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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 647 



stained and the flagella, being slender and 

 enveloped deeply in the mucilage are not 

 distinguished. In these parts, however, the 

 cells are beautifully contrasted with the 

 dark background and their internal struc- 

 ture is clearly shown. Saturated alcoholic 

 solutions of methyl blue, night blue or 

 fuchsin may be used instead of saturated 

 alcoholic gentian violet. A film prepared 

 and stained as above, then flooded an in- 

 stant with Lugol's solution, is still more 

 intensely and darkly stained. There is no 

 added value to be gained by using any two 

 or even three of these substances together. 



Commercial Cultures of Pseudomonas 



radicicola: H. A. Harding and M. J. 



Pbucha. 



During the past two years cultures of P. 

 radicicola dried on cotton have been oifered 

 commercially to the agricultural public. 



At the Ann Arbor meeting we reported 

 the results of an examination of eighteen 

 such cultures, all of which were found to 

 be worthless for practical purposes. A 

 portion of these examinations were done in 

 cooperation with Professor F. D. Chester, 

 of Delaware, Dr. E. M. Houghton and Dr. 

 C. E. Marshall, of Michigan, and Dr. J. G. 

 Lipman, of New Jersey. 



Results from tests of similar inoculated 

 cotton cultures have now been given out 

 from sixteen agricultural experiment sta- 

 tions and in only one ease have they ob- 

 tained satisfactory results from such com- 

 mercial cultures. 



Further discussion of these cultures 

 would be needless but for the fact that one 

 of the commercial companies is now putting 

 its product upon the market in metal con- 

 tainers, claiming thereby to obviate the 

 objections which had been raised against 

 the inoculated cotton cultures packed in 

 parchment paper and tin foil as was the 

 case last season. 



We have this season examined fourteen 



commercial cultures of P. radicicola which 

 were in such metal containers and find them 

 as worthless as those examined last season. 



Bacteria of the Dairy Wells near Washing- 

 ton, D. C: Karl F. Kellerman and T. 

 D. Beckwith, Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry, Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Sixty wells and springs from as many 

 different dairy farms have been examined 

 and these are believed to fairly represent 

 the conditions obtaining in the 800-odd 

 other dairy water supplies. Of the 60 

 wells examined, 22 contained below 500 

 bacteria to the cubic centimeter, and of this 

 number but six showed the presence of 

 Bacillus coli in samples of one cubic 

 centimeter. Nine showed the presence of 

 between 500 and 1,000 bacteria to the cubic 

 centimeter, and of these three showed the 

 presence of B. coli. Nineteen showed the 

 presence of 1,000 to 5,000 bacteria tothe 

 cubic centimeter, and of these ten showed 

 the presence of B. coli. Four showed the 

 presence of 5,000 to 10,000 bacteria to the 

 ciibic centimeter, and of these three showed 

 the presence of B. coli. Six showed the 

 presence of 10,000 to 30,000 bacteria to the 

 cubic centimeter, and of these five showed 

 the presence of B. coli. 



Some Relations of Bacteria in MUk: C. E. 

 Marshall and Bell Farrand, Michigan 

 Agricultural College. 



Influence of Temperature on the Func- 

 tional Activity of Lactic Bacteria: C. E. 

 Marshall and Louise Rademacher, 

 Michigan Agricultural College. 



Lactic Acid Bactei-ia in Milk: D. H. 



Bebgey, M.D. 



Conn and other authorities report the 

 occurrence of two principal types of lactic 

 bacteria in milk. These two types of or- 

 ganisms correspond to Bacterium lactis 

 acidi of Leichmann and Bacterium acidi 



