



Selective Medium for Cholera Vibrios. | — In recent years, a number 

 of authors have described culture-media which favour the growth of 



* Comptes Rendus, clvii. (1913) pp. 77-8. 



+ Zeitschr. wiss. Mikrosk., xxx. (1913) pp. 45-8 (1 fig.). 



X Centralbl. Bakt., Ite Abt. Orig., Ixxx. (1913) pp. 202-8. 



