230 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Mr. R. T. Lewis, F.R.M.S., delivered a lecture on " The Senses of 

 Insects," dealing more especially with sight and hearing. 



The 40th Annual General Meeting was held on Feb. 16. The 

 President delivered the Annual Address, taking as his subject " The Rela- 

 tive Merits of the Short and Long Tube for Microscopes. ,, The short 

 tube was probably introduced by Oberhauser, certainly before 1857. 

 The advantages claimed for each form were dealt with, and the Presi- 

 dent, in conclusion, said he considered the short tube to be the ideal 

 stand, as it could quickly be converted to the long form, and objectives 

 corrected for either tube-length alternately employed if desired. 



The 429th Ordinary Meeting was held on March 16. Mr. C. D. 

 Soar, F.R.M.S., delivered a lecture on "The Life-History of Fresh- 

 water Mites {Hydrachnida)" The various stages — ovum, larva, nymph, 

 and adult, were described and illustrated with the aid of the lantern. 

 Of the sixty genera known, we have information regarding the life- 

 history of only five. 



B. Technique.* 



(1) Collecting: Objects,' including- Culture Processes. 



Differentiation of the Bacillus putrificus.f — A. Rodella discusses 

 the results obtained by Achalme and others in the differentiation of 

 B. putrificus and allied anaerobic organisms by their ferment action on 

 certain hydrocarbons. He finds that the fermentation of hydrocarbons 

 does not alone serve to differentiate either the nine bacilli studied by 

 Achalme, nor the other anaerobic micro-organisms that have the property 

 of fermenting albuminoid substances ; that in the classification of these 

 anaerobes the fermentation of hydrocarbons is to be considered, but 

 especially the fermentation of proteid substances. The author found 

 that in nearly all milk cultures lactose remained unaltered even after 

 four weeks, and he considered that the fatty acids that were formed were 

 derived from the fermentation of the casein. Some bacilli form with 

 casein only butyric acid, others valerianic acid, and others caprionic acid. 



Culture of Bacillus leprae.! — P. Emile Weil finds that for the 

 cultivation of the Bacillus leprce, it is necessary to select exclusively 

 cases of tuberculous leprosy, and especially those that show recent tuber- 

 cles. The surface of a tubercle being first washed with ether, is abraded 

 with a sterile scarifier, and into the leprous mass is introduced a fine 

 sterile pipette, which removes a short cylinder of yellow matter con- 

 taining the bacilli. From this the culture tubes are inoculated ; the 

 media employed being glycerin glucose agar in various proportions, but 

 always rendered neutral or alkaline, to which was added human pleuritic 

 serum. Egg agar was also found especially useful. The tubes were 

 incubated at 39° C. Growth appeared in about 15-20 days. 



* This subdivision contains (1) Collecting Objects, including Culture Pro- 

 cesses; (2) Preparing Objects ; (3) Cutting, including Imbedding and Microtomes ; 

 (4) Staining and Injecting ; (5) Mounting, including slides, preservative fluids, &c. ; 

 (6) Miscellaneous. 



t Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xix. (1905) p. 804. J Tom. cit., p. 793. 



