354 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Llehas y Fernandez, Don Manuel — Algunos liquenos de los alrededores 

 da Cuenca. (Some lichens frorn Cuenca.) 



[A list of lichens, many of them first records for Spain.] 



Bol. Hist. Nat., v. (1905) pp. 508-11. 

 Zahlbruckner, A. — Lichenes u. cl. Damazio in Brasilia lecti II. (Lichens 

 collected in Brazil by Damazio.) 



[In this second publication 31 lichens are recorded with their habitat. 

 Several new species and varieties are described.] 



Bull. Herb. Boissier, ser. ii. v. (1905) pp. 539-43. 

 See also Bot. Centralbl., ci. (1906) p. 317. 



Zanfrognini, Carlo — Note lichenologiche. 1. Sull Collema elveloideum degli 

 autori. (Lichenological Notes. 1. On Collema elveloideum.) 



[The author discusses the synonymy of this and other species, and gives 

 diagnoses of some lichens.] 



Atti della Soc. Nat. Modema, series 4, vii. (1905) pp. 84-92. 

 See also Bot. Centralbl., ci. (1906) p. 131. 



Schjizolph'yta. 

 Schizomycetes. 

 Meningococcus.* — P. Yansteenberghe and Grysez, from a study of 

 cerebrospinal meningitis, find that the diplococcus isolated from the 

 cerebro-spinal fluid of a typical case is very virulent for laboratory 

 animals. When freshly obtained the organism stains well by Gram, but 

 this property is under certain conditions not manifested, so that the 

 authors consider that this reaction is useless for diagnostic purposes. 

 By subdural inoculation of rabbits and guinea-pigs the microbe produces 

 an affection with clinical and pathological symptoms identical with those 

 of cerebro-spinal meningitis of man. The nerve tissue of animals dead 

 from this disease is virulent and retains its virulence for months. The 

 authors endeavoured to obtain the toxin from cultures of the organism, 

 but without success, and they conclude that the toxin is contained within 

 the bodies of the microbe. Reference is made to the morphological 

 and cultural resemblances of this organism to the Micrococcus catarrhalis 

 of Pfeifer, which, however, is virulent to subjects immune to cerebro- 

 spinal meningitis, but when virulent it produces by subdural inoculation 

 in laboratory animals, symptoms analogous to the meningococcus. 



Streptococci and Diplococci on Blood Media.| — S. Boxer finds 

 that, when cultivated on blood agar, streptococci cause a clearing of the 

 medium, whereas diplococci produce a yellow coloration and the altered 

 medium gives a distinct iron reaction. Though certain streptococci also 

 produce a slight yellow colour, and certain diplococci also cause a slight 

 clearing of the medium, a differentiation of individual streptococci 

 according to their behaviour on blood media is not possible. The 

 spectroscopic examination of blood bouillon inoculated with streptococci 

 shows a change of the oxyhemoglobin into neutral methasmoglobin. 

 Blood bouillon with diplococci shows a green deposit on the sides of the 

 tube. The hemolytic action of streptococci and the yellow pigment 

 formation of diplococci are independent of the amount and variety of 

 the blood and of the temperature of the agar. 



* Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xx. (1906) p. 69. 



t Centralbl. Bakt. Orig., l te Abt., xl. (1906) p. 591. 



