INVERTEBRATA, CRYPTOGAMIA, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 761 



an explanation of Professor Bert's results. At a later meeting* 

 M. Bert stated that tlie results of some experiments on a guinea-pig, 

 whicli had been poisoned with the morphological element ("bac- 

 terium ") of anthrax poisoning, and whose blood lost completely its 

 toxic effects after a week's treatment with compressed oxygen or con- 

 centrated alcohol, had led him to believe that there were two maladies 

 confounded under the name of the " charbon" ; that one is virulent and 

 owes its origin to the matter precipitated by alcohol, while the other 

 is merely micro-'parasitic ; it is possible that the two states may co- 

 exist in the same animal, but, where the poisoning has been of the 

 virulent type, Bert found but few bacteria ; in the guinea-pig it was 

 noticed that the " virulent blood " killed in ten to twelve hours, and 

 the blood-corpuscles were crenulated, while with the " bacterian 

 blood" death occurred after thirty to thirty-six hours, and the corpuscles 

 retained their original character. 



The volume already cited also contains (p. 442) an account of a 

 pathological investigation on the human subject ; the patient was a 

 carrier of meat who had cut his chin with a razor ; during life a drop 

 of blood revealed the presence of long " bacteridia " (J^ mm. in length). 

 The patient exhibiting a very low temperature (33° C), the respiratory 

 gases were examined, and it was found that he, a man weighing 80 

 kilogrammes, absorbed 7-924 litres of oxygen, and gave off 6 • 300 litres 

 of carbonic acid in an hour ; in other words, only about one-third of 

 the healthy quantity of oxygen was inspired. In pursuance of the 

 subject (p. 465), M. Eegnard gives an account of the investigations 

 which, with the aid of another colleague, he had made on a dog ; here 

 again the results of anthrax poisoning were a diminution in the amount 

 of oxygen absorbed and of carbonic acid exhaled, together with a 

 great fall in temperature, and the presence of a quantity of bacteria 

 in the blood. Previous to inoculation with the anthrax poison, the 

 blood of the dog absorbed 20*4 c.c. of oxygen per 100 grammes, 

 while after poisoning the same quantity of blood absorbed 26 c.c. 



Lichenes. 

 Lichenological Review. — The ' Revue Mycologique ' is in future 

 to deal with Lichens as well as Fungi, the editor being of opinion 

 that the change is justified on account of " the j)oints of con- 

 tact which in certain genera so intimately unite the Lichens to the 

 Fungi, and which are so evident even to observers the most disposed 

 to defend the autonomy of Lichens as a distinct family, that they have 

 not hesitated to declare in their writings that it was difficult to say 

 where the Lichens ended and the Fungi began." 



Algae. 



Power of Algae to resist Cold.f — At a recent meeting of the 



Botanical Society of France, M. Cornu stated that he had seen 



several Chlorophycefe, and especially Hydrodictyon, growing beneath 



ice. Palmella hjalina produced myriads of zoospores in a vase filled 



* 'CR. Soc. Biol.' for 1877 (1879), p. 317. 

 t ' Bull. Soc. Bot. France,' xsv. (1878) p. 79. 



