BACTERIA IN THE SOIL. 571 



The recently published researches of Proskauer (1891) confirm 

 those of Frankel and others as to the rapid diminution in the number 

 of bacteria in the deeper layers of the soil. They also agree with 

 those of Gartner in showing that in the soil of churchyards the 

 number of bacteria diminishes greatly in the soil beneath the layer 

 containing coffins. In general the influence of dead bodies upon the 

 bacteria in the soil in the vicinity of coffins was very slight ; in the 

 subsoil of the graveyard there were not many more bacteria than in 

 similar soil outside of this. Reimers had previously shown that 

 samples of earth from two graves, in one of which the body had been 

 buried for thirty-five years and in the other for one and one- 

 half years, gave similar results when examined by bacteriological 

 methods. 



Manfredi has recently (1892) published the results of his extended 

 investigations relating to the dust in the streets of Naples. The 

 number of bacteria varied greatly in different parts of the city. In 

 streets where the traffic was least and hygienic conditions the best 

 the average number was 10,000,000 per gramme. In dirty and busy 

 thoroughfares the average was 1,000,000,000, and in certain localities 

 the number was even five times as great as this. Injections into 

 guinea-pigs gave a positive result in seventy-three per cent of the 

 animals experimented upon. Among the known pathogenic bacteria 

 obtained in this way were the pus cocci (in eight), the Bacillus tuber- 

 culosis (in three), the bacillus of malignant oedema, and the tetanus 

 bacillus. 



In the recently published memoir of Fiilles (1891) the following 

 species are described as having been found by him in the soil at 

 Freiburg, Germany: 



MICROCOCCI. 



(a) Non-liquefying. Micrococcus aurantiacus (Colin), Micrococcus can- 

 didus (Cohn), Micrococcus luteus (Cohn), Micrococcus candicans (Flugge), 

 Micrococcus versi color (Flugge), Micrococcus cirftiabareus (Fliigge), Micro- 

 coccus cereus albus (Passet), Micrococcus fervitosus (Adametz), Rother coc- 

 cus (Maschek). 



(6) Liquefying. Micrococcus flavus liquefaciens (Flugge), Micrococcus 

 vus desidens (Flugge), Diplococc 



flavus desidens (Flugge), Diplococcus luteus (Adametz), Sarcina lutea. 



NON-PATHOGENIC BACILLI. 



(a) Non-liquefying. Bacillus fluorescens putidus (Flugge), Bacillus mus- 

 coides (Liborius), Bacillus scissus (Frankland), Bacillus candicans, Bacillus 

 diffusus (Frankland), Bacillus filiformis (Tils), Bacillus luteus (Fliigge), 

 Fluorescent water bacillus (Eisenberg), Bacillus viridis pallescens (Frick), 

 Bluish-green fluorescent bacillus (Adametz), Bacillus stolonatus (Adametz), 

 Bacillus Ziirnianum (List), Bacillus aerogenes (Miller), Bacillus No. 1 and 

 Bacillus No. 2 (Fiilles). 



(6) Liquefying. Bacillus ramosus liquefaciens (Fliigge), Bacillus liqui- 

 dus (Frankland), Bacillus ramosus "wurzel bacillus," Bacillus subtilis 



