134 RECORD OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



matter was dissolved out. The sections were then placed in alcohol, 

 which removed a further quantity of the colour, clarified with oil 

 of cloves, and mounted in balsam. By this treatment the liver-cells 

 were hardly at all stained, the colouring matter being taken up by 

 their nuclei, by the pus-corpuscles, and by the 'Bacilli. Bismarck 

 brown was also used as a staining material. 



The Bacilli were found amongst the pus-corpuscles, in small abscesses 

 about the size of a pin's head, in the substance of the liver. They 

 also occurred in the apparently normal portions of the glands in 

 the capillaries. Very few were found in other organs, such as the 

 spleen, kidney, and lung. The abscesses in the liver were due to the 

 JBac«7Zi penetrating through the capillary walls and producing necrosis 

 of the hepatic tissue. 



The Bacilli are cylindrical rods, rarely composed of two segments, 

 and somewhat larger than B. anthracis of splenic fever (6 /x as against 

 6 fx). In some cases, after treatment with dilute iodine solution or 

 Bismarck brown, one or two dark-brown granules came into view, 

 occupying the whole width of the Bacillus. It was not decided whether 

 these were spores or only strongly stained portions of protoplasm. No 

 free spores were seen amongst the Bacilli. 



Spores of Bacteria.* — Until recently detected by Van Tieghem in 

 Spirillum and Leuconostoc,f spores had been observed in bacteria only 

 in some species of Bacillus. The same observer now adds to the list 

 a large number of species of the last-named genus, together with the 

 genera Bacterium, Vihrio, and Spirochcete. 



On the surface of a variety of liquids Van Tieghem has recently 

 observed a bacterium remarkable for its bright, shining appearance, to 

 which he gives the name B. lucens. When transplanted into pure water 

 it gradually becomes paler, and finally develops its spores. Each 

 segment, constricted in the middle, usually forms a spore in one half, 

 while the other half becomes empty ; occasionally the two halves appear 

 to be separated by a septum, and then a spore is formed in each. 



In liquids in which certain molluscs, especially oysters, were 

 putrefying, a Spirochcete, probably S. plicatilis, appeared in great 

 quantities. The number of coils varies from five to eight : in the latter 

 case the coils measure about 0*1 mm. in length, and 4 /a in breadth, 

 the diameter of the individual not being more than • 8 yu,. As it 

 elongates, no septa make their appearance until the formation of 

 the spores. Each coil then divides into about four segments, in 

 each of which is formed a spherical spore of about • 8 /x diameter. 



A Vibrio, probably V. serpens, growing in the same liquids, also 

 produced spores as soon as it was transplanted into pure water. The 

 spores were spherical, from four to six in each individual, formed each 

 in a spherical segment. 



A large motionless Bacillus, named by Van Tieghem B. crassus, 

 also produces spores. Before completing its growth, the filament 

 attains a diameter of 4 y,, which is increased to 5 ji or 6 /x, when 



* ' Bull. Soo. Bot. France,' xxvi. (1879) p. 141. 

 t f^ee this Journal, ii. (1879) p. 928. 



