1672 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



CURRENT BACTERIOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 



H. W. CONN, Wesleyan University. 



Separates of Papers and Books on Bacteriology should be Sent for Review to H. W. Conn, 

 Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 



o . TT i_ _>• -.,-_, J r ,_ 1 ■ J T'he author has attempted to verify 



Brehme. Ueber die Widerstandsfahigkeit der ^ ■' 



choleravibrionen und Typhusbacillen gegen the position that has been taken by some 



niedere Temperaturen. Arch. f. Hyg. 2: bacteriologists recently, that, whereas 

 320, I90I. ° y ' 



freezing does not absolutely destroy 



pathoganic organisms, it practically destroys the danger of infection from some of 

 them. He experiments with the cholera and the typhoid bacillus. His method 

 was to make bouillon cultures in test tubes, and to immerse them in a mixture of 

 ice and salt, the mixture being renewed twice, daily. To prevent the water 

 from entering the tubes, they were closed with a layer of paraffin. The tempera- 

 ture was determined by a small thermometer placed inside the test tubes. His 

 general conclusion verifies the position taken by Sedgwick and Park, that rapid 

 freezing destroys the vast majority of typhoid and cholera bacilli. His con- 

 clusions, in general, are that the number of bacilli diminishes very rapidly in the 

 first few days after freezing, but that a few individual bacteria may remain alive 

 for some time ; in the case of cholera, for 57 days at -16° C, and, in the case of 

 typhoid, for 40 days. The number, however, that remain alive for any length of 

 time is very small. 



The author then attempts to determine whether the few bacteria left alive 

 after such long freezing have a special resisting power against cold. He culti- 

 vates these in bouillon at a low temperature, and then tests them again by freezing ; 

 but he does not find that they have any greater resisting power than the original 

 cultures. 



The paper is valuable, in confirming an extremely important conclusion 

 relative to the danger of the use of contaminated ice. h. w. c. 



Nakinishi. Ueber den Bau der Bakterien. This somewhat extended article is a 



Cent. f. Bak. u. Par. 11,30: 07-100, igoi. j • 1 j ^ -i ^- ^ 1 1 j 



^' ■> ^ decided contribution to our knowledge 



of the structure of bacteria, which has ever, since the first study of these organ- 

 isms, been a topic of constant research and speculation. The especial value of 

 the author's contribution is due to the employment of a new method of staining 

 and study. The method is a modification of that adopted by Bizzozero for the 

 study of blood. As applied to bacteria, it is, briefly, as follows : A saturated 

 solution of methylene blue in water is placed upon a perfectly clean slide and 

 then allowed to dry. Some of the coloring matter is rubbed off until a faint sky 

 blue tint is left upon the slide, due to the solidified methylene blue attached to 

 the glass. Upon this dried coloring matter is placed a drop of the bouillon con- 

 taining the bacteria to be studied. The whole is covered with a cover-glass and 

 examined with a microscope. The water dissolves the methylei^e blue, which 

 then slowly stains the bacteria, producing a differential stain superior to that 



