I. SUMMAEY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



S. J. Zlatogoroff * cultivated from the blood of measles patients a 

 bacillus 0'4:-0'7fjL long and from 0"2-0*4/a broad. It is stainable by 

 the usual anilin dyes and also by Gram's method. It is but little motile 

 and occurs in pairs and irregular groups. The ends of the rodlets are 

 rounded and stain more deeply than the central parts. In liquid media 

 it forms a flocculent deposit, the supernatant fluid remaining clear. It 

 grows best at incubation temperature, is aerobic, and does not form 

 p ores. It soon dies out, and does not cultivate well in solid media. 



New Acetic Acid-forming Bacterium.f — F. Fuhrmann describes a 

 n ew organism, the Acetobacter pUcatum, which converts ethyl-alcohol 

 int o acetic acid, and which he obtained from one of the vats in wine 

 experiments. 



In wine gelatin at 22° C. it forms almost circular, raised colonies of 

 a light yellow glittering colour. It is non-liquefying, and grows in the 

 depths of the medium as spherical colonies, which spread upwards and 

 reach the surface, where typical characteristic growths occur. 



In neutral gelatin broth it grows well, but is best seen in stab 

 cultu res as concentrically arranged circular opacities 1 c.cm. below the 

 surface, and deeper still as small punctiform colonies. Films stained 

 with methylen-blue show rods 1 *4 to 1*6/* by 0*4-0*6/*, which from 

 alcohol -free gelatin stain a homogeneous blue, but on wine-gelatin 

 show bipolar staining with an almost unstained centre. On a wine or 

 bouillon-gelatin slope, there appears a fused, delicate, whitish-yellow 

 gro wth , with finer growths running transversely to the streak. 



On beer-gelatin, growth is similar but more slimy, and after a time 

 the culture reddens. On "alcohol-free" beer-gelatin it grows only if 

 neutral or acid, but on alcoholic beer-gelatin strongly alkaline with caustic 

 soda, acid formation occurs, and the culture clears. On bouillon and 

 beer-agar slopes there is a thick, light yellow, opaque growth. Stained 

 films from agar cultures at 28°-30° C. show rods * 75 /* by * 6 /*, mostly 

 with a capsule which does not stain with iodine or give the cellulose 

 reaction. Only a sparse growth occurs on potato. In sterile wine con- 

 taining 3 " 5 p.c. alcohol, a network forms in the depth and radiates to 

 the surface, forming there a whitish-grey tenacious mould 8-10 mm. 

 thick, and fluid remains clear ; the mould gives no starch or cellulose 

 reaction . 



The zoogloea structure differs on " alcohol-free " beer and wine. 

 On " alcohol-free " beer, cane or grape sugar favours the mould- 

 growth, but on alcoholic beer grape sugar is unfavourable. At a high tem- 

 perature only slight changes occurred. At 40° C. some threads were 50 /* 

 long, but not branching, and a low temperature gave only slight evi- 

 dence of degeneration into short rods, though some staining peculiarities 

 resulted. Sometimes pale blue staining rods, with the wall bulged by a 

 clear space surrounded by a dark blue staining border, favoured the idea 

 of spore formation. 



Acetobacter pUcatum thrives in wine with 11 p.c. alcohol, and beer 

 containing 9 ' 5 p.c. if the temperature is between 22° and 25° C. Generally 

 speaking, a lower temperature is necessary in wine and beer containing 



* Centralbl. Bakt., lte Abt. Orig., xxxvii. (1905) pp. 249-51. 

 t Op. cit., 2te Abt., xv. (1905) No. 12. 



