460 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 273. 



examinations of the udders of nineteen 

 freshly slaughtered milch cows. Owing 

 to the prohibitive expense of studj'ing the 

 udders of sound cows, it was deemed expe- 

 dient to use those of cows slaughtered after 

 condemnation by the tuberculin test. So 

 far as possible, the udders of only slightly 

 diseased cows were used. Samples of the 

 fore milk were taken, and before slaughter- 

 ing, the udder was milked as thoroughly as 

 possible. The udder was removed from the 

 carcass immediately after death and taken 

 to a sheltered spot, for the bacterial exami- 

 nation. In each quarter in successson, a 

 flamed knife was used to make an incision 

 extending from the dorsal to the ventral 

 region of the gland, and of such depth as 

 to expose the tissue in the vicinity of its 

 vertical axis. Bits of the glandular tissue 

 were transferred with aseptic precautions 

 to tubes of gelatin, and properly labeled to 

 show the region from which the culture 

 was made. After returning to the labora- 

 tory, the gelatin was liquefied at a gentle 

 heat and poured in Petri dishes. By com- 

 paring the colonies appearing on the plates 

 after several days, with those in cultures 

 made from fore milk, it was possible to 

 show that the same organism may occur 

 in the fore milk in all parts of the udder. 



The evidence appe^f s to warrant a modi- 

 fication of the statements concerning the 

 place at which milk first becomes contami- 

 nated by micro-organisms. 



The writer concludes that, while milk is 

 sterile when secreted, it may immediately 

 become contaminated by the bacteria which 

 normally inhabit the lactiferous ducts of the 

 udder. (Published in Bulletin 178, Cornell 

 University Agriculture Exper't Station.) 



Exhibition oj cultures and stained specimens of 

 •plague bacillus from tioo cases of Bubonic 

 plague admitted to New York harbor, Novem- 

 ber, 1899: Wm. Hallock Park, M. D. 

 Three slides were shown . The first was 



from a twenty-four-hour agar culture show- 

 ing, among rather short thick bacilli, pe- 

 culiar long thick thread forms. The second 

 was from a twenty-four-hour bouillon cul- 

 ture showing short almost coccus forms in 

 chains. The third was from the spleen 

 of guinea pigs dying of septicsema, show- 

 ing characteristic darker staining of the 

 ends of the bacilli. Cultures were also 

 shown on agar and gelatin. These cultures 

 were of especial interest in that they were 

 obtained from two persons, the captain and 

 the cook, who arrived on a steamer from 

 Santos, Brazil, in December, 1899, where 

 the plague was prevalent. The two men 

 when they arrived showed simply a large 

 bubo in the lower inguinal glands. The 

 temperature was nearly normal, and they 

 did not feel ill. They had been sick 

 about eleven days. They obtained the in- 

 fection from a companion who had died 

 and whom they nursed. Pus was removed 

 from these bubos with a hypodermic needle. 

 The pus from both cases contained the bu- 

 bonic bacilli although in small numbers 

 either living or dead. In culture they 

 grew exactly like two other cultures which 

 Dr. E. H. Wilson had obtained from India. 

 Their violence was slightly greater than 

 Dr. Wilson's cultures. 



Some suggestions on the study of systematic bac- 

 teriology : Frbd'k D. Chester. 

 Attention is called to a work now in 

 progress in the arrangement of the better 

 known species of bacteria. Certain typical 

 forms or species of bacteria exist. These 

 latter present certain definite morphologic, 

 biologic, cultural, and perhaps pathogenic 

 characters, which establish the t^'pes, inde- 

 pendent of minor variations. 



The most marked of these types become 

 the centers of groups, around which are 

 gathered related species and varieties. 



Migula's system is followed as the basis 

 or generic classification. 



