SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



295 





m MCR05C0PYI | 





CONDUCTED BY J. H. COOKE, F.L.S., F.G.S. 



To 1 v Articles and material relating to Microscopy, 



an.l intended for Science-Gossip, are, in the first instance, to 



be sent, addressed "J. H. Cooke, Thomdate, Lincoln:' 



An Effective Bactericide. — A new German 

 antiseptic called ■ ■ protargol " is a compound of silver 

 and protein. A one-per-cent solution is reported 

 to destroy the bacteria of anthrax and enteric 

 fever. 



Micro-Photography— At a recent meeting of 

 the Royal Society Professor Roberts - Austen 

 exhibited an apparatus for micro -photography 

 which has been brought to such a degree of 

 perfection that by its means the condition in 

 which carbon exists in steel is clearly shown. 

 He demonstrated that under a magnification of 

 i.ooo diameters, steel may be seen to contain 

 minute particles of true diamond. 



Culture Medium for Protozoa.— Schardinger 

 has succeeded in cultivating the mycetozoon Pre/o- 

 il hjs spirogyrat, P.orzi, pure and free of bacteria, 

 in the following medium : about 30 grammes of 

 hay are suspended in 1 litre of water, 1 to 15 

 grammes powdered calcium hydrate added, the 

 whole well shaken and the mixture heated in the 



en for twenty-four to thirty-six hours. It is then 

 filtered, the calcium precipitated in the filtrate by 

 phosphoric acid. The filtrate is mixed with equal 

 parts bouillon, alkalized with soda, and employed 

 as usual with the addition of 1 to 1-5 of agar. 



Phosphorescence of the Limans. — The 

 limans in the neighbourhood of Odessa, that is the 

 salt water lakes on the shore which have already- 

 lost their connection with the sea, are sometimes 

 seen 10 emit a phosphorescent light. As the 

 1 milarts, which renders the water of the 

 Black Sea phosphorescent, does not inhabit the 

 mans, their water was carefully investigated by 

 M Zabdotnyi, who found that all the light is due 

 to an infusorium. Glenodinium, allied to G. cintcum, 

 I the Peridinidae It appears that it is the 

 plasm of the little animal which emits the 

 light 



M. J N. Jauce has been 



conducting investigations on v,m<- of the indigenous 



plant* of Java, and he bai bond ihat out of 



•cies examined, sixty nine are infested 



with an endophytic mycorhira, the filaments of 



b enter ihc tiiiue by perforating the external 



walN of an epidermal cell. The fungus forms 



rangioles, >wecn 25 and 2 ; /< in 



di a meter , within tl the internal layers of 



the il •■ Be. i be 



*"h the I of true symbiosis, the fungus 



hsmfcbing to the 



material* obtained by assimilating the free nitrogen 

 01 the aim 



food matei 



■ 



f.r the 

 purpr/«e of avoidii 



Influence of Nutrient Media on the 

 Development of Fungi.— Messrs. Ray, Schos- 

 takowitsch and Richards have recently been con- 

 ducting experiments on this subject, the results 

 of which are ot considerable interest to micro- 

 botanists. J. Ray's researches were confined chiefly 

 to Sterigmatocystis alba, and he found that while ail 

 of its specific characters were liable to vary, its 

 generic characters were fairly constant. The size of 

 its spores remained constant under all conditions. 

 W. Schostakowitsch found that the temperature 

 and nature of the nutrient fluid greatly affected 

 Mucor proliferus. The spores varied both in size 

 and shape. Mr. H. M. Richards experimented with 

 Aspergillus niger, PenkiUium glaucum and Botrytis 

 cinera, and he found that the growth of these fungi 

 was markedly affected by the character, chemical 

 composition and even the colour of the nutrient 

 medium. 



Food Supply of Fish. — Observers are beginning 

 to trace the connection between the presence of 

 microscopical organisms and the abundance of fish 

 in our lakes, and valuable comparisons have been 

 made between the stomach and intestinal contents 

 of fishes and the organisms found in the water 

 where the catches were made. Mr. G. C. Whipple 

 has, says " Science," given this subject considerable 

 attention, and as it is of considerable importance, it 

 should be vigorously pursued by our fish com- 

 missions. To be of the greatest value it should 

 extend well over the country, and include lakes and 

 ponds sufficiently different in character to enable 

 one to determine the laws governing the nature 

 and distribution of the plankton in various places 

 and under various conditions. Here is new ground 

 for the microscopists of Science-Gossip. Work 

 on the waters of the Broads, the Lake District and 

 Wales, carried on systematically, would furnish 

 valuable data for the understanding of this subject. 

 Latent Life in Seeds and Microbes.— Much 

 of the problem of life is intermingled with that of 

 the vitality of seeds, which is still a matter of 

 difference among biologists. Some hold that there 

 is simply a slowing down of life in the dormant 

 seed, imperceptible change and respiration con- 

 tinuing to take place ; while others believe that the 

 vital machinery is brought to an absolute rest for 

 a time, to be started again when external conditions 

 become favourable. In a recent Royal Society 

 paper, Messrs. Horace T. Brown and F. Escombe 

 pointed out that the former hypothesis overlooks 

 the remarkable evidence available. The late 

 G. J. Romanes kept seeds fifteen months in a 

 vacuum of a millionth of an atmosphere, and also 

 in such a vacuum followed by an atmosphere of 

 carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sul- 

 phide, ether, chloroform, and other gases and 

 vapours, and such treatment had little ellect upon 

 subsequent germination. There could have been 

 no respiration of ordinary kind In 1884, Pictet 

 and 1 . i\i- 1 amlolle exposed microbes lour days In 



a temperature of too below zero C. without effect, 

 and ilw authors have since been enabled, by 

 01 Dewar, to keep seeds al 183 to 192 



below zero lor no 1 , till with no pen eptible 



influence on germination 1 ii cal acl being 



annihilated ai too below zero, molecular inter- 

 1 bange in the protoplai m Itseli Ii disproved. This 

 oi 1 omplete 1 bemii al Inei tnesa in living 

 prptopla im Is likened bj I de 1 andolle to thai ol 

 .•in explostvi tun vhose 1 omponents 1 an 



remain Indefinitely in contacl without combining 

 until a < ertain tempi raturi ii n n hi d 



