s B^ 

 */&. 



B. miniaceus (Zimmermann) I, from Krals Laboratorium, 1901 

 II, from Hoagland Laboratory, Brooklyn, 1899. 



HI, from Rush Medical College, 1902; obtained 



by them from Hoagland Laboratory, Brooklyn. 

 ^Y. rutilus (n. sp.) from the water of the Mississippi River, 1899. 

 "K amyloruber (n. sp.) from the water of the Mississippi River, 1901. 

 B. fuchsinus (Boekhout and de Vries) from Krai's Laooratorium, 19QO. 

 B. ruber (Miquel) from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900. 

 f^B. rubricus (n. sp.) from the water of the Mississippi River, 1901. 

 ^B. rufus (n. sp.) from the water of the Mississippi River, 1901. 

 B. ruber (Zimmermann) from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900. 

 B. havaniensis (Sternberg) from University of Chicago. 

 yt&. 1 act is ery thro genes (Hueppe) 1, from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900. 

 II, from the Mississippi River, 1901. 



B. rubefaciens (Zimmermann) from Krai's Laboratorinm, 1900. 

 B. lactorubefaciens (Gruber) from Gruber, 1902. 

 B. ru til esc ens (n. sp.) from the water of the Mississippi River, 1901. 

 B. my co ides roseus (Scholl) from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900. 

 /BC mycoides corallinus (n. sp.) from the water of the Mississippi River, 1899. 

 B. latericeus (Adametz) from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900, 1903. 

 B. rubropertinctus (Grassberger) from Krals Laboratorium, 1902; not 



named by Grassberger. 



B. rosaceus metalloides (Tataroff) from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900 1 ). 

 B. mesentericus ruber (Globig) I IV 



I, from Krai's Laboratorium, 1900, 1903. 



II, from the water of the Mississippi River, 



1901. 



/<f III, IV, from the water of the Mississippi 



River, 1901. 



B. Historical and Descriptive. 



B. prodigiosus is usually taken as a type of red pigment 

 producing bacteria, and is said to be the earliest chromogenic 

 bacterium known. Considering, however, the frequency with which 

 there are found in air different varieties of red pigment germs 

 not identical with, but much like Prodigiosus, the history usu- 

 ally connected with the name of Prodigiosus probably extends 

 to many varieties of this type. 



The frequency with which certain of the red chromogenic bac- 

 teria appear upon food-stuffs has been a matter of observation 

 for centuries. L u c i a n , in one of his dialogues (2 d century A. D.), 

 makes Pythagoras give, as reason for forbidding his disciples to 

 eat beans, the fact that white cooked beans, if placed in the moon- 

 light, change into blood. Since the forbidding of beans as food is 

 common to various sects of ancient times, e. g. to the Egyptian 

 priests and to the Zoroastrians , from which latter Pythagoras 

 doubtless obtained the notion, the recognition of this pigmentation 

 appears to be of extreme antiquity. In the year 332 B. C. the so- 

 called "blood-miracle" was of service to Alexander the Great 

 in the conquest of Tyre. The bread of his besieging army was dis- 

 covered to be reddened when broken; but the priests quieted the 

 terrified soldiery by interpreting the omen to mean, that as the 

 "blood" was inside the bread, a bloody fate would fall upon those 

 inside, not outside, the city. For the story see Curtius Rufus, 

 Hist. Alexandri, chap. 2, bk. 4. 



1) Previously described by the writer, cf. An unusual bacterial grouping. 

 (Centralbl. f. Bakt. Bd. VIII. 1902. p. 690.) 



