136 RELATIONSHIPS OF THE COCCACE/E 



detailed studies, which have been summarized in the intro- 

 ductory chapters of this book, have led us to attribute 

 greater importance to fermentative powers; and recent work 

 on the capsule-forming diplococcus, D. involutus, makes it 

 probable that Asc. mesenteroides is more closely allied to 

 this type than to any other. On the whole, Ascococcus, 

 tho a saprophyte, seems to be an offshoot of the 

 Paracoccaceae ; and at the expense of verbal consistency 

 one saprophytic genus must be recognized in an otherwise 

 parasitic group. 



The genus Ascococcus has been denned above as 

 follows : 



GENUS Ascococcus (Cohn) Winslow and Rogers. 

 Saprophytic, growing vigorously in saccharine solutions. 

 Cells in pairs, or in chains of paired elements. In presence 

 of certain carbohydrates large, lobed gelatinous masses of 

 zooglcea formed. Fermentative powers high, acid being 

 produced in dextrose, lactose, and saccharose. 



Liesenberg and Zopf in 1892 compared three cultures of 

 Leuconostoc from German and Javanese sugar refineries, 

 and noted certain common characters of considerable 

 interest. The organisms with which they worked appeared 

 able to resist, in the moist condition, a temperature of 80 

 degrees C. for five minutes. They were favored by the 

 presence of a considerable proportion of calcium chlorid 

 (3 to 5 P er cent) in the culture medium. They formed 

 gelatinous masses in dextrose media as well as in saccha- 

 rose solutions. In a recent communication, Zettnow (1907) 



