80 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Group I. — Varieties 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. 



Morphology. — These bacteria were non-motile rods, straight or 

 slightly bent, with ends usually rounded. They occurred in pairs, and 

 quite often in chains of from 3 to 20 cells. In chains the individuals 

 were often distinctly separated from each other by a clear space, but 

 at times they appeared without distinct segments. Bacteria as they 

 existed in chains were often much narrower at the ends than in the 

 middle, giving a beaded appearance to the growth. 



The size of the cells varied considerably in young as well as in 

 old cultures, the length was from .6 to 2.5 ju, the width from .5 to 1.2 yw, 

 chains might be as long as 15 yU. 



The bacteria stained well with the usual dyes, but the cells stained 

 rather irregularly when the coverglass had not been overheated. The 

 greatest irregularity was noticed in preparations stained with methylene 

 blue or Lugol's solution. As a rule, certain /ones of the bacteria col- 

 oured well, sometimes the poles, and at other times the middle portion- 

 Often a few granules, round or irregular in shape, and varying in size 

 stained well, whilst the rest of the cell remamed unstained or became 

 only faintly tinged with colour. Granular staining was most often 

 present in old cultures, and most pronounced in swollen and irregular 

 shaped cells. 



In young cultures, small, round bodies of homogeneous appearance, 

 sharply defined, clear or slightly tinged with the stain, were occasionally 

 found in the cell or just outside of it. They looked like spores, and 

 are described by deFreudenreich as spores; but, in the writer's opinion, 

 they were not spores, as they occurred in any pa.rt of the cell, were most 

 often seen in young cultures, but very seldom in old ones, and were 

 never seen to germinate. 



Old cultures showed many irregular swollen forms. Cells were 

 seen which seemed tb be composed of small droplets which remained 

 either unstained or became faintly stained; between these droplets there 

 appeared one or several granules of various size which stained very well 

 All five varieties did not accept Gram's stain. 



Gelatine Cultures. — Colonies appeared in from 1 to 2 days as 

 round points which spread rather quickly and more or less irregularly 

 until they reached the size of 3 to 6 mm. in diameter. The smallest- 

 surface colonies were often flat and iridescent in transmitted light 

 (variety 1) ; in reflected light, they were shiny grey or slightly brown 

 (varieties 2 and 3). Very young colonies were, as a rule, not slimy. 

 With growth, the edge of the colony became more irregular in outline, 

 often with lobulated edges. The centre of the colony was prominent 

 and often lost its shiny lustre and became slightly brown.' The centre 



