ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
329 
Dr. S. Stephenson * confirms the observations of Weeks, Moran, and 
Beach relative to contagious ophthalmia. In all such cases a bacillus 
75 fx-1 /i long is demonstrable, the numbers of the organism present 
being directly proportional to the severity of the case. This bacillus is 
found in and upon the cells of the discharge, and also free in the liquor. 
It is easily stained with alkaline methylen-blue, but is decolorised by 
Gram’s method. The most suitable cultivation medium was found to be 
Kanthack and Stephens’ serum-agar. 
Actinomycetic Form of the Tubercle Bacillus.f — According to MM. 
Y. Babes and C. Levaditi, the bacillus of tubercle should be definitely 
placed in the same group as Actinomyces. This view is based on obser- 
vations made on the brains of rabbits which had been infected by sub- 
virulent cultures of human tubercle. In these, clumps of bacilli were 
found to have undergone a peculiar modification. The centre of the 
clumps, when stained by the Ehrlich method, showed a network of fila- 
ments resembling in general appearance a mycele of tubercle bacilli. 
The central mycele is surrounded by a zone of clubs, not infrequently 
connected with the ends of the mycele. The clubs do not stain by the 
Ehrlich method, and are about the same size as those of Actinomyces. 
The clubs are resistant to the action of acids and alkalies, and can be 
stained by the methods adopted for demonstrating the clubs of Actino- 
myces. 
Serum Diagnosis with Agglutination Reaction in Typhoid Fever, f— 
The agglutination reaction, say Prof. F. Widal and M. A. Sicard, is 
nothing else than a reaction of the infection period, and is usually mani- 
fested during the first days of the malady ; and, though sometimes 
delayed, is but rarely wanting. Moreover the agglutination phenomenon 
is not a vital reaction, at least as far as the microbes are concerned. 
When a negative result is obtained from the examination of a suspected 
case, the probability is against typhoid ; but the examination should be 
repeated on several consecutive days. The probability against typhoid 
increases directly with the duration of the disease ; that is to say, a nega- 
tive result at a late period is final. On the other hand, a positive result 
should be considered as a certain sign of typhoid. 
Presence of the Agglutinative Property in the Blood-Plasma and 
other Body-Juices. § — MM. Ch. Achard and R. Bensaude made experi- 
ments which tend to show that the agglutinative property of blood-plasma 
does not reside in the leucocytes. The blood used was rendered 
incoagulable by means of leech extract/and then filtered through cotton- 
wool. The cotton-wool was washed with normal serum, and the fluid 
thus obtained was found to contain 3000 white to 6000 red corpuscles 
per cubic millimetre. This fluid, so rich in leucocytes, was not found 
to possess a stronger agglutinative action than the serum devoid of white 
corpuscles. 
Aetiology of Rabies. 1 1 — Dr. G. Memmo isolated from the cerebro- 
spinal fluid, from the parotid, and from saliva of man and animals, 
* Lancet, 1897, i. pp. 1531-3. ; f Comptes Rendus, exxiv. (1897) pp. 791-3. 
X Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xi. (1897) pp. 353-432. 
§ Comptes Rendus, cxxiii. (1896) pp. 503-5. 
|] Centralbl. Bakt. u. Par., l te Abt., xxi. (1897) pp. 657-64 (1 pi.). 
