TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION D. 



76i 



investigation certainly also on very many coins. Of the tyjdcal baotorium tliero 

 nccur 4-1- liiil't^J I'f'd'^ o^" O'OOoS — 0-0077 mm. length upon all silver, copper, and 

 hronze coins examined. Tlie links at each end of the rod are usually thiclu-neil 

 into a little head.' 



I was requested to translate Professor Ileinsch's paper, and it has been widely 

 rmblif'hed in various parts of the United States; but only recently I have repeat e(I 

 Professor Ileinsch's investifrations. As to the occurrence of palmella-like and 

 I iiroococcoid alga' I can express no doubt ; but most of the coins that I have 

 ixamined, it is true the majority having been American, showed rod bacteria 

 eitlior to he present in verj' much smaller mimbertliaii Professor Jieiusch describes, 

 ,!• to he entirely ab.^ent, as I shall presently state, and the mnvi'niont of tlie 

 l,iri.'f?t number fif ])articles seen 1 believe to be molecular (inly. 



It is of interest that on the surface of a silver Spanisii coin of the time of 

 Charles II., 1777 (wliicli I have good reason to believe had Iteen ]uit away and 

 !;,.pt entirely out of circulation for at least fifty years), I found a few bacilli and 

 listeria in fields containin.- nunu'rous microcncci exactly like tlmse obsirved on 

 I'liiis now in circulation. The oldest coins examined were a Spanisii silver ]iiece of 

 ;'ie reign of Pliilip V., I7i'l, another of Ferdinand VI., ]7')i, the one mentioned 

 iiliove, and a United States copper cent of |s!0.3, in the sediment from all of 

 which the micro-organisms were as active and of the same appearances as in more 

 recent current money. 



1 nuist also note that the American coins examined were the cleanest of all, 

 nnd tlie most dillicult to obtain matter containing bacteria from. Whether this is 

 (in account of any peculiarity of coinage or mixture of metals, which may interfere 

 with retention of sediment that acts as nidus, I do not know; but it held good of 

 ^'old, silver, nickel, and copper coins. No American jiiece showed nuicli micro- 

 vegetation unless at least from six to t^n years nld, wliile l']uro]ienn pieces usually 

 showed the same when of dates only tln-ee or fnir years bade. -Many speculative 

 reaji'ins might be suggested toex])lain this, but I simply note the fact as I found it. 

 Pt'i'Laps it was merely accidental, but I liave examined a great many more 

 Amerieiin coins than European. 



I always fouiul in the incrustation some fat and starch granules, and about half 

 tlie nuiuber of rods were motionless. 



Professor Iteinsch has puinted out the probability that the micro-organisms 

 play a nVe in the process of erosion of the surface of circulating coins, and also the 

 hyjrinic importance which may have to be ascribed to the presence, upon an object 

 «o diltused as money, of bodies in many cases recognised as the zymotic agents, the 

 •arriers and dill'users of disease. I am far from wishing, however, to promote the 

 (locurreuce of what neurologists nowadays describe as niysophobia, a malady 

 from which those who sutler have a morbid fear of contamination from handling 

 money. 



On examining the dust that had b'en undisturbed for a long time in a crease of 

 a writing-desk cover, and on tops of doors in some rooms, I found similar but not 

 identical micro-vegetaticni, while the matter tliat I could obtain from between the 

 projections on the line adjustment screw-head of a microscope, long in use, 

 contained to all appearances the very same as the coins ; although positively to 

 decide the (juestion whether or not the organisms are peculiar to money incrusta- 

 tions I must admit my incompetency so far as the algns are concerned, and my 

 inability to find grounds for a clitfereutial diagnosis between the bacteria found. 



12. On the Comparative Variahleness of Bones and Muscles, with Bemarlcs 

 on TJ-niUj of Type in Variation of tlie Oriyin and Insertion of certain 

 Muscles in Species unconnected hi/ Unitij of .Descent.^ By G. E. Don- 

 soN, M.A , F.R.S. 



' rub]iil;ed in the Journal of Anatomy and Pliysioloyy. October 1881. 



