PRESENT STATUS OF INVESTIGATION OF BEE DISEASES. 43 
The next investigation to be considered is that by Prof. I. C. Harri- 
son, professor of bacteriology of the Ontario Agricultural College. 
Previous to this Dr. Wiliam R. Howard published a paper on the 
subject, but this can be discussed better at a later time. In the paper 
by Professor Harrison, previously mentioned, the author gives a 
detailed: description of the bacillus with which he worked. The 
description is as follows: 
THE ORGANISM. 
Bacillus alvei, Cheshire and W. Cheyne, 1885, from the larvee of bees suf- 
fering from the disease known as foul brood, la loque (Fr.), and faul 
brut (Ger.). 
Morphological characteristics —In form the organism is a slender bacillus, 
with ends slightly pointed and rounded. ‘In the larval juices it is about +55 
000 
of an inch in length and ,,!55 in breadth. On agar the bacilli vary considerably 
in size, averaging ;;, inch, some-small as z5$59 inch, and others as large as 
soy inch. When they have attained the latter size, division of the rod seems to 
begin. They are always somewhat pointed at their ends. Their average 
breadth is sgg55 inch, ranging from ;5355 to zshpq imch (Cheshire and W. 
Cheyne). Klamann (Bienenwirtschaftliches Centralblatt, Hannover, 1888, pts. 
18 and 19) states that a clear space often appears in bacilli with pointed ends. 
From agar cultures twenty-four hours old, at 37° C., the bacilli average 4 y in 
length and 1.0 in breadth. On gelatine cultnnes grown at 22° C., they are 
somewhat shorter. They grow singly, but occasionally form chains of various 
length. 
Stains.—With the ordinary aniline stains the bacilli colour rather badly 
(Hisenberg, Bakteriologische Diagnostik, Hamburg, 1891, p. 298, and Klamann, 
Bienenwirtschaftliches Centralblatt, Hannover, 1888, pts. 18 and 19). The best 
stains are methylene blue and methyl violet. The bacilli accept Gram’s stain, 
but the spores are not colored by it. I find the most satisfactory stain in methyl 
violet. 
Capsule.—No capsule has been demonstrated by Welch’s method. 
Flagella.—The bacilli are actively motile and possess a single flagellum at one 
pole. The motility of the bacillus is quite pronounced in fresh cultures obtained 
from bouillon, agar, and gelatine. The flagella stain by Pitfield’s, Loefflers’s, and 
Van Ermegen’s method. 
Spore iSO niphs oR RORES are formed by the bacillus, and are large oval bodies 
averaging in length ;,4,, inch, and in breadth 5,455 of an inch. On agar the 
spores are arranged in long rows, side by side, and are greater in diameter than 
the cells from which they are derived. The earliest appearance of spore forma- 
tion takes place in forty-one hours, at 36° C. (Cheyne), but in some cases it is 
even sooner. The spores are formed in the center of the rod, and the formation 
occurs as follows: The rod begins to swell and become spindle-shaped. Occa- 
sionally the swelling is more marked at one end than in the center. The spindle- 
shape increases in size, and the center of the swelling gradually ceases to take 
the stain. The capsule of the spore is apparently formed within the rod and is 
not merely the outer part of the rod. In three or four hours the rod is seen to 
have almost or completely disappeared, although parts of the faint outline of 
the ordinary bacillus may be noticed. 
Germination of spores.—Under favorable conditions the beginning of the ger- 
mination of the spores takes place in about three hours. The spore loses its oval 
