tention, it is not neceBsary to argue the question. I have examined diseased 

 larvae from Canada, from Earope (France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, 

 Italy and England), Cuba, and 13 States of the Union, ranging from New 

 York to California and from Michigan to Florida, and have succeeded in 

 isolating B. alvei from all of them. It is true that some of the cultures show 

 certain differences, but they have not been sufficiently pronounced to consti- 

 tute even a well marked variety of the species. The pathogenicity of the 

 bacillus no doubt varies in different countries ; of that we have abundant 

 evidence, and the possible explanation is given by Bertrand, who thinks that 

 where bei s have been kept for many years the disease has existed for a long 

 time and remains in an endemic state ; but there has been produced in these 

 countries a race of bees which have acquired a relative immunity, which con- 

 siderably diminishes the effects of the disease, and enables apicalturists to 

 treat it more easily. In new countries into which the disease has been intro- 

 duced it rages with great virulence, and remedies giving good results in the 

 older countries are worthless in the new. As an example of this statement, 

 we have the difierent methods of treatment used in Canada and in Europe. 



Bertrand (32) reports the disease as being present in every country in 

 Earope. Benton (33) says that he has never met with the disease during the 

 six years he has kept bees in the Orient. Delia Rocca (7) described a terrible 

 epidemic in the Levant in 1780. Bovill (34) says that he has never seen it 

 in Cyprus. In Africa, Feuillebois (35) reports it in Algeria, and Bochatey 

 (81) in Tunis. In Australit it is present in all the colonies, and especially 

 so in New South Wales (86) and South Australia (37). Brickwell (38) re- 

 ports that New Zealand is full of the disease. 



The Organism 



Bacillus Alvei, Cheshire and W. Oheyne, 1885, from the larvse of bees 

 suffering from the disease known as foul brood, la loque (Fr.) and faul brut 

 (Ger.). 



Morphological Characteristics. — In form the organism is a slender bacil- 

 lus, with ends slightly pointed and rounded. " In the larval juices it is about 

 7,5(10 of an inch in length and jojoo >n breadth. On agar the bacilli vary con- 

 siderably in size, averaging ^jgo inch, some as small as lom ii^ch, and others as 

 large as jjoc inch. When they have attained the latter size, division of the 

 rod seems to begin. They are always somewhat pointed at their ends. Their 

 average breadth is ^am inch, ranging from 35J00 to 25,000 inch (23). Klamann 

 (25) states that a clear space often appears in bacilli with pointed ends. 

 From agar cultures 24 honrs old, at 37° 0., the bacilli average 4 /^ in length 

 and 1.0 fj. in breadth. On gelatine cultures, grown at 22° C, they are 

 somewhat shorter. They grow singly, but occasionally form chains of various 

 length. 



Stains. — With the ordinary aniline stains the bacilli colour rather 

 badly — Eisenberg (39) and Klamann (25). The best stains are methelene 

 blue and methyl violet. The bacilli accept Gram's stain, but the spores are 

 not colored by it. I find the most satisfactory stain is methyl violet. 



Capsule. — No capsule has been demonstrated by Welch's method. 



Flagella — The bacilli are actively motile and possess a single flagellum 

 at one pole. The motility of the bacillus is quite pronounced in fresh cultures 

 obtained from bouillon, agar and gelatine. The flagella stain by Pitfield's, 

 Loefflers's and Van Ermegen's method. 



Spore Formation. — Spores are formed by the bacillus, and are large 



