592 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Bacteria of Mustard Seeds and Table Mustard.* — G. Marpmarm 

 describes the characters of two organisms isolated from mustard seeds. 

 1. B. sinapivorax forms milk-white colonies on potato, which later 

 become brown ; it forms small star-like colonies on nutrient agar ; on 

 ordinary media oval spores are formed after a few days ; it causes fer- 

 mentation in wort, beer, and milk ; in a mineral sugar solution, dextrose 

 and galactose are fermented, but lasvulose, saccharose, and raffinose are 

 unaffected ; in mustard medium there is gas production, with a strong 

 garlic-like odour ; the organism is very resistant to drying. 2. B. 

 si/iapivagus produces brown colour on potato and in broth ; it liquefies 

 gelatin ; it readily forms spores that are very resistant to drying and to 

 the action of mustard -oil ; it does not ferment wort, beer, or milk, and 

 the sugar media are unaffected ; in bouillon-agar it produces an odour 

 of trimethylamine. 



The author finds that mustard-oil and acetic acid can protect 

 mustard from decomposition ; that French mustard prepared with only 

 2-4 p.c. of vinegar more readily decomposes than German mustard 

 prepared with 5-6 p.c. of vinegar. 



Fermentation produced by a Sarcina.t — M. W. Beijerinck describes 

 a sarcina capable of causing fermentation under anaerobic conditions. 

 Broth containing 8-10 p.c. of glucose or extract of malt, and 6-8 p.c. of 

 phosphoric acid, is inoculated with a large quantity of soil, and incubated 

 at 37° C. ; after 12 hours there is active fermentation, the resulting 

 gas being a mixture of 75 p.c. carbonic anhydride and 25 p.c. of 

 hydrogen. The glucose may be replaced by cane-sugar, but not by 

 lactose or mannite. Peptone alone serves as a source of nitrogen. The 

 temperature limits vary from 28-41° C. ; the most vigorous fermenta- 

 tion is obtained when the process is allowed to take place in a closed 

 flask. Microscopical examination showed a sarcina, the individuals 

 averaging about 3 " 5 ^, some being larger and allowing the multicellular 

 packets to be visible to the naked eye ; they are colourless, and usually 

 transparent and irregular ; the organism may be dried without losing 

 its vitality. 



Role of Thermophilic Bacteria in the Intestinal Tract of Man 4 — 

 N. N. Anitschkow discusses the literature of this subject, and finds that 

 whereas Globig, by inoculating nutrient media with fasces, in the 

 majority of cases obtained only sterile results, L. Rabinowitsch and 

 Tsiklinski obtained abundant growth of thermophilic bacteria. The 

 author finds that development of thermophilic bacteria is obtained only 

 in rare cases if the nutrient media has not been inoculated with very 

 thick fascal emulsion in water or broth, and if this infection takes place 

 immediately after the preparation of the emulsion : but if the emulsion 

 is first incubated for 24 hours at 60-66° C, a large number of thermo- 

 philic bacteria are developed. 



Agglutination and Biological Relationship in the Prodigiosus 

 Group.! — M. Hefferan has examined twenty-two different cultures, ob- 



* Zeitschr. angew. Mikrosk., xii. (1906) p. 27. 



t Arch. Neerland. Sci. Exact, et Nat., xi. (1906) p. 199. 



% Ceutralbl. Bakt., lte Abt. Orig., xli. (1906) pp. 326 and 426. 



§ Tom. cit., p. 553. 



