August 5, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



115 



unable to continue their series of publications 

 there will be less work for printers. More money 

 can not be raised either by societies, whose mem- 

 bers mainly come from those professional classes 

 which the war has hit most hardly, or by libraries 

 which depend on private funds drawn from those 

 same classes. 



We are aware that material costs more, and that 

 printers' labor is now remunerated on a scale 

 which has forced publishers to raise all prices. 

 But the general economic conditions which led to 

 these phenomena are beginning to change. The 

 existing scale of book prices means the cessation of 

 book-buying. Unless novels and school books are 

 to be the only output of the future, the present 

 state of things must come to an end. The remedy 

 lies with the trade; the buying public has come 

 to the end of its resources, and refuses to be ex- 

 ploited any longer. 



To this statement Mr. GeofErey S. Williams, 

 president of the Publishers' Association of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, makes reply in the 

 Times, saying: 



It is unfortunate that the signatories of the 

 manifesto about the cost of printing should have 

 included publishers in their indictment, for pub- 

 lishers are fellow-sufferers with the signatories. 

 They are dependent on the printing, binding, and 

 paper-making trades, and until the charges made 

 by these trades are materially reduced it is quite 

 impossible for publishers to issue books at lower 

 prices. On the whole, prices of books have not 

 advanced to anything like the extent that would 

 have been justified by the increases in the costs 

 of production. 



It is not easy to quote figures, for books, like 

 human beings, have distinct individualities, espe- 

 cially from the publisher's point of view; hardly 

 any two of them are exactly alike, though they 

 wear the same clothes; but from calculations that 

 have recently been before me, and give, I believe, 

 a very fair comparison of the prices ruling in 

 1914 and now, it appears that the cost of printing 

 is approximately two and three-quarter times what 

 it was in 1914^ paper (of an inferior quality) 

 costs over double what it did in 1914, binding 

 (also of an inferior quality) costs rather more 

 than three times what it did in 1914, while the 

 total cost of a large edition of a small book works 

 out at about 180 per cent, above the 1914 figure, 

 and publishers' establishment charges and the 

 cost of advertising have kept pace with other 

 items in their upward course. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



A BACTERIAL DISEASE OF GLADIOLUS 



An undescribed bacterial disease of Gladi- 

 olus has been under observation in this labora- 

 tory for a number of years, and recently a more 

 intensive study has been undertaken. The 

 following brief description is oilered as pre- 

 liminary to the publication of the complete 

 study. 



The organism has been isolated repeatedly 

 and its pathogenicity proved by inoculation of 

 healthy plants. The parasite is briefly charac- 

 terized as follows: 



Bacterium marginatum n. sp. 



A cylindrical rod varying considerably in 

 length, 1-3.5 x 0.5-0.8 fi, frequently in pairs 

 and forming chains in beef bouillon; motile 

 by means of 1-2 polar flagella; aerobic, no 

 spores, capsules present. 



Superficial colonies in peptone-beef agar 

 plates are very characteristic ; circular, smooth, 

 slightly elevated centers surrounded by a wide 

 thin border more or less irregular at the mar- 

 gin. Width and character of the border vary 

 slightly under different conditions. Growth 

 is white and extremely viscid. 



Liquefies gelatin ; liquefies blood serum ; does 

 not reduce nitrates; produces slight acidity in 

 milk ; digests casein ; produces acid in cultures 

 with various sugars. Grows well in Cohn, 

 Fermi and Uschinsky's solutions. Produces 

 moderate amounts of indol and ammonia. No 

 gas is formed. 



Temperatures for growth, maximum 40° C, 

 minimum 8-9° C, optimum 28-30° C. Ther- 

 mal death point about 52° C. Does not grow 

 at temperatures below 8° C, but remains alive 

 for at least 8 weeks at 1-2° G. 



Gram negative. Group number : 211.2222022. 



Pathogenic in leaves of gladiolus forming 

 circular to elliptical lesions rusty red in color 

 becoming dull brown or purplish. These spots 

 may occur on all parts of the foliage but are 

 often confined to the lower leaves. Observa- 

 tion and experiment indicate that the disease 

 makes rapid and dangerous progress only in 

 warm and moist weather when the rot spreads 



