June 25, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



1013 



The presence of shadow forms in which the cell 

 wall only is stained indicates that the cell con- 

 tents are either so changed as to be incapable of 

 taking the stain or have escaped from within the 

 wall. 



The presence of soluble proteid substances (as 

 shown by their precipitation with acetic acid) in 

 the surrounding liquid indicates that the contents 

 have escaped from within the cell. 



Hence it would seem that autolysis of the gono- 

 coccus is eflCected by rupture of the cell wall and 

 escape of the contents. 



The products of this autolytic process markedly 

 inhibit the growth of the gonococeus on artificial 

 culture media. Their use in combating the dis- 

 ease in man will form the subject of a future 

 communication. 



A Case of Won-inheritanoe of Fluctuating Varia- 

 tions among the Bacteria: C.-E. A. Winslow 

 and L. T. Waikek, Massachusetts Institute of 

 Technology, Boston, Mass. 



Aside from its practical importance, the study 

 of variation among the bacteria promises to throw 

 important light upon some of the fundamental 

 biological problems of heredity and evolution. It 

 is important to distinguish two types of possible 

 variations, those which arise entirely from causes 

 operating within the bacterial cell (either muta- 

 tions or fluctuating variations ) , and those which 

 are apparently due to the direct or selective effect 

 of the environment. Goodman^ has recently dem- 

 onstrated that by selection of variations of the 

 latter sort the acid production of certain members 

 of the diphtheria ^roup of bacilli may be pro- 

 foundly modified. In the present investigation 

 the authors have attempted to study the inherit- 

 ance of fluctuating variations in the paratyphoid 

 group, without special selective action. Cultures 

 of Schottmiiller's types A and B were plated out 

 and one hundred subcultures of each were inocu- 

 lated on agar from separate colonies. A dextrose 

 broth tube was inoculated from each streak. The 

 acidities produced were determined by titrating 

 and the results, when plotted, showed two distinct 

 but overlapping curves of frequency with means 

 at 1.4 for type A and 1.6 for type B. The agar 

 streaks of the four extreme cultures (l.I and 1.6 

 for type A, 1.4 and 1.8 for type B), were then 

 plated and a series of one hundred streaks made 

 from each. The new curves of frequency for these 

 descendants reverted completely to the original 



' Journal of Infectious Diseases, V., 421. 



means of types A and B, showing no inherited 

 effect of the variations exhibited by their more 

 immediate ancestors. 



Bacteriology as an Important Non-technical 

 Study: H. W. Hlix, M.D., University of Minne- 

 sota, Minneapolis, Minn. 



Bacteriology is now chiefly taught as an art, 

 of use in some branch of science or industry, and 

 almost wholly for its applications in these. Bac- 

 teriology is seldom studied for itself alone. But 

 it presents many most important biological les- 

 sons, as suitable for the illustration of biological 

 truths as any other biological study now taught; 

 and from the control of conditions possible, some 

 phases of biology can be illustrated best by bac- 

 teriology. For sociology, bacteriology permits, as 

 no other biological study does, tlie appreciation not 

 only of the unit, but of the interrelations of units 

 — and hence furnishes a biological study closely 

 paralleling sociology itself. (As a weapon in the 

 hands of a sociologist dealing with hygienic prob- 

 lems it is of course practically a necessity.) 

 Apart from its academic values its chief practical 

 significance to the non-technical citizen consists 

 in the training it gives concerning the nature, 

 distribution and life history of bacteria and in 

 its technique, which teaches the fundamentals of 

 personal and family defense against disease, as 

 distinguished from the measures of public health 

 or state medicine. For these reasons bacteriology 

 should be taught in the public schools, since dif- 

 fusion of its teachings through the citizens in 

 general can not be obtained in any other way. 



NOEMAN MacL. H/UKKIS, 



Secretary 

 Univeesitt of Chicago 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE SOCIETY FOR EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY AND 

 MEDICINE 



The thirty-third meeting of the society was 

 held at Cornell University Medical College, April 

 21, 1909, with President Lee in the chair. 



Memiers present: Atkinson, Auer, Burton- 

 Opitz, Elser, Ewing, Flexner, Famulener, Gies, 

 Janeway, Joseph, Kast, Lee, Lamar, Lewis, Lusk, 

 Mandel (J, A.), Meltzer, Meyer, Morse, Noguchi, 

 Norris, Oertel, Park, Pearce, Shaffer, Storey, 

 Terry, Wallace, Wolf. 



Members elected: John L. Todd, Peyton Rous, 

 H. S. Jennings, Andrew Hunter, Charles R. Stock- 

 ard, E. E. Southard, William W. Hale. 



