132 PRODUCTS OF VITAL ACTIVITY. 



The well-known Bacillus prodigiosus (also described as a micro- 

 coccus) produces a red pigment which is insoluble in water but solu- 

 ble in alcohol. By the addition of an acid the color becomes car- 

 mine and then violet, which is changed to yellow by an alkali. The 

 color is said by Schottelius to be diffused in the young cells, and 

 after the death of the cells to be present in their vicinity in the form 

 of granules. The same author has shown that by subjecting the 

 bacillus to special conditions a variety may be obtained which no 

 longer produces pigment. 



The conditions which govern the formation of pigment in the 

 chromogenic bacteria are determined with comparative facility be- 

 cause the results of changed conditions are apparent to the eye ; in 

 the case of products which are not colored the difficulties attending 

 the study of these conditions are much greater, but the results are in 

 many instances more important. The following are among the best 

 known pigment-producing (chromogenic) bacteria : 



Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus (No. 1), Staphylococcus pyc- 

 genes citreus (No. 3), Sarcina aurantiaca (No. 226), Sarcina lutea 

 (No. 227), Bacillus cyanogenus (No. 257), Bacillus janthinus (No. 

 207), Bacillus fluorescens liquefaciens (No. 277), Bacillus indicus (-No. 

 283), Bacillus pyocyaneus (No. 95), Bacillus prodigiosus (No. 284), 

 Spirillum rubrum (No. 429). 



Liquefaction of Gelatin. Many species of bacteria, when 

 planted in a medium containing gelatin, cause a liquefaction of the 

 gelatin in the immediate vicinity of the growing microorganisms, 

 while many others multiply abundantly in the same medium with- 

 out liquefying the gelatin. This character, as first shown by Koch, 

 is an important one in the differential diagnosis of species which re- 

 semble each other in form and in other respects. It has no relation 

 to pathogenic power, as some liquefying organisms are harmless sap- 

 rophytes and some deadly disease germs, while, on the other hand, 

 non-liquefying bacteria may be very pathogenic or quite innocent. 



Liquefaction is produced by a soluble peptonizing ferment formed 

 during the growth of the cells. This is shown by the fact that if a 

 liquefying organism is cultivated in bouillon and the living cells re- 

 moved by filtration or killed by heat, the power of liquefying gelatin 

 remains in the culture fluid. This was first observed by Bitter (1880) 

 and independently by the writer in 1887. In experiments made to 

 determine the thermal death-point of 'various bacteria the writer 

 found that when cultures of liquefying species were subjected to a 

 temperature which killed the microorganisms, a few drops of tin* 

 culture added to nutrient gelatin which had been liquefied by heat 

 prevented it from subsequently forming a solid jelly when cold. 



In a study of the ferments produced by bacteria which cause 



