[ «7 ] 



Bacteria of tbe Sputa an& Cr^ptogamic 

 Jflora of tbe riDoutb. 



THIRD MEMOIR. 



By Filandro Vicentini, M.D., Chieti, Italy. 



On Xeptotbiij IRacemosa* Plate xx. 



Translated by Professor E. Saieghi. 



NEW RESEARCHES ON THE FRUCTIFICATION OF THE 

 NORMAL PARASITE OF THE MOUTH 



(LEPTOTHRIX RACEMOSA?) 



I TRUST it will not appear too pretentious on my part if I 

 propose for such an isolated form — or, better to say, for the tiny 

 plant which thrives (and appears to germinate and fructify) — on 

 our teeth, taken as a whole, the name ol Leptothrix racejnosa, instead 

 of that of Leptothrix buccalis ; and this solely on purpose to qualify 

 it better, if it be true that the cryptogamic species must take their 

 name and character from the fructification (if any) rather from the 

 inferior or rudimentary appearances of their single particles, inci- 

 dentally incomplete, scattered, or isolated. 



In describing the various aspects of the fructification in ques- 

 tion, we shall endeavour to group them in such a way that, 

 according to our view, there may be a better connecting of the 

 varieties ; but, in doing so, we do not wish to prevent a more 

 matured judgment. 



Various Elements and Aspects of the Bunches. 



To understand the various aspects which the ears or bunches 

 of Leptothrix racemosa present, we must value the different con- 

 stitutive elements of those clusters, which, according to our 

 observations, we consider to be four, in their natural order of 

 development. 



The principal element, from which the other three proceed and 

 upon which they are formed, is the fertile filament, generally 

 slender, pale, containing internal parietal gemmules, invisible in 



