December 6, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



799 



each case being the amount of N/20 NaOH in 

 C.C., necessary to neutralize one cubic centi- 

 meter of the broth, phenolphthalein being used 

 as an indicator. Gas formation coincided with 

 acidity except in the case of dextrin. With 

 this medium acidity was produced in every 

 case, but gas was formed only by cultures 7, 

 8, 12, 14, 17 and 21. 



Inspection of the table shows that all the 

 cultures produced acid in the two monosac- 

 charids; in the polysaccharids, lactase, malt- 

 ose and xylose, and in the starch-like body, 

 dextrin, the final acidity produced being 

 notably uniform except in the case of dextrin. 

 None of the cultures fermented inulin or 

 nutrose actively, though slight acidity was re- 

 corded in one or two cases. No gas was f onned 

 in any case in these two media. The other 

 four substances, the polysaccharids, saccharose 

 and raffinose and the two alcohols show diag- 

 nostic differences. Seven of the cultures fer- 

 mented all of these substances; one fermented 

 all but dulcite; one all but saccharose; and 

 one attacked raffinose and dulcite. These ten 

 cultures may be roughly grouped together as 

 organisms of high fermentative power. None 

 of the other fifteen strains produced acid in 

 either saccharose or raffinose. Smith" long 

 ago pointed out that saccharose was attacked 

 by some bacteria of the colon group, and not 

 by others. Raffinose is evidently acted on by 

 the same organisms which attack saccharose; 

 and it is of interest to note that these two 

 polysaccharides differ from lactose and maltose 

 in lacking the aldehyde group which shows it- 

 self in the reduction of Fehling's solution. 

 The group of organisms, which possess the 

 power of fermenting saccharose, was distin- 

 guished by Dunham as B. coli communior, 

 and by Ford as B. communior, the name B. 

 coli being restricted to the type which fails 

 to ferment saccharose. On this basis, Nos. 3, 

 5, 6, 11, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24 and 25 in the table 

 would be related to B. com,munior, No. 11 

 varying in failing to act on saccharose, No. 14 

 failing to ferment saccharose and mannite 

 and No. 15 failing to act on dulcite. Of these 

 ten cultures, only No. 14 formed gas in 

 dextrin. 



""Wilder Quarter-Century Book," Ithaca, 1893. 



The other fifteen strains are typical B. coli, 

 not attacking saccharose or raffinose; but 

 among them several subgroups may be dis- 

 tinguished according to their action on the 

 alcohols and dextrin. Six cultures, Nos. 2, 

 9, 13, 16, 18 and 20, fermented both alcohols 

 but formed no gas in dextrin. Four cultures, 

 Nos. 7, 12, 17 and 21, fermented both alcohols 

 and did form gas in dextrin. Nos. 4 and 8 

 formed no acid in the alcohols. Nos. 1, 10 

 and 19 produced acid in dulcite but not in 

 mannite and no gas in dextrin. 



Whether these differences are of systematic 

 significance can only be determined by the ex- 

 amination of a larger series of cultures. Mac- 

 Conkey,' in a study of 480 coli-like organisms 

 from feces, found 120 which fermented neither 

 saccharose nor dulcite, 178 which fermented 

 dulcite but not saccharose, 110 which fer- 

 mented both saccharose and dulcite and 72 

 which fermented saccharose but not dulcite. 

 Our results, classified in the same way, and 

 ignoring the action iipon raffinose and man- 

 nite, show 2 cultures in the first group, 15 in 

 the second, 7 in the third and 1 in the fourth. 

 C.-E. A. WiNSLow 

 L. T. Walker 



Massachusetts Institute of Technology 



CVRHENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY 

 AND CLIMATOLOGY 



MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW 



No. 8, Vol. XXXV., Monthly Weather Re- 

 view, 1907, contains the following articles: 



G. N. Coffey : " Influence of Temperature 

 and Moisture upon the Eate of Growth of 

 Tobacco " ; review of Bulletin 39, Bureau of 

 Soils, on " Effect of Shading on Soil Condi- 

 tions," dealing with experiments on tobacco 

 grown under shade at Tariffville, Conn. The 

 conclusion is : the" soil moisture was always 

 sufficient in quantity; the relative humidity 

 had little, if any, influence on the rate of 

 growth, but a decided rise or fall in tempera- 

 ture was followed by an acceleration or dimi- 

 nution, respectively, in the rate of growth of 

 the plants. 



W. A. Bentley : " Studies of Frost and Ice 

 Crystals." This paper is intended as a com- 



^ Journal of Hygiene, V., 333. 



