28 HILDA HEMPL HELLER 



ticular, with a protruding fluff. Dr. Meyer tells me that he 

 occasionally encounters such organisms, very slow in initial 

 activity in pure culture, but more active in mixed culture, mildly 

 proteolytic in their action on meat. The colony is not unlike 

 that of B. botulinus. 



The Committee find that many so-called "Putrificus" strains 

 consist of a non-proteolytic oval end-sporer contaminated with 

 a sporogenes-like organism. In the recent German literature 

 "Putrificus" refers usually to the sporogenes tj-pe. Metchni- 

 koff's strains termed Putrificus do not resemble closely those 

 described by Bienstock. 



Genus 24. Ermengemillus nov. gen. 



Putrificoideae that produce a yellowish coloration in meat 

 medimn, and later blacken and digest it. They are more 

 highly proteolytic than the organisms of the foregoing genera. 

 They ferment various sugars. Gram-positive rods which form 

 sub-terminal oval spores. Their colonies in deep agar are, when 

 discrete, lenticular or kidney shaped, and may show tufted 

 smooth or woolly polar projections and infrequently fine loose 

 woolly radiations. Fairly common in soil, grow readily in 

 vegetable material and on meat. Form a characteristic and 

 powerful neuro-toxin. 



Type species E. botulinus {Bacillus botulinus ^•an Ermengem) 

 as described by K. F. Meyer and co-workers in a future paper. 



Leuchs discovered that there were two types of toxin produced 

 by different European strains. Burke found two types of 

 toxin produced by different American strains. Probably a 

 nxmiber of species may be distinguished by careful methods. 



Mcintosh and the Committee find that B. botulinus shows 

 slight proteolytic power, and meat is stated to be a poor medium 

 for the growth of the organism. INIy experience has been very 

 different from theirs. Indubitably pure cultures of Ermenge- 

 millus grow readily on meat medium (pH 7.2) and may show 

 obvious putrefaction in a few daj-s when incubated anaerobically 

 at 37°. But the meat particles are not rapidly diminished in size 

 by the proteolytic action. The observers who did not note the 



