Mar. 24, 1919 Ammonification of Manure in Soil 347 



(5) In field soil to which there has been no addition of organic matter 

 for several years, Ps. fluorescens and Ps. caudatus were rarely found, while 

 B. cereus was a common organism. 



(6) When this same soil was mixed with manure and potted, Ps. 

 fluorescens and Ps. caudatus immediately multiplied rapidly, while but 

 small numbers of B. cereus spores and no active forms of B. cereus could 

 be found. 



(7) All three of these organisms are vigorous ammonifiers when tested 

 in pure culture. 



(8) The activity of the non-spore formers and the absence of activity 

 of the spore formers in unsterilized manuied soil leads to the conclusion 

 that Ps. fluorescens and Ps. caudatus are important ammonifiers of manure 

 in soil, while there is no evidence that B. cereus takes part in this process. 



(9) Detailed descriptions are given of the two ammonifying organisms 

 studied. 



(10) The culture of Ps. fluorescens studied has been compared with 

 other fluorescent bacteria isolated from soil, and a review of the literature 

 relating to fluorescent bacteria has been made. It has not proved 

 possible to fix definite limits for this species. 



(11) Ps. caudatus is the name now assigned to the organism previously 

 denoted by one of the writers as the "orange-liquefying type." It is ap- 

 parently identical with the organism described by Wright in 1895 (55), 

 and seems to be quite common in soil and water. 



LITERATURE CITED 



(1) Blancheti^re, a. 



1917. ACTION DU BACILLE FLUORESCENT LIQU^FIANT DE FLUGGE SUR L'ASPARA- 

 GINE EN MILIEU CmMIQUEMENT DEFINI. VITESSE ET LIMITE DE 



l'attaquE. In Ann. Inst. Pasteur, ann. 31, no. 6, p. 291-312. 



(2) Chester, F. D. 



igoi. manual OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY. 401 p., illus. New York. 



(3) Clark, William Mansfield. 



1915. THE "reaction" of bacteriologic culture MEDIA. In Jour. Infect. 



Diseases, v. 17, no. i, p. 109-136. 



(4) Cohn, Ferdinand. 



1872. untersuchungen uber bacteriEn. In Beitr. Biol. Pflanz., Bd. i, 

 Heft 2, p. 127-224, pi. 3. 



(5) Conn, H. Joel. 



1913. A classification of the bacteria in Two soil plats of unequal fer- 

 tility. In N. Y. Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 338, p. 65-115. 



(6) 



1916. are spore-forming bacteria op any significance in soil under 



normal conditions? N. Y. State Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bui. 51, 9. p. 



(7) 



1917. THE PROOF OF microbial AGENCY IN THE CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS 



OF SOIL. In Science, n. s. v. 46, no. 1185, p. 253-255. 



(8) 



1917. SOIL FLORA STUDIES. I. The general characteristics of the microscopic 

 flora of soil. II. Methods best adapted to the study of the soil flora. 

 N. Y. State Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bui. 57, 42 p. 



