Makch 31, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



489 



ferential purposes. The preparation of 

 the first is given in Proceedings Boston 

 (1898) Meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science ; that 

 of the second will be given in the fii-st vol- 

 ume of the writer's monograph on 'Bac- 

 terial Diseases of Plants' (Carnegie Insti- 

 tution). It is easy by this method to 

 prepare a silicate jelly free from glycerine 

 and at the same time having a moist, 

 smooth (untorn) surface, well adapted to 

 the growth of many bacteria and not at all 

 to that of others. The nutrient salts used 

 were those of Fermi's solution. 



Introductory Remarks on Morphology of 

 Bacteria: H. W. Hill, Boston Board of 

 Health Laboratory. 



The writer points out the chaotic state of 

 the evidence relating to morphology, and 

 the difficulty of determining what is the 

 normal morphology of bacteria, supports 

 the acceptance of artificial standards for 

 temporary purposes and urges very muah 

 more detailed attention to every phase of 

 morphology than has as yet generally been 

 given to it, as a basis for a more exact ab- 

 stract science of morphology. He recom- 

 mends also more attention to the direct 

 continuous microscopic examination of bac- 

 teria during the processes of fission, spore 

 formation, spore germination, etc. 



A Peculiar Spirillum Showing Rosette 

 Formation: Mabel Jones, University 

 of Chicago. 



The organism in question was isolated 

 in October, 1904, from the Chicago water 

 supply and also from Chicago sewage. 



The organism is a short, rather plump 

 'comma,' with pointed ends, frequently 

 growing out into straight or spiral fila- 

 ments or forming 's '-shaped figures and 

 semicircles. 



There is a singular tendency towards 

 definite rosette formation. This grouping 

 is shown in cover-slip films and is appa- 



rently effected by a uniform grouping of 

 the descendants of a single organism, and 

 is in no sense an agglutinative phenomenon. 

 The flagella, pointing towards the center 

 of the rosette, stain by ordinary stains and 

 add to the singularity of the picture pre- 

 sented by these chrysanthemum-like clus- 

 ters. 



Glucose-agar under anaerobic conditions 

 seems to favor the formation of rosettes. 



(Will probably be published in the 

 Centralbl. f. Bahteriol., etc.) 



Notes on the Chemical Constitution of 

 Bacillus Tiiherculosis: M. Dorset and 

 J. A. Emery, U. S. Bureau of Animal 

 Industry. 



The authors repoi-t having found in the 

 bodies of tubercle bacilli two classes of 

 substances soluble in water. One portion 

 of the ether extract is not saponifiable by 

 the usual methods and possesses many of 

 the characteristics belonging to the higher 

 alcohols of the aliphatic series. This alco- 

 hol is completely acid-fast and it seems 

 probable that the characteristic staining 

 properties of tubercle bacilli are due to its 

 presence in them. The second portion of 

 the ether extract is easily saponifiable and 

 consists of several different substances the 

 nature of which has not yet been deter- 

 mined. 



(To be published in Annual Report, 

 Bureau of Animal Industry, 1904.) 



TJie Metaholism of Chromogcnic Bacteria: 

 M. X. Sullivan, Brown University. 



I. The biochemical study of bacteria is 

 carried on best in simple, synthetic culture 

 media. 



II. Some bacteria show little power to 

 grow upon synthetic media; it is probable 

 that the power to grow upon such media 

 can be developed; thus we may accommo- 

 date the medium to the organism or adapt 

 the organism to the medium. 



