452 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



years is duo to Phoma uvicola, to Peronospora, or to " black rot." Whether 

 the rottenness be dry or moist, he was able to detect, with sufiQcient enlarge- 

 ment (600 diams.), the invariable i^resence of a special bacterium, for which, 

 however, he does not propose any specific name, but was able to cultivate 

 it on peptonized and sterilized gelatin. The difference between dry and 

 wet decay he attributes to the state of the berry and of the atmosphere, the 

 former apj)earing esjiecially on green, the latter on ripe grapes. The leaves 

 of the grape-vine have been described by Viala and Kavaz as being also 

 subject to the attacks of a bacterium, which is probably identical with that 

 of the berry, though this has not been demonstrated. 



Destruction of Pathogenic Schizomycetes in the organism.^ — Herr 



Ribbert states that after the injection of small quantities of spores rabbits 

 do not die but remain healthy. From the examination of the organs at 

 various intervals after injection, it was found that a regular germination 

 of the spores did not occur. After six hours they were found, especially 

 in the liver, to be surrounded by leucocytes. The collection of w^hito 

 corpuscles, among which the spores were destroyed, in some few days led 

 to the formation of small nodules, dilatation of the capillaries, and com- 

 pression of the liver cells. With the death of the fungi the leucocytes 

 disappeared, the liver cells recovered frequently with the formation of 

 giant cells, which often contained spore-remains. In the lungs, also, 

 giant cells were formed from the endothelia, and these also took up the 

 fungi. In both organs the spores only came to an imperfect germination 

 like a fine radiation, their regular development being hindered by the 

 protoidasmic investment chiefly produced by the leucocytes. 



Lepra BacillLf — Dr. P- Guttman, from frequent examinations of a case 

 of lepra occurring in a girl twelve and a half years of age, was able to 

 confirm the observations of previous writers. Unstained bacilli examined 

 in distilled water, with 1/12 oil-immersion, showed lively movements both 

 when within the cells and when lying free without, W^hen stained the 

 bacilli were found to behave as previously reported by Neisser and Koch. 

 The author is of oj^inion that lepra bacilli stain more quickly than those 

 of tubercle, and as a point in the differential diagnosis of these two from 

 cover-glass preparations, he remarks that lepra bacilli are very often 

 found within the cells, while those of tubercle are rarely or never seen in 

 similar situations. 



Micro-parasite of Variola.l — Dr. A. Marotta has found that there con- 

 stantly exists, in the lymph of the variola vesicle which has not yet sup- 

 purated, a si^ecific micrococcus. This occurs as tetrads. After suppuration 

 other cocci appear ; these are, for the most part, the Micrococcus albus, which 

 greatly resembles the micro- parasite described by other authors. 



This micrococcus (tetrad) is easily cultivated in nutritive gelatin and in 

 agar rendered alkaline, in coagulated ox- serum, on boiled egg, but not on 

 potato. It seems to flourish best on decidedly alkaline media. The 

 colonies are of an orange-yellow colour, thick, and raised above the level 

 of the nutritive medium. As inoculations made on calves, even with, the 

 seventh generation of the culture, produced pustules perfectly identical 

 with those of vaccinia, Dr. Marotta draws the conclusion that this tetrad 

 form is the specific micrococcus of variola. Inoculations of dogs gave only 

 negative results. As subcutaneous injections did not produce any specific 

 lesion, the inference is drawn that the tetrad coccus has nothing in common 

 with pyogenic cocci. 



* Bot. Centralbl., xxviii. (1886) p. 396. (Bcr. .^9 Versamml. Deutsch. Naturf. 

 Aeizte, 18St!.) t Berl. Klin. Wocheutchr, 1885, No. 6. 



X Atti K. Aucud. Liucei— Rend., ii. (188G) pp. 216-7. 



i 



