858 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1146 



ject. The reason no one has ever used a micro- 

 scope in answering this and similar questions 

 is undoubtedly because it is difficult to dis- 

 tinguish soil microorganisms without stain- 

 ing, and hard to stain them without staining 

 the dead organic matter of the soil so deeply 

 as to obscure the microorganisms. I have been 

 struggling with these difficulties for the last 

 two years and have at last found a method 

 of staining that shows up the microorganisms 

 of the soil without staining the soil particles 

 or the dead organic matter. The details of 

 the method are not yet ready for publication, 

 but will be in a couple of months. Even 

 though the technic is not yet perfected, it has 

 furnished information that helps answer the 

 question discussed by Waksman. 



Briefly stated, every kind of soil micro- 

 organism except mold hyphse has been re- 

 vealed. Bacteria are shown in large numbers. 

 So are Actinomyces conidia; while masses of 

 Actinomyces hyphse have been observed. 

 Algse are not uncommon, and objects resem- 

 bling mold conidia have been found. Some 

 organisms have been observed that are strongly 

 suggestive of protozoa. But of mold hyphse 

 only an occasional small fragment has been 

 seen, even in soil rich in organic matter. I 

 realize that this microscopic method may, for 

 some unknown reason, fail to reveal mold 

 hyphse even when they are present; but it is 

 at least a direct method, while Waksman's 

 method is indirect. 



Although "Waksman was presumably correct 

 in his statement that fungus mycelium is 

 present in soil, it is doubtful whether it exists 

 there to a significant extent. Of course fungi 

 live in soil, particularly when large amounts 

 of organic matter are present; but it is hardly 

 fair to compare their activities with those of 

 bacteria — as has often been done in the past, 

 either directly or by implication — until it is 

 shown that their mycelium is present in soil 

 in sufficient quantities to compare with the 

 large numbers of bacteria that are known to 

 be present in active form. 



H. Joel Conn 



New York Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 Geneva, N. Y. 



THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF GREAT NUM- 

 BERS OF FRESH-WATER MEDUS-ffi IN 

 A KENTUCKY CREEK 



On the morning of September 27, 1916, there 

 was brought to me a large bottle of creek water 

 in which were the badly decomposed remains 

 of several small gelatinous bodies which to 

 my great surprise were recognized as parts of 

 medusae. They proved to have come from 

 Benson Creek near Frankfort, about twenty- 

 eight miles from Lexington, and had been 

 alive, it was reported, the preceding evening. 

 The bottle of water containing them had been 

 brought to Lexington by Mr. Ben Marshall of 

 the revenue service, at whose Frankfort office 

 it had been left by Mr. C. M. Bridgemord. 

 The latter was said to have asserted that he 

 saw " millions " of the animals in the water. 

 There was reason for some doubt about the 

 " millions," but the evidence of the decom- 

 posed bodies showed that there were some in 

 the creek and I could not rest satisfied with- 

 out examining the locality for myself. With 

 Mr. Marshall I left Lexington in the after- 

 noon and arrived at his office in Frankfort 

 about 4 o'clock p.m., where we found Mr. 

 Bridgemord and Mr. J. L. Cox of the office, 

 who is an ardent angler and had become inter- 

 ested in the animals. These gentlemen very 

 kindly took me in a motor-boat down Ken- 

 tucky River, and a short distance below the 

 L. & N. R. R. bridge we turned into the mouth 

 of Benson Creek and proceeded up the stream. 

 Kentucky River has been dammed below this 

 point, so that the water is backed into the lower 

 park of the creek, producing a rather narrow, 

 deep body of water with but little current. 

 "We traveled up this backwater for about a 

 half mile, when we reached the point where 

 the medusse had been captured. The water 

 looked rather bad and unsuited to them at 

 first, but became better farther up, though still 

 not very clear and with its surface roughened 

 by a slight wind. The water was quite warm. 



As soon as we reached the part of the 

 stream where the medusse had been found we 

 began to strain our eyes, attempting to get a 

 glimpse of one in the murky water. Very 

 soon one was seen, a floating, pulsating gray 



