May 5, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



711 



On December 10 a second lot of heads was 

 secured in the same manner from the same 

 field, and fifteen heads were treated as before; 

 of these, four difl^erent heads yielded organ- 

 isms exhibiting the above reactions character- 

 istic of the colon group, the gas from the dex- 

 trose fermentation tubes in this series being 

 more nearly that of the true colon type, vary- 

 ing from thirty to fifty per cent, and with a 

 ratio of two to one. 



On January 11 eleven more heads which 

 had been kept in the glass tubes in the labora- 

 tory were subjected to the same procedure and 

 one gave exactly the reactions of the B. colt 

 communis. In all, therefore, at different 

 times thirty-foT;ir heads from this field of rye 

 were studied and from six of them organisms 

 were isolated giving the reactions of the colon 

 bacillus with the ordinary media. It will be 

 recalled that these heads were taken at random 

 over the whole field after they had stood 

 through the storms of the fall, and snow of 

 the early winter. Other heads of the rye gave 

 indications of these acid forms, but did not 

 exhibit the reactions typical of the colon 

 group of organisms so decisively as those in- 

 cluded above. 



These results possess considerable interest 

 from both the theoretical and practical stand- 

 points. The question as to their origin first 

 naturally arises. It is evident that either: 

 (a) Colon forms must have been transported 

 through the air as dust or carried by insects 

 contaminated with animal excrement and thus 

 deposited on the grain; or, (h) on these grain 

 heads bacteria normally occur which in the 

 several cultural processes exhibit most marked 

 resemblances or absolutely correspond to the 

 B. coli communis, or the colon group. 



On the first assumption it is difficult to ex- 

 plain the persistence of these forms on grain, 

 and especially on so large a proportion of the 

 heads of grain distributed over an unfertilized 

 field far removed from travel. If, however, 

 this view be untenable, the other proposition 

 must be accepted, viz., that forms of bacteria 

 occur on natural grains closely resembling- in 

 their habit the distinctively faecal forms, and 

 which in our present methods of study can 

 not be distinguished from them. It is ex- 



tremely suggestive that these forms are so 

 commonly present on most of the cereals thus 

 far studied, being found even, as shown above, 

 on standing grain before its harvesting, with 

 the probabilities so against any contact con- 

 tamination. 



Further, the relation of these forms to the 

 study of the pollution of natural waters is of 

 the utmost importance. Whatever may be the 

 source of the original seeding individual, the 

 fact of their presence on the grain-heads sug- 

 gests sources for the so-called colon bacilli in 

 streams other than direct sewage pollution, and 

 the presence of such ' colon forms ' must be 

 interpreted most carefully. Certainly the old 

 hard and fast rule concerning the significance 

 of the presence of any ' colon forms ' as prima 

 facie evidence of sewage pollution must needs 

 be most discriminatingly applied. 



It is unfortunate that the season of the year 

 and locality where these experiments were car- 

 ried out requires the postponement of further 

 investigation until another season. Mean- 

 while the writer would value any suggestions 

 or data bearing on this study, especially from 

 the agricultural experiment stations, the pub- 

 lications from which may contain researches 

 on these grain organisms which thus far have 

 not fallen under his notice. 



Erastus G. Smith, 

 Research Associate. 



Sanitary Research Laboratory, 



Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 



ALTITUDE and ACCLIMATIZATION IN THE TROPICS. 



In a recent sunnnary of the ' Report of the 

 Census of the Philippines ' (published April 

 8) which appears in the National Oeographic 

 Magazine for April, 1905, the following sen- 

 tences are found : " That long exposure to the 

 climate is enervating there can be no doubt, 

 but the effect is easily avoided by periodical 

 changes to a colder climate. This has been 

 conclusively proven by the old Scotch, English 

 and other white residents, who, after a resi- 

 dence of over forty years, broken by suck 

 removal?, enjoy excellent health, Formerly 

 it was necessary to take a sea voyage in order 



