784 SUMMABY OF CURKENT EESEAECHES RELATING TO 



Phoma uvieola, as had previously been supposed; although the latter 

 fungus undoubtedly makes its appearance in the berries or seeds 

 which have already been attacked by the Peronospora, but it plays 

 only a secondary part. 



The germination of the oospores of P. viticola has further been 

 observed by Prillieux. On germinating the oospore gives rise to a 

 branching tube which bears a number of conidia. 



New Theory of Fermentation.*— E. Cocardas propounds the 

 strange theory that all the different kinds of fermentation — which are 

 as numerous as the different kinds of protoplasm — are due to the 

 action of a single organism, Penicillium, which appears, according to 

 its vital conditions, in the various forms of Bacterium, Bacillus, 

 Spirillum, Zoogloea, Hygrocrocis, Leptomitus, Torula, Byssus, Mucor, 

 Aspergillus, Penicillium, Micrococcus, Microderma, SaccJiaromyces, &c. 



Microbes in Human Saliva. t — A. F. Kasmussen has made a 

 careful examination of the micro-organisms found in the saliva of 

 healthy men, with the following results. 



The sources of these microbes — mould spores, ferment-fungi, and 

 bacteria — are the air and the food ; some disappear immediately, while 

 others remain and undergo further development. The temperature 

 of the mouth, 36°-37° C, is very favourable for their development, 

 nutrient substances and oxygen being also always present in great 

 abundance. The organisms are especially abundant at the outer side 

 of the base of the back teeth, especially in the upper jaw, where a 

 thick layer of tough mucilage is always found in the morning, and for 

 some time after a meal. Carious teeth also breed large quantities 

 of these organisms. 



The author found none of the methods previously used for the 

 culture of these organisms satisfactory ; culture on a solid substratum 

 he always found the most advantageous. The gelatine used for the 

 purpose was placed in bulbs with a large bottom, so as to give as 

 large a surface as possible. The staining employed was sometimes 

 Koch's method, sometimes potassium biniodide, which however caused 

 great changes in the size of the objects. Thus the sporiferous 

 segments of Clostridium polymyxa measured 4-6 /x, before, 2*2 to 2 • 4 /* 

 after staining. The reagent for Leptothrix employed was potassium 

 biniodide with a small quantity of hydrochloric acid. 



The bulbs and test-tubes used were purified by concentrated 

 sulphuric acid and distilled water, or with dilute (0 • 1 per cent.) solu- 

 tion of corrosive sublimate ; and the wad-plugs used to close the 

 apparatus were sterilized by a temperature of 110-120° 0. For 

 culture in nutrient fluids the author used the bulbs recommended by 

 Salomonsen ; various fluids were used, as human urine diluted with 

 water and boiled for ten minutes, then filtered and neutralized with 

 sodium carbonate, bouillon, solution of peptone, beer-wort, solution of 



* Bull. Soo. Bot. France, xxxi. (1884) pp. 12-8. 



t Rasmussen, A. F., * Om Dyrkning af Mikroorganismen fra Spyt af sunde 

 Menesker ' (Danish) 136 pp. (2 pis.). See Bot. Centralbl., xvii. (1884) p. 389. 



