576 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
as to the aetiology of the foot and mouth disease. Two organisms living 
in close symbiosis are described. The one is a fluorescing bacillus, much 
resembling Bacillus pyocyaneus ; the other is a higher fungus, possibly 
an Ascomycete, which showed itself to be highly polymorphic. Inocu- 
lation with small quantities of potato culture produced an eruption of 
vesicles, while the injection of a large quantity ended in haemorrhagic 
septicaemia. 
Bacteriology of Pertussis.* — Dr. H. Koplik has isolated from the 
sputum of hooping cough a bacillus apparently identical with that 
described by Afanassjew. It is motile, from 0-8-1 *7 p, long, and 
0 • 3-0 * 4 ye broad. When stained it has a finely dotted appearance. Old 
agar and hydrocele cultures show bacilli with club-shaped extremities. 
Though pathogenic to animals, no specific effects were observed after 
injection of pure culture, the animals dying of septicaemia without 
having exhibited any convulsive movements or lung symptoms. 
The most favourable cultivation medium was hydrocele fluid. The 
microbe was frequent in the pellets fished out of the sputum, and grew 
both aerobically and anaerobically. The growth is white, and gelatin is 
not liquefied. 
iEtiology of Beri-Beri-t — Dr. M. Glogner states that in the blood 
from the spleen of persons suffering from Beri-Beri he has observed, in 
about 65 per cent, of the cases examined, roundish motile intraglobular 
bodies which contain pigment-granules, and vary in size from that of 
1/12 to 1/6 of a red corpuscle. The pigment is brownish-red to black, and 
is distributed peripherally or centrally ; if the former there is no move- 
ment, but in the latter case the granules are very lively. The organism 
appears to divide in a manner analogous to that of the malaria parasite. 
iEtiology of Yellow Fever. J — Dr. J. Sanarelli, in a second memoir 
on yellow fever, presents some of the results obtained by injecting into 
animals some of the toxin of the Bacillus icteroides. The principal 
features of experimental amarillous intoxication are haemolysis combined 
with fatty degeneration and inflammation of certain viscera, especially the 
liver and kidneys. Invasion of the body by the Bacillus icteroides not 
infrequently allows a secondary invasion by some other organism, the 
presence of which complicates the disorder and masks the presence of 
the primary poison. The organism is probably disseminated by the 
atmosphere, and its destruction is not infrequently prevented through 
the protection afforded by symbiosis with certain moulds. 
Toxicity of Gronococcus.§ — Herr L. Nicolaysen, who has been ex- 
perimenting with Gonococcus and its toxin, states that the injection of 
pure culture into the knee-joint of rabbits excites a suppurative arthritis. 
When introduced into the peritoneal sac of mice, the animals die without 
the production of any local affection. The effect is the same whether 
living or dead cultures are used. The pathogenic effect does not depend 
on the multiplication of the cocci, but is due to the toxin contained in the 
bacterial bodies ; soluble toxin is not formed in the cultures. The toxin 
* Brit. Med. Journ., 1897, ii. pp. 1051-3. 
f Arch. f. Schiffs- u. Tropenhyg., i. Nos. 1 and 2. See Centralbl. Bakt. u. Par., 
l te Abt., xxii. (1897) pp. 410-2. 
X Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xi. (1897) pp. 673-98 (3 pis.). 
§ Centralbl. Bakt. u. Par., l t9 Abt., xxii. (1897) pp. 305-9. 
