84 HISTORICAL NOTES ON BEE DISEASES. 
Maassen says, was obviously due to an acid which was present. He 
likened the condition to that obtaimed in cultures in those artificial 
media in which a sugar is present. Maassen suggests that the death 
of Streptococcus apis under these conditions is not without signifi- 
_cance if this organism is the cause of the disease. 
The feeding of pure cultures of Streptococcus apis to healthy colo- 
nies gave negative results. He reports that negative results were 
obtained also when healthy colonies were fed larve contaming the 
cocci with no Bacillus alver present. When similar larve, however, 
were fed to healthy bees together with a suspension of the spores of 
Bacillus alver he reports that the disease was produced. 
Having considered the etiology of the ““mild”’ form of foul brood 
(European foul brood), Maassen took up for consideration the cause 
of the so-called ‘‘ virulent’’ form of the disease (American foul brood). 
This latter disease, he says, is far more widespread in Germany than 
is the former. From 347 samples of diseased brood examined in five 
years, 294, almost 90 per cent, were affected with the “‘virulent” 
form of the disease. In this form he usually found Bacillus branden- 
burgiensis. This species was so named by him because his first 
experience with it was in a sample from the Province of Branden- 
burg, Prussia. Maassen describes the morphology and cultural char- 
acters of Bacillus brandenburgiensis. He says that this species is 
the cause of the foul brood most commonly found in Germany. 
Maassen also says that he found spirochete-like forms (p. 73) in 
the unstained decaying ‘‘foul-brood’’ mass. He considers them a 
good diagnostic agent in the virulent form of. the disease. He says 
further that in the progress of his investigations he found Spirochete 
apis to be nothing more than tufts of the flagella of Bacillus branden-, 
burgiensis (p. 82). He also says that after great difficulty two 
media were found on which Bacillus brandenburgiensis grew well. 
One was agar made from bee larve (p. 62), and the other was 
agar made from the brains of calf or of pig. Maassen reports that 
he has produced disease by feeding cultures of Bacillus branden- 
burgiensis. Kach colony fed received the cultures from 10 to 20 
tubes. When considerable culture was fed the disease appeared in 
from 6 to 10 days after the feeding of the colony. He states that the 
disease is present in America, and that a bacillus has been found in 
it which has been named Bacillus larve. 
Maassen has therefore confirmed most of the facts stated in the 
paper (p. 80) which was received by him at least four months before 
his was published. 
The following is a brief summary of Maassen’s paper: 
1. He mentions that he has encountered in his studies two forms 
oi foul brood. ‘These were described by Dzierzon and others. 
