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striking-, so many fungi occurring in America which have not been observed 
in Europe, where vine-cultivation is such an important industry, and myco- 
logists are so much more numerous. Many of the old species of Schweinitz 
have never been met with here. 
Cincinnobolus Cesatii, De Bary, is a curious mould which grows parasiti- 
cally upon Oidium Tuckeri ; it appears to be common on the Continent, but 
has not yet been observed in this country. — (Journ. of Botany, May 1878.) 
The Connection of Bacilli with Splenic Fever. — Dr. Cossen Ewart publishes 
in the “ Journal of Microscopical Science,” an account of some investiga- 
tions which he has made upon this subject, doubt having of late been thrown 
upon the supposed fact that splenic fever is caused by Bacillus anthracis. 
In the spleen of a mouse which had just died of the disease after being 
inoculated with the plant, the Bacilli were found rod-shaped and motionless. 
In a few hours, the temperature being 30° C. ( = 91° F.), many of these rods 
began to move actively in a wriggling manner, and after continuing in this 
motile state for some time, they either suddenly or gradually settled down 
again ; and then lengthened out into spore-bearing filaments. A mouse in- 
oculated with the spores thus obtained, died in 48 hours of splenic fever. 
The spores are formed in a similar manner to the Chlamydospores of 
Mucor. By Koch and some other observers these spores have been de- 
scribed as germinating at once, and reproducing the rods, but Dr. Ewart 
found that this process was often preceded by the division of the spore into 
four sporules, all of which closely adhere at first, but ultimately become 
free and settle down in colonies. The sporules then germinate and produce 
the rods. The most important morphological conclusion which Dr. Ewart 
draws from these and other observations is that the Micrococcus-, Bacterium - 
and Bacillus-forms, and the spore-bearing hyphge are phases of the same life- 
history. His experiments have been confirmed by other observers. It 
would be unwise to push the suggested analogy between Bacillus and Mucor 
too far, since the true Mucor is a member of the most highly organized 
group of fungi and Bacillus undoubtedly belongs to the lowest. — ( Academy , 
June 22, 1878.) 
Studies on the Mucorinece. — M. Van Tieghem’s third memoir on these 
plants (“ Ann. des Sci. Nat. Bot.,” s6r. vi. tome iv.) contains valuable- 
observations on some points of interest in connexion with the group. 
He first deals with the mutilation and fragmentation of reproductive cells. 
Zygospores of Sporodinia grandis and Spinellvs fusiger were chosen for ex- 
periment on the one hand, and asexual spores of Pilobolus (Edipus, Phy - 
comyces niterns and MoHierella reticulata on the other. It was found to be a 
necessary condition that the body to be mutilated should be proximately 
homogeneous ; so that in the case of zygospores the experimentation must 
occur either before perfect maturity, or after commencement of germination 
when the oil has disappeared. A second condition is that the fragment 
must not be too small. The process adopted was as follows : — Buddings 
from a zygospore germinating in a humid atmosphere were cut off as they 
appeared ; after a time the contents of the Zygospore divided into a number 
of spores, separated by interstitial matter ; the same result was obtained by 
similar treatment of an asexual spore ; and if schizomycetous organisms were- 
admitted into the culture-fluid, these endospores were produced without any 
scission of buds. 
