ZOOLOGY A^"D BOIAXY. MICROSCOPY, ETC. 927 



dra'^vn away from the moist surface, sometimes by an angle of as 

 much as 90'. If. on the other hand, the piece of pasteboard was quite 

 dry. not the least curvature was observed. The author therefore 

 attributes the erect growth of the fertile branch of Phycomyces to its 

 effort to remove itself from the moist substratum. 



The curvatures of growth in the stolons of JTueor stolonifer fca"own 

 on gelatine, the development on bread being too luxuriant; were found 

 by Wortmann to be due to a peculiar constant but irregular nutation, 

 which brings their apices into contact with some solid body, theix 

 irritability then giving rise to the production of rhizoids and fertile 

 branches. There was not the least evidence that the mass of the 

 substratum exercises an attracting influence on the stolons. 



Microscopical Organisms in the Intestinal Canals.* — Dr. D. D. 



Cunningham gives a full account of his investigations on organisms in 

 the intestinal canals, which have led him to the following, among other 

 conclusions : (1) Special parasitic forms may be specially associated 

 with particular forms of disease without holding any causal relation 

 to them. (2) In many choleraic excreta monadic, amcebal, and sporoid 

 bodies are all abundant : but they are all developmental forms of one 

 Pvutorayxomyces coprino.rius, which only attains its full development 

 outside the body, (o) The immatui'e forms are "normal inmates " of 

 the digestive canal of some of the lower animals, and in man thev 

 are found both in health and disease, (-k) '• The abnormal conditions"" 

 of the intestinal contents in certain diseases allow of their rapid multi- 

 plication, (o) The introduction of these reproductive elements, which, 

 jjer se, seem quite innocuous, is thi-ough the medium of the air, at any 

 rate maiidy. 



Fungi of Diseases of the Teeth, f — A. Weil considers the cause 

 of decay of the teeth, whether external or internal, to be the Schizo- 

 mycete Leptotlaix hucmlis, the mode of entry and propagation, and the 

 life-history of which he follows out in detail. The acids which occur 

 in the mouth, especially lactic acid, while they may greatly promote 

 the decay, cannot give rise to it. The LeptotTcrix can be recognized 

 readily by its iodine reaction. The author considers further that in 

 many cases disease of various parts of the body can be distinctly traced 

 to morbid products from the mouth and teeth. Other observers had 

 already traced a connection between decayed teeth and septic ab- 

 scesses, in which were found a fungus similar to that which occurs 

 in diseased teeth. 



Bacillus of Leprosy,; — In pursuance of the investigations of 

 Hansen § and others as to the cause of leprosy, and to determine the 

 still undecided question whether it is due to heredity or to con- 

 tagion, Xeisser has undertaken a fresh inquiry as to the nature of 

 leprosy, his material being obtained from a large number of subjects 



* Quart. .Joum. Micr. Sci., xxi. (1881) pp. 234-91. 



t ' Zur Aetiologie der Infectionskrankheiten,' i. (1S81) pp. 18-198 SeeBot 

 Centralbl. vi. (1881; p. 266. y J ff 



1 JB. Schles. Ges, f. vaterl. Cuitur, kii. (l8S0j p. 65. See Bot. CentralbL vi 

 (1881J p. 379. ' 



§ See this Journal, iii. (1880; p, 310. 



