378 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVII. No. 427. 



from this calf, and also the appearance of 

 the liver of a pig, which had also been 

 submitted to subcutaneous inoculation with 

 this germ, were shown. In addition, draw- 

 ings showing the comparative results of a 

 subcutaneous inoculation of bovine and 

 human tubercle bacilli in monkeys were 

 presented. These indicated that the bo- 

 vine tubercle bacilli were very much more 

 virulent for the monkey than the human 

 tuberculosis bacilli used. In the discus- 

 sion which followed this paper. Dr. de 

 Sehweinitz further stated that the cultural 

 characteristics of the germ which had pro- 

 duced the tuberculosis in the heifer upon 

 subcutaneous inoculation appeared to be 

 those which some authors claim to be pos- 

 sessed only by the bacilli derived from the 

 bovine species, and that further, whether 

 the germ that killed the heifer was re- 

 garded as a bovine germ or a human germ, 

 the conclusions naturally were of equal 

 value ; for if the germ was of bovine origin, 

 then it seemed that tuberculosis in children 

 could be produced by bovine bacilli. If, 

 on the contrary, the germ was what is com- 

 monly called the human germ, then it was 

 a germ which was virulent for cattle. He 

 also called attention to the fact that the 

 attenuated human germs used in the chem- 

 ical study referred to were the offspring 

 of the same attenuated germs which had 

 been used a number of years ago for the 

 purpose of producing immunity to tuber- 

 culosis in small animals, by subcutaneous 

 inoculation. These results were published 

 at the time, in the Medical News, Decem- 

 ber, 1894. 



Reference was also made to the fact that 

 tuberculin prepared from bovine bacilli, 

 and tuberculin prepared from the virulent 

 or attenuated human bacilli, when tested 

 interchangeably on men and animals, 

 seemed to give the same positive results. 

 A resume of these tuberculin tests was 



published in American 

 uary, 1902. 



in Jan- 



Further Evidence of the Apparent Iden- 

 tity of B. coli and Certain Lactic Acid 

 Bacteria: S. C. Peescott, Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass. 

 Last year it was reported by the authoi* 

 that certain lactic acid bacteria isolated 

 from grains and products of milling gave 

 all the cultural reactions generally regarded 

 as typical of B. coli. In the present work 

 cultures of 'lactic acid bacteria' were iso- 

 lated from various sources apparently free 

 from contamination with faecal matter, and 

 were compared directljr with 23 cultures of 

 B. coli obtained either directly from faeces 

 or from waters knovi;n to be sewage-pol- 

 luted. Of these 61 cultures, 44 gave 

 exactly the same reactions in the culture 

 tubes, 25 of them being lactic acid bac- 

 teria, and 19 typical colon bacilli. These 

 organisms were also found to be alike in 

 their morphological characters. 



A study of the fermentative power 

 showed that the 'lactic acid bacteria' and 

 'colon bacilli' produced approximately the 

 same amount of acid when grown under 

 similar conditions, while organisms of dif- 

 ferent groups, as for example streptococci, 

 gave results showing a marked difference 

 in fermenting power. 



As a final test the effect of inoculation 

 into animals was noted, with the result 

 that lactic acid bacteria and colon bacilli 

 produced the same results when used in 

 the same manner and with like amounts. 

 Subcutaneous injection of 1 c.c. produced 

 dullness and torpor, followed by rise of 

 temperature, while intraperitoneal inocula- 

 tion of 1.5 c.c. produced death within 

 twenty-four hours. 



As a result of the experiments the author 

 believes that the organisms studied are not 

 merely alike in certain characteristics, but 

 are absolutely identical, and thus that or- 



