642 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



as in (2). Products : — An alcohol (probably ethyl-alcohol), propionic 

 and normal valerianic acid. 



The fermentation of glycerin (6120 g.) produced 675 g. of anhy- 

 drous alcohol, of which 440 g. consisted of normal butyl-alcohol, the 

 remainder of ethyl-, with small quantities of normal propyl-alcohol. 

 The remaining products of fermentation were not examined, the object 

 being to determine the variations in the quantity of butyl-alcohol pro- 

 duced in butyric fermentation. From a microscopic examination of 

 the schizomycete during fermentation the author could determine the 

 relative quantity of butyl-alcohol that would be produced. The fer- 

 mentation of calcium glycerate yielded methyl-alcohol, formic, and a 

 small quantity of acetic acid. 



Metamorphoses of the Schizoniycetes.* — Dr. Zopfs investiga- 

 tions into this subject have led him to support the view of Nageli and 

 others that the various forms of Bacteria, viz. Micrococcus, Bacterium, 

 Bacillus, LeptotJirix, Spirillum, and Spirochcete are merely develop- 

 mental stages of a single species. Thus he finds all the above forms 

 to be produced in the course of the development of Cladoihrix, one 

 after the other, and partly one from the other. 



In the development of Crenoihrix polyspora several of these form- 

 genera have made their appearance. The peculiar Beggiatoa alba, 

 whose cells contain strongly refractive particles of crystalline sulphur, 

 also shows similar phenomena. Dr. Zopf unites the three genera 

 Crenoihrix, Beggiatoa, and Cladothrix into one family, the Creno- 

 trichacece, owing to their essential agreement in the phenomena of 

 their development. 



New Bacteria.f — E. Duclaux has already described the organisms 

 which arise in imperfect preparations of "cautal" cheese, viz. : 1. An 

 alcoholic ferment ; 2. The lactic ferment ; 3. The butyric ferment ; 

 4. The uric ferment ; 5. A new anaerobic vibrio (vibrion chainette) ; 

 and 6. A new aerobic vibrio (filament coude). To these he now adds 

 seven new species, of which four are aerobic and three anaerobic. These 

 are fully described and figured. 



1. "Filament dodu." Cultivated in milk in a very open dish, 

 this ferment forms short thick cells with a diameter of 1 /x, and a 

 length of 2-3 /a. After some time the milk becomes transparent and 

 yellowish, the cells elongate and divide by transverse septa, forming a 

 continuous pellicle on the surface. In each cell there appears a 

 shining nucleus or " spore," the cell-wall becoming absorbed. The 

 " filament dodu " transforms the oxygen of the air into a nearly equal 

 volume of carbonic acid. A portion of the casein is changed into a 

 substance resembling syntonin, which, in the somewhat alkaline milk, 

 precipitates in the pellicle. Besides ammonium carbonate, and 

 butyrate, leucin and tyrosin are also found in the milk, indicating a 

 considerable process of combustion. 



2. " Filament tenu." Small very motile cylindrical rods of about 



* Cf. Kosmos, vii. (1881) pp. 460-70. 



t Ann. Agronomiques, vi. (1880) pp. 161-79. See Bot. Centralbl, vi. (1881) 

 p. 74. 



