252 THE AMERICAN MONTHLY [Aug 



honeydew were found to be more numerous and larger 

 than when the leaves were first gathered. He concludes, 

 therefore, that the leaves of some trees, under favorable 

 climatic conditions, become surcharged with saccharine 

 matter, and, the cells bursting, a copious exudation of 

 ''honeydew" takes place. The fact that the "dew" gath- 

 ered from the sycamore and the oak is much darker than 

 that from the lime is held to prove that it partakes of the 

 nature of the tree and not of the insect. — Knoioledge. 



Two New Stains for the Gonococcus. 



R. G. SCHNEE, M. D. 



The chief diagnostic features of the gonococcus are as 

 follows : 



1. Arrangement in pairs, having the adjacent sides flat- 

 tened or concave. 



2. Relatively large size. 



3. Found within the protoplasm of the pus cells around 

 the nucleus. 



4. Decolorizes by Gram's method, which is not true of 

 other pus cocci. 



Owing to the lack of uniformity in results by Gram's 

 method, and the necessity of quite an amount of techni- 

 cal ability in its use, the following new stains are recom- 

 mended for routine work. Although in well-marked 

 cases of gonorrhea the gonococci are easily shown, by 

 staining with methylene blue, these stains are more rapid 

 and more easily handled. 



In cases of vaginitis and suspicious leucorrheal dis- 

 charges, they meet a long-felt want. Where large num- 

 bers of other organisms are present and gonococci are re- 

 latively few in number, the methylene blue cannot be de- 

 pended upon at all, and Gram's method is not satisfactory. 

 In just such cases either of these stains, if used properly, 

 will show the organism, if present, beautifully differen- 



