ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 211 



Schizop'hJyta. 

 Schizomycetes. 



Oligonitrophil and Mesonitrophil Bacteria.* — R. Perotti, adopting 

 the method employed by Beijerinck for the bacteriological analyses of 

 soils, has examined the soil of the Roman Campagna with especial 

 reference to the oligonitrophil and mesonitrophil bacteria — that is, those 

 organisms that can develop in media entirely free from or only contain- 

 ing a limited amount of nitrogen. From his results he is led to consider 

 the connection of these organisms with the value of fallow land in the 

 practice of rotation of crops, and believes that this last has a biological 

 explanation, and depends on the organisms found in the soil. 



Bacteriology of Armenian " Mazun." f — M. Duggeli, from the 

 results of his researches on the bacteriology of Armenian " Mazun," a 

 highly estimated form of fermented milk, concludes that three different 

 kinds of micro-organisms are to be met with, viz. yeasts, long rods of 

 lactic acid-forming bacteria, and organisms resembling B. gualheri 

 L. and N. The yeasts that were isolated fermented lactose, with the 

 formation of acid, alcohol, and aromatics ; the lactic acid bacteria gave 

 with lactose an abundant production of acid. Biologically, " Mazun " 

 is allied to " Kefir," " Sauersteig," " Kasereisauer," etc., in all of which 

 there is an association of yeasts and strong lactic acid-producing 

 organisms ; though it is not possible to assign the specific agent in the 

 production of "Mazun," it appears that this association of organisms is 

 not of the nature of a symbiosis. 



Capsulated Bacilli .$ — E. Bertarelli classifies the capsulated bacilli 

 into two main divisions, each comprising several sub-groups, according 

 to their biochemical actions on the different sugars, and the agglutinat- 

 ing reactions they produce with immune sera. 



Action of Micro-organisms on the Solution of Blue Azur in 

 Methyl Alcohol.§ — M. F. Marino, after discussing the constitutions of 

 eosin-methylen-blue solutions, finds that when placed in broth-cultures 

 of certain micro-organisms these solutions are dissociated. On to the 

 surface of a broth-culture of B. anthracis some eosin-methylen-blue 

 solution is poured in such a manner as not to mix with the liquid ; a 

 control tube of uninoculated broth is similarly treated. The two tubes 

 are left at the temperature of the laboratory. After five minutes the 

 coloured layer in contact with the culture has changed, a pink zone 

 appearing above the culture liquid, and after several hours showing as a 

 pink ring surmounted by a layer of blue. The blue in contact with the 

 living microbe has been reduced, and so allows the eosin to become 

 visible. In the control tube no change has occurred. This effect, 

 which has been observed in a number of different cultures, is most 

 marked when the culture is most active and abundant. The reaction 



* Atti R Accad. Lincei, xiv. (1905) p. 623. 

 t Centralbl. Bakt., 2te Abt., xv. (1905) p. 577. 

 X Op. cit., Ref. lte Abt., xxxvii. (1005) p. 333. 

 § Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xix. (1905) p. 816. 



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