46 



BACTERIOLOGY 



tain bacteria, the cell membrane may approach in character that 

 of the fission algae, thus making the relationship of the two 

 groups closer than was at first indicated. The relation between 

 bacteria and the lower fungi, the Hypomycetes, is quite marked. 

 Between Bacillus and Mycobacterium it is extremely close, and 

 certain branched filamentous forms of the latter run by indistinct 

 transitional stages into very much elongated Streptothrix 

 forms, which are indistinguishable from certain Hypomycetes 

 (Oidium). The cell wall of the Hypomycetes is, according to 

 the researches of Gilson, composed of mycosin, a body related to 

 animal chitin, which, according to Nishimura, is also represented 

 in the capsules of bacteria. Thus, in the nature of the cell wall 

 the bacteria are more closely related to the Hypomycetes than 

 to the Cyanophyceae. The true position of the bacteria, how- 

 ever, is one intermediate between the two groups, and this 

 phylogenetic relationship can best be illustrated in the accom- 

 panying diagram : 



Table showing the Relationships of Bacteria 



