270 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



the first two days after inoculation the oedema partly disappears and 

 collections of pus, similar to the abscesses produced by S. alhus, accu- 

 mulate. In dogs neither deatb nor oedema occurs, but a large abscess 

 appears. The authors have distinguished their microbe by the name of 

 Staphylococcus pyosepticus. Vaccinations with this organism, the viru- 

 lence of which had been diminished, not only protected against death, 

 but diminished the oedema. 



Resistance of the Cholera Bacteria to Heat and Drying.* — Dr. 



S. Kitasata, as the result of experiments made with the cholera vibrio 

 in reference to its resistance to heat and drying, comes to the following 

 conclusions : — 



(1) Between old and young cultivations there is no difference in the 

 resistance. 



(2) The time required to kill the Bacteria after they have been dried 

 depends on the way in which the material has been prepared. 



(3) This time, moreover, is also dependent on the condition of the 

 cultivation. 



(4) No real difference in the behaviour of cholera cultivations at 

 temperatures from 50° to 60° was observed. 



(5) The discrepancies of previous observers with regard to this 

 resistance are explicable from the fact that the more quickly and perfectly 

 the drying is effected the more quickly do the cholera bacteria die. No 

 special resting form which renders this bacillus more resistant to drying 

 has been observed by the author, who also failed to discover any 

 evidence of growth from spores. On the contrary, he feels satisfied that 

 new cultivations can only arise from old ones when the latter contain 

 bacilli. 



Structure of Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus.f —Dr. Heydenreich 

 finds that S. pyogenes aureus is possessed of a more complicated 

 structure than is usually supposed. He states that it is not a coccus 

 but a diplococcus which consists of two halves separated by a trans- 

 verse line and also surrounded by a mucous layer. As the latter does 

 not stain so well as the protoplasm the outline of the diplococcus is less 

 clearly visible, but this becomes more distinct as the diplococcus ages. 

 The author's method is to treat the unstained cover-glass with 1/2 to 

 1 per cent, acetic acid, and then to stain it by Gram's method. As 

 seen under the Microscope the organisms vary from • 75 /a to 1 • 7 /a, or 

 even larger. In cultivating these diplococci forms resembling Sarcina 

 tetrads are seen. Some of these sarcinse resemble M. tetragonus, pre- 

 senting four equally stained spherules surrounded by a broad transparent 

 membrane. If such a preparation be decolorized diplococci reappear. 

 This near relationship of Sarcina and Diplococcus has been noticed 

 before, especially in the case of Sarcina ventriculi, which is possibly 

 only a variety of diplococcus owing its tetrad form to some unknown 

 condition. 



Micro-organisms of Pneumonia of Lambs and Calves, f — Dr. E. 

 Semmer has observed several cases of red-grey hepatization of the lung 

 in calves. JProm the expressed juice were obtained cocci 0*5 /x, in 



* Zeitschr. f. Hygiene, v. (1888) p. 134. 



t Wratsch, 1887, No. 42 (Russian). Cf. Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., 

 V. (1889) pp. 59-61. 



+ Deutsch. Zeitschr. f. Thiermed. u. Vcrgleich. Pathol., 1888, p. 242. 



