644 SUMMAEY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



which contracts into a round black spore. The gases evolved are 

 somewhat variable, usually consisting of about two parts of carbonic 

 acid and one part of hydrogen. 



Bacteria in the Choroid.* — Duke Charles of Bavaria claims to 

 have discovered bacteria in the choroid coat of two eyeballs. The 

 vessels of the vascular network were, it is said, found to be closely 

 packed with bacteria, which were most abundant in the larger capil- 

 laries just before their ultimate divisions, and least numerous in the 

 small arteries and veins. 



Role and Origin of some Microzymes.t — M. A. Bechamp finds 

 that where animal or vegetable detritus accumulates under water in 

 marshy places, bacteria, &c., become developed, from which carbonic 

 acid and methyl hydride are evolved, as well as alcohol and acetic acid. 

 Waste lands in the neighbourhood of Montpellier contain microzymes, 

 which convert cane-sugar into alcohol and acetic acid, without any 

 trace of butyric acid. The earth from moors, which is used in the 

 Jardin des Plantes at Montpellier, contains a number of microzymes 

 together with bacteria, and gave rise, when added to a solution of 

 starch, to alcohol, sodium acetate, butyric acid, and calcic lactate. The 

 dust from the streets of Montpellier gave rise, under heating with 

 water, to a quantity of hydrogen and of carbonic acid. A small cat 

 was interred in chalk, and it was found that the difference between its 

 microzymes and those of the chalk itself, was that the former " easily 

 gave rise to bacteria, while those of the chalk did not change their 

 form." The author thinks this last experiment is of significance, as 

 indicating that the microzymes found in chalk, rocks, earth, street 

 dust, &c., have no other origin than the microzymes which make " an 

 integral part " of every living organism, and whose physiological duty 

 is, after death, to destroy the organism. 



M. Bechamp points out in a foot-note that M. Pasteur has con- 

 firmed the statement as to the existence of microzymes in earth 

 though not in the chalk, while MM. Chamberland and Eoux deny the 

 existence of M. cretce, which they trace to an experimental error. 



Algae. 



Fructification of Chaetopteris plumosa. j — In a previous commu- 

 nication on this subject,§ K. Wolny suggested that the unilocular 

 sporangia of this seaweed, described by Areschoug, might possibly be 

 merely multilocular sporangia arrested in their development. Further 

 examination of specimens of the alga obtained from Spitzbergen shows 

 that there are two kinds of unilocular sporangium, differing greatly from 

 one another in their mode of development ; the multilocular sporangia 

 exhibiting the division into compartments from their very earliest 

 stage of development. The function of these various structures in 

 relation to reproduction requires further examination. 



* See Louisville Med. Her., iii, (1881) p. 27. 

 t Comptes Rendus, xcii. (1881) pp. 1344-7. 

 I Hedwigia, xx. (1881) pp. 42-4. 

 § See this Journal, iii. (1880) p. 678. 



