1036 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



third day after infection. They wero more sharply defined in 1 per 

 cent, agar-agar than in the gelatin sown with pure cultures from tho 

 mesenteric glands of typhus-patients. The colonies had moderately 

 sharp outlines, wero slightly and uniformly granulated, of a light 

 brown colour, rarely spherical, but irregularly scooped out or pear- 

 or lemon-shaped. In suspended drops the bacilli had an active spon- 

 taneous motion, and formed long mucilaginous threads. In dry 

 preparations, coloured with alkaline solution of methyl-blue, they 

 exhibited the characteristic length and breadth of tho typhus-bacillus, 

 and especially the abundant formation of vacuoles observed by Gaffky. 

 The same bacillus was found also in the intestines of the corpses 

 of typhus-patients, but nowhere except in the human body. 



Bacteria in the Blood of Living Animals.* — Herr J. v. Fodor has 

 examined the blood of healthy living or recently killed animals for 

 the purpose of ascertaining if bacteria develope. 



The blood, placed in sterilized flasks with the usual precautions, 

 was kept at the temperature of the room, or in incubators at 35° to 

 37° C. for several weeks, and, after excluding errors from accidental 

 impurities, the author found that the blood of healthy animals con- 

 tained no bacterial germs capable of development. It was also found 

 that the blood of diseased animals, provided that the vascular system 

 remained uninjured, was free from bacteria. 



The author furthermore injected non-pathogenic bacteria (B. 

 termo, B. megatherium, B. subtilis) in enormous quantities into the 

 jugular veins of living rabbits, and found, in consonance with tho 

 results of other observers, that the injected bacteria disappeared from 

 the blood within a short time (occasionally four hours), that i6 to 

 say, they were not able to be demonstrated microscopically, nor 

 after cultivation in peptonized gelatin. 



Phosphorescent Bacterium.f — Herr J. Niiesch records an instance 

 of a bacterium so strongly phosphorescent with a green light, that 

 people standing round could recognize each other's features, and 

 accurately observe the position of the minute-hand, and even of the 

 second-hand of their watches. 



* Arch. f. Hygiene, iv. (1886) p. 129. 



t Helvetia, 18S5. See Bot. Centralbl., xxvii. (1886) p. 161. 



