r>08 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Tlic anthdi- akindons entirely liis tlieoiy previously pnljlislied,* 

 that the fungi have origiuatctl by degeneration from plants containing 

 chlorophyll. 



Beggiatoa roseo-persecina.f — Herr V. Kichtcr has made a study 

 of the various organisms which cause a red or jiink colour in water, and 

 refers a large number of them to various stages in the history of develop- 

 ment of Bcijgiatoa roseo-persecinn Zopf. In its coccus condition it is 

 known as Protococcus roseus Mencg., P. persccinus Mcncg., P. roscn- 

 pcrseciniis Ktz., Pletirococcits roseo-'persec'mus Rab., and Ajjhauncapsa 

 violacca Griin. In its bacillus condition it has been described as 

 Aplianotlicce imrpurascens A. Br., Poh/ciistis ichihyohJahc h. i>nrpH- 

 rascens A. Br., P. violacea Itzig. (not Ktz.), and Si/nechnr.ocats roseo- 

 persccinns and S. violascens Griin. ; while Chroococciis ruhujinosus Rab., 

 and probably Gloeocapsa hcematodes Ktz., consist of encysted cocci of 

 the same species. 



Influence of Sunlight on the Vitality of Germs.t — M. E. Duclaux 

 records the eft'ccts produced on germs of Tj/rotJirix, cultivated in milk 

 or in Liebig's extract, when exposed in the dry state to the direct 

 action of the sun's rays in August, as contrasted with those resulting 

 from exposure to an equivalent temperature but protected from the 

 sun. Under the latter condition the germs were never sterilized. 

 Spores derived from a milk cultivation when exposed to the sun were 

 atfccted as follows : — after fifteen days" exposure, no cflfect ; after one 

 month's exjiosure, development was slightly retarded ; after two 

 months' exposiu-c, two batches out of four remained sterile. With 

 pporcs from a cultivation of Liebig's extract, the progression was more 

 rapid and sharply defined. In exp: riments made simultaneously 

 with the preceding, one out of three batches was sterile after fifteen 

 days' exposure, two out of three after a month's exposure, and all 

 three of those submitted to two months' sunlight. 



The light of the sun is consequently fifty times as active as its 

 heat, and sunlight is an hygienic agent of great power. Moreover, it 

 follows that germs of the same microbe, identical in appearance, may 

 not possess the same vitality. 



Micrococcus in Acute Infectious Osteoniyelitis.§ — Dr. F. Krausc 

 finds in the matter of abscesses which have not yet been in contact 

 with the air, two micrococci, one of which is extraordinarily patho- 

 genous and pyogenous ; causing, in rabbits and guinea-pigs, an acute 

 infectious disease soon resulting in death, which is especially localized 

 in the motile organs. 



Chemistry of Bacillus subtilis.|| — Herr G. Vandevcldc has made 

 experiments to ascertain the changes produced by the growth of 

 bacilli in solutions of extract of beef (containing 2-5, 5, and 10 gr. of 

 extract to 500 gr. of water). The solutions were boiled and a few 

 drops of a piu'e cultivation of Bacillus suhtilis added. Within 24 hours 



* See this Journal, i. (18S1) p. 920. 

 t Hed\vio;ia, xsiii. (1884) pp. 177-80. 

 t Comptos Eciiflu.«. c. (1SS.5) pp. 119-21. 



§ Fortschr. d. Medeciii, ii. (1881). Sec Bot. Centralbl., xxi. (1885) p. 112. 

 II Zeitschr. f. Physiol. Clitm., viii. (1884) pp. 367-90. See Journ. Chcm. Soc. 

 — Abstr., xlviii. (188.5) p. 287. 



