MAR 17 t92o 



41 



KicoLLE (C), Blanc (G.) & Caillon (L.)/^feaia^iSar®lfe' Bact6ries 

 du Groupe Coccobacillus acridioruni (d'H6relIe).— ^rcA. Inst. 

 Pasteur, Tunis, xi, no. 2, October 1919, pp. 81-93. ' 



The experiments described in this paper have led to the following 

 conclusions. The organism of d'Herelle {Coccobacillus acridiomm) 

 belongs to a group of saprophytic bacteria from which it can be 

 separated by agglutinating reaction alone, just as this reaction dis- 

 tinguishes one from another all the other intestinal bacteria of the 

 same group that have been studied by the authors. Excepting for 

 the effect of this reaction the original Mexican sample of d'Herelle 

 has no character specifically distinguishing it from allied Afiican 

 species. In the case of intestinal contents the method of passage 

 from insect to insect does not, on re-inoculation, give (regularly, at 

 least) the microbe that was inoculated, but often yields the ordinary 

 saprophyte of the intestine of the locust experimented with. The 

 black diarrhoea of locusts is not specific to inoculation, for it occurred 

 in uncontaminated individuals. These conclusions do not therefore 

 prove the efficacy of d'Herelle's method, but on the other hand tliey 

 do not prove it to be inactive. It is quite possible that under favourable 

 conditions virulence may be acquired and epizootics caused. It is 

 also possible that in the Mexican epidemic the causal agent may have 

 been some other bacterium of the same group or even one of the 

 invisible micro-organisms which scientific men suggest as a causal 

 agent in cases that otherwise appear incapable of explanation. 



Beguet (M.). Etude des Caract6ristiques des Coceobacilles d'Acridiens 

 isoI6s en Alg6rie de 1913 a \^\%.^Arch. Inst. Pasteur, Tunis, xi, 

 no. 2, October 1919, pp. 94-lOG. 



The cultural characters and agglutinary reactions of coccobacilli 

 isolated from excreta of healthy and diseased locusts have been 

 studied, and it is found that they possess the same general characteristics 

 as given by d'Herelle for Coccobacillus acridiorum. They form a grou]> 

 with many common characters and often can be distinguished only 

 by agglutination. Their virulence is independent of the characters 

 shown by agglutination or culture. All of them that were passed 

 through locusts were increased in virulence in the same conditions 

 as typical C. acridiorum. 



Ballou (H. a.). Insect Pests in British Guiana. — Agric. News, 

 Barbados, xviii, no. 457, 1st November 1919, pp. 346-347. 



These notes are taken from the report of Mr. H. W. B. Moore on 

 sugar-cane pests in 1918, some of those mentioned in the report for 

 1917 being also dealt with. Castnia licus (large moth borer) was 

 abundant on certain estates. Large numbers of both adults and 

 caterpillars were collected by hand. The practice of flooding sugar- 

 cane plantations is of tw^o kinds : long flooding, when land is kept 

 under water for from six months to a year, and short flooding, when the 

 flood is maintained only long enough to kill C. licus and other insect-^. 

 Fields intended for immediate planting might be flooded ; this would 



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