184 BACTERIA IN THE SPUTA 



whole ; then we observe the " ears " on the top vibrating like the 

 ears in a field of wheat. 



It may be objected that the sporules are not immediately 

 grafted on the stalk or fertile filament, but are distant from it ; it 

 must, however, be taken into consideration that the distance 

 between the sporules and the internal filament is not, in fact, 

 greater than that which is constantly seen between the articula- 

 tions of the single chains of bacteria, which, as it is scientifically 

 ascertained, are generated one from another. Perhaps a connec- 

 tion exists between them, through threads or ligaments, not dis- 

 cernible by the optical power at our command.* 



We cannot even suppose that the sporules are simply adhering 

 to the filament through external action (due to the lowering or 

 sinking, so to speak, of the filaments themselves into the granular 

 masses), because a simple mechanical incrustation would not 

 explain the regular straight line of the sporules in six longitudinal 

 rows, nor their perfect similarity of volume and shape. 



The incrustation would bring a medley of cocci and bacteria, 

 of varied type and size, irregularly mixed up. Besides, we shall 

 observe productions of these "ears" (and even more conspicuous) 

 in the sputa, without any trace of bed or granular mass on which 

 the filaments might have become incrusted from the outside. 



The length of ears is frequently considerable, especially in 

 those detached from the matrix, which at times, with their stem, 

 occupy all the visual field. The more conspicuous specimens 

 (Fig. 1 6) have been found in the pulmonary sputum, where the 



* When we presented this Memoir, we promised in a note to resume the 

 study of ^' ears'' in detail, with more powerful objectives. Now Messrs. Bezu, 

 Hausser, and Co. have succeeded in constructing a new objective with homo- 

 geneous immersion, of i/25th inch. With this power we have been able to 

 detect, in the most evident manner, the peduncles or engrafted threads of the 

 sporules on the principal stalk. With the new grand model (No. VII.) of the 

 same opticians, furnished with an Abbe condenser of the numerical aperture, 

 I -40, by using oblique light, and by turning the stage of the microscope, or 

 substituting a dark diaphragm for the ordinary one, the disposition of the spo- 

 rules in six longitudinal lines is fully confirmed. We shall treat this point 

 again later ; but from this moment we think it is better to give the name of 

 " bunches of grapes" instead of that of ''ears'' (to indicate the fructifications 

 of Leptothrix)^ as they really are such. 



