Journal of Applied Microscopy. 351 



Hill, H. W. Branching Forms of the Bacillus '^^e author of this paper has found 

 Diphtheria. Jour. Boston Soc. Med. Sci., that branching forms of the diphtheria 



Ian. 17, iSoQ , .,, . . _,, 



^^ bacillus occur m more than oO per 



cent, of all positive diphtheria cultures which he has investigated. He thinks it 

 is probable that the ordinary diphtheria bacillus represents a variation or 

 degeneration of a higher type of plant than the bacillus. Most frequently the 

 branching resembles that of a streptothrix ; at times, however, that of a clado- 

 thrix. He suggests that possibly the branching is due to some peculiar condition 

 of the external layers of the cell, which may be due to degenerative changes, and 

 hence the branching is only apparent. The latter explanation he thinks improbable. 

 Cultures which contained the branching forms were tested by experimentation 

 on guinea pigs, all of which died within two days, showing lesions similar to those 

 produced by inoculation of ordinary diphtheria cultures. Cultures from the 

 dead animals on blood serum again showed branching forms. Branching did 

 not occur in the living guinea pig nor on normal tissues from the guinea pig 

 inoculated with pure cultures. h. h. w. 



Otolenghi, D. Ueber die Wiederstandsfahig- ^he experiments were made with 

 keit des Diplococcus lanceolatus gegen pneumonic sputa received from three 



Austrocknung in den Sputa. Centrlblt. f. ^. ^ .^ r ^ ,- ^ , , 



Bakt. 25: 120-1— , 1899. patients on the fourth or hfth day of 



the disease. The sputa were spread on 



linen and allowed to dry in diffuse liglit at a temperature of from 15 to iJO 



degrees C. Cultural and inoculation experiments were made at varying periods, 



inoculation as a means of determining the duration of virulence, cultural to 



determine the duration of vitality of the diplococcus. 



The first sample of sputum maintained its virulence after thirty-six days 



exposure to dessication ; its vitality for sixty days. Both the virulence and 



vitality of the second sample were unimpaired for 'seventy days. The third 



sample was virulent for sixty-five days, its vitality lasting for more than eighty 



days. These experiments show that the diplococcus in dried sputum is capable 



of maintaining its virulence for more than seventy days, and its vitality for a still 



longer time. The observation was also made that the sputum, which was thin 



and frothy, dried in scales which were easily scattered by the air, and in this way 



the germ was widely distributed. The above observation indicates the necessity 



of rigid disinfection of pneumonic sputa. h. h. w. 



H-ii H w n- X AT »i J f r> -r . This is a modification of Koch's 



Hill, H. W., Dr. A Method of Preparmg Test 



(Jbjects for Disinfection E.x-periments. Trans. method of drying organisms tO be 

 Amer. Pub. Health Ass'n. 24:i-4;i89S. jg^ted, on silk thread. A glass rod 



with cotton wrapped around the end is placed in a test-tube in such a way that 

 the cotton forms a stopper for the tube, and the whole thing is sterilized by dry 

 heat. The sterilized rod may be dipped in the preparation to be tested — an 

 aqueous emulsion sticks best to the glass — or it may be rolled on the surface of 

 a solid culture, taking up a thin film which dries quickly. The rod may then be 

 returned to the sterilized tube or placed in a culture medium. The rods are 

 easily labeled and exposed and are less difficult to sterilize than silk threads. 



E. IM. H. 



