HSONIAN iii LIBRARIES 
NILA 
3 9088 i. 2727 
this disease. The appearance which he interprets as a ema in 
the process of division can be seen in the giant whips obtained from 
pure cultures of Bacillus larve. These giant whips are found in the 
decaying larve which are dead from American foul brood experimentally 
produced by feeding pure cultures of Bacillus larve. 
The author has observed these structures in a large number of exam- 
inations of American foul brood, especially in the hanging-drop prepa- 
rations made directly from the dead larve. There is nothing else 
contained in the dead larvee which can be seen that resembles a spiro- 
cheete, and since Maassen made no mention of the giant whips found 
there so abundantly, it is quite certain that he has made this mistake. 
This preliminary note will be followed by a bulletin which will con- 
tain in full the results of recent investigations by others on the brood 
diseases of bees and a detailed account of the work done here. 
The results may be summarized as follows: 
(1) In previous publications the author has made no claim that 
Bacillus larve is the cause of American foul brood. 
(2) A medium has been devised by which cultures of Bacillus larve 
may be obtained in large quantities suitable for experimental inocula- 
tion. This medium consists of the sterile filtrate obtained by diluting 
and filtering the crushed bodies of bee larve through a Berkefeld or 
other fine filter. 
(3) American foul brood has been produced by feeding pure cultures 
of Bacillus larve, and the symptoms of the disease are the same as 
those produced by feeding the scales of this disease and as those 
observed in the apiary where colonies are affected with this disease. 
(4) The structures described by Doctor Maassen, of Dahlem, Ger- 
many, as spirochetes and named by him Spirocheta apis are not spi- 
rochetes, but normal structures produced by the growth of Bacillus 
larve. These are known in bacteriology as giant whips. 
Approved: 
W.-M. Hays, 
Acting Secretary of Agriculture. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., July 15, 1907. 
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