696 SUMMARY OP CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Micrococcus prodigiosus within the Shell of an Egg.*— F. Ludwig 

 describes a hen's egg the albumen of which was throughout of a rose- 

 red colour. The absorption-spectrum agreed altogether with that of 

 the colouring matter of Micrococcus (Monas) prodigiosus. The fungus 

 must certainly have been present in the albumen when in a raw state. 



Photogenous Micrococcus.! — F. Ludwig has identified the cause 

 of phosphorescence in fish with that of the less common phospho- 

 rescence of the flesh of animals used for food, especially swine. It 

 is due to a mucilaginous substance which can be readily wiped 

 off, consisting of micrococci in a state of active motion and 

 division, the characteristic form and arrangement of which are very 

 readily shown by pigments, especially gentian-violet. The zoogloea- 

 colonies are then seen to consist of sharply defined, roundish, densely 

 crowded cells, sometimes isolated, more often associated in beautiful 

 moniliform threads or compact colonies. The diameter of the cells 

 is about • 5-1 /x. To this organism Ludwig gives the name Micro- 

 coccus Pflilgeri. It can be readily transferred from the haddock or 

 other fish on which it is commonly found, to the flesh of oxen, calves, 

 sheep, swine, &c., producing in it the well-known phosphorescence ; it 

 occurs also naturally on Crustacea, star-fish, &c. 



On the surface of the sea is sometimes found a phosphorescent 

 slime, consisting largely of decaying organic matter, the phospho- 

 rescence of which is not due to Noctiluca or other animals of that 

 kind ; Ludwig attributes it also to this same species of Micrococcus. 



Respiration of Saccharomyces.J — M. Paumes has investigated this 

 subject carefully, with the following results: — (1) The respiratory 

 activity of the ferment (^S. cerevisice) decreases as the temperature 

 decreases ; (2) in doses of from 1-2 per cent, ether has scarcely any 

 effect on the respiration ; (3) in doses of from 3-6 per cent, ether 

 diminishes and even entirely stops the respiration ; (4) even by these 

 doses the plant is not killed. 



Bacillus of Cholera. § — E. Koch has presented to the German 

 Government six reports on the cause of cholera-epidemic, as the result 

 of investigations on the excreta and on the dead bodies themselves of 

 cholera patients in Egypt and in India, and on the inoculation of 

 other animals with the germs. The internal organs, lungs, liver, 

 spleen, kidneys, &c., as well as the ejecta, were found to swarm with 

 microbia of a great variety of kinds; in all cases was found one 

 definite kind of bacillus, resembling in size and form that of 

 glanders. These were found in largest quantities in the tubular 

 glands of the intestines, especially between the epithelium and the 

 membrane of the gland. Experiments in inoculating other animals 

 with this bacillus yielded only negative results. 



* Zeitschr. f. Pilzfreunde, 1883, p. 176. See Bot. Oentralbl., xviii. (1884) 

 p. 161. 



t Hedwigia, xxiii. (1884) pp. 33-7. 



X Journ. Anat. et Physiol., xx. (1884) pp. 106-15, 



§ ' Erster-sechster Ber. an den Staatssecrefar des Innern iiber die Arb. zur 

 Erforschung der Cholera-Epidemie, von R. Koch.' Alexandria-Calcutta, 1883-4. 



