IRON COMPOUNDS IN ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE CELLS. 250 
Ernst,! Babes,? Wahrlich,? Biitschli,* Trambusti and Galeotti.’ 
Ernst found in a large number of species of bacteria granules 
which stain with hematoxylin and other dyes, while the sur- 
rounding protoplasm is coloured faintly or not at all. These, 
which on account of their direct transformation into spores he 
termed sporogenous, undergo in their earlier stages solution in 
artificial gastric juice, but in the more advanced condition 
resist digestion. From Babes’ observations, which agree in 
the main with those of Ernst, it would appear that the granules 
which absorb and retain colouring matters and take part in 
spore formation, also stand in some relation to the division of 
the bacterial cell. According to Wahrlich, the protoplasm is 
formed of two constituents at least, a ground substance of 
reticular structure resembling linin, and one forming granules 
distributed in this reticulum, and, owing to its capacity for 
absorbing and retaining dyes, regarded by him as chromatin. 
In Bacillus pseudoanthracis the small granules which 
appear before the spores are formed are constituted of chromatin, 
and from them is derived the main portion of each spore, while 
the plastin serves apparently for the construction of the spore 
membrane. Biitschli found in species of Beggiatoa, Chro- 
matium, in Spirochete serpens, Spirillum undula, 
Bacterium lineola, andinsome Cyanophycee, a faintly stain- 
able peripheral portion, and a central body, readily stainable, 
in which a honey-comb structure (Wabenbau) was distinctly 
1 “Ueber den Bacillus xerosis und seine Sporenbildung,” ‘Zeit. fur 
Hygiene,’ vol, iv, p. 25, 1888; also “ Ueber Kern- und Sporenbildung in 
Bacterien,’’ ibid., vol. v, p. 428, 1889. 
2 “Ueber isolirte, farbbare Antheile von Bakterien,” ibid., vol. v, p. 173, 
1889. 
3 * Bacteriological Studies.’ Reprinted from ‘ Scripta Botanica,’ vol. iii, 
St. Petersburg, 1890-91. I have not seen this work, and the representation 
of Wahrlich’s observations and views is taken from ‘ Bot. Central.,’ vol. xlix, 
1892. 
4 «Ueber den Bau der Bakterien und verwandter Organismen,’ Leipzig, 
1890. 
> «Neuer Beitrag zum Studium der inneren Struktur der Bakterien,” 
‘Centralbl. fir Bakt. und Parasitenkunde,’ vol. xi, p. 717, 1892. 
vol. 38, PART 2,—NEW SER. R 
