30 HISTORICAL NOTES ON BEE DISEASES. 
The sample of comb which Cheshire gave to Cheyne for examination 
then was considered by Cheshire to be foul brood, and therefore was 
thought by the latter to be a sample of the only form of the disease 
that exists under this name. Further Cheyne writes, ‘‘selecting cells 
which were closed, but which Mr. Cheshire thought contained dis- 
eased larve, * * *.” This statement indicates that Cheyne 
was unfamiliar with the gross appearance of the disease as it is found 
in the combs. After uncapping the cells containing foul-brood larve, 
he further writes, ‘‘these larvee were dead, of a yellowish colour, 
and almost liquid, * * *.” Capped cells occur more often in 
American foul brood, but are not rare in European foul brood. The 
yellowish color and the almost liquid condition are symptoms which 
would rather strongly suggest that the sample which he examined was 
European foul brood. Numerous rods were found microscopically in 
the diseased larvee. Cultures were made in gelatin and in agar. The 
bacteria found in the larve and those which appeared in the cultures 
by comparison seemed to be the same. The morphology and cultural 
characters of this bacillus (Bacillus alvet) were carefully studied. 
Concerning the method by which multiplication takes place, Cheyne 
writes: 
The bacilli appear to grow mainly by fission, but I have seen appearances which 
seem to me only explicable on the supposition that they also grow by sending out buds 
from one end. 
A study of the germination of the spores was made, using the 
hangineg-drop preparation. A drop of bouillon was placed on a cover- 
glass, inoculated with the spores of Bacillus alvei, and inverted over a 
cell in a glass slide. Preparations made in this manner were placed 
at a temperature favorable for the growth of the bacteria, and from 
time to time studies were made of them by the aid of the microscope. 
He writes: 
In three hours the first indication of sprouting of these spores becomes evident. 
The stained part of the spore loses its oval shape, becomes elongated, and is soon seen 
to burst through the spore-capsule at one part. 
From this it is not possible to know whether he observed the capsule 
to burst on the side or at the pole, but the figure to which he refers 
shows the rod bursting through the capsule at or near the pole. 
Having studied the germination of the spores, he proceeded to — 
study the formation of the spores in the rod. In doing this two 
methods were employed. The first was by use of the hanging drop, 
similar to that used in his study of the germination. By this method 
he observed in one preparation that most of the rods were beginning 
to form spores in 23 hours, while in another preparation where more © 
bouillon was used no evidence of spore formation was present during 
