ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 849 



appeared. The fungi thus obtained were mixed with (a) soft bread 

 and with (h) dry oats. The bread was given to pigeons, the oats to 

 geese. The pigeons were fed by stuffing a piece of the bread mixed 

 with fungus down their throats for six consecutive days. The geese 

 were allowed to dispose of as many infected oats as they pleased. 

 The first goose died on the sixteenth day, and as no result was evident 

 on post-mortem examination, recourse was had to infection by inhala- 

 tion . The Aspergillus fumigatus grown in the flasks was dried under 

 a bell-jar and then placed in a glass vessel inside which a pigeon 

 could stand easily. The glass jar was shaken several times in order 

 to raise a cloud of the fungi. The pigeon died on the third day. 

 From the diseased parts of the lungs of this pigeon bread-paste was 

 inoculated and Aspergillus fumigatus appeared. The remaining parts 

 of the lungs were hardened, and on microscopical examination an 

 extraordinary quantity of the fungus was found. In further experi- 

 ments only a few spores were introduced into the glass jar and the 

 pigeon was only allowed to remain five minutes. Under these con- 

 ditions the animal did not die so soon, and the fungi spread from the 

 lungs to other organs. Exactly the same results ensued when small 

 birds were used, Aspergillus niger gave similar results. A. glaucus 

 only acted as a foreign body in the lung. 



Protophyta. 



Ferments.* — Dr. E- C. Hansen publishes a few further observations 

 on the development of Saccharomyces. 



Under certain conditions structures arise consisting of a gelatinous 

 network in the spaces of which the Saccharomyces-ceWs are found ; 

 but they are sometimes taken up into the network itself, which is not 

 coloured blue by iodine. This occurs not only in both forms of S. 

 cerevisiee, but also in species belonging to the groups Pastorianiis and 

 ellipsoideus. The yeast used for the observation of this structure was 

 obtained from pure cultures in sterilized nutrient solutions, beer-wort, 

 or a mixture of saccharose and yeast-water ; but it occurs also in 

 practice in breweries. 



When the spores in a Saccharomyces-coll are preparing for ger- 

 mination, they swell up strongly. In certain species, when cultivated 

 on blocks of gypsum, structures arise which present the appearance of 

 Bcpta. These are caused by the pressure which the swollen spores 

 exercise on one another ; the walls being brought into close combina- 

 tion with one another at the surfaces of contact. 



S. apiculatus, although a ferment of alcoholic fermentation, is 

 destitute of invertin, and cannot therefore ferment saccharose. Its 

 ordinary habitat in summer is ripe fruits, and it is the only ferment 

 tliat i? fcmnd in nature. It appears to perish in less than twenty-four 

 hours then removed from its nutrient substratum. 



Microphytes of Normal Human Epidermis.-f — Prof. G. Bizzozero 



describes various methods for observing the microphytes of the human 



* Bot. Ccntralbl., xxi. (188')) pp. 181-4. 



t Arch. Ital. do Uiol., vi. (18S1) pp. I'.i4-20G ( 1 pi.). 



