528 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
j3. Schizomycetes. 
Nature and Action of Enzymes produced by Bacteria.* * * § — Dr. A. 
Macfadyen finds that the bacteria which liquefy gelatin do so by means 
of a ferment or enzyme, the action of which on gelatin can be demon- 
strated apart from the cells that produce it. The amount of this proteo- 
lytic enzyme secreted varies with the nature of the soil ; the amount 
present in gelatin cultures of the bacteria is relatively small, that 
secreted in simple meat-broth cultures is much larger, and this fluid is 
the best medium for the production of the soluble ferment. The action, 
as well as the amount, of the ferments varies with the nature of the 
soil. The active ferments are contained in glycerin extracts of the 
bacteria ; and the glycerin extracts of spirilla reduce Loew’s reagent, 
acting in this way like the protoplasm of the living cell. 
Streptothrix and Cladothrix.| — According to MM. C. Sauvageau 
and M. Radais, these two genera have been confounded with one another 
by some writers. Cladothrix is, however, a true Schizomycete, while 
Streptothrix includes Actinomyces , and is a hyphomycetous fungus. Both 
these names must, however, be suppressed in favour of Oospora. The 
authors describe two new species, O. Metchnikowi met with in the water 
of a conduit, and 0. Guignardi accidentally in a culture. The forma- 
tion of spores was observed in the latter, but not in the former 
species. 
Research-methods and the Immunity Question.:]: —The remarks of 
H. Buchner, on the methods adopted by the phagocytists and plasmatists 
in dealing with the immunity question, really constitute a reply to the 
doings of MM. Metschnikoff and Roux, noticed in this Journal, 1891, 
pp. 240 and 785. These remarks are chiefly polemical and critical, do 
not adduce any new facts or ideas, and are merely iterations of the views 
of the plasmatists, that is to say, that the chief bactericidal virtues reside 
in the blood-plasma, and that the experimental methods adopted are free 
from objection. The author, however, admits that some of the pheno- 
mena observed by the phagocytists really occur, but that the interpreta- 
tion put on them is open to objection. 
It is conceded that phagocytosis exists, that bacteria are picked up by 
certain cells, but whether the cell devours the microbe and continues to 
live, or whether the pair pass away together, is not yet proven. According 
to the author any influence unfavourable to the virus is exerted before the 
inception by the amoeboid cells, the phenomena of leucocytosis and of 
phagocytosis being a sequel or after consequence of this unfavourable 
influence. 
Immunity and Resistance to Toxins. § — Messrs. L. Brieger, S. 
Kitasato, and A. Wassermann, after laying down the proposition that an 
organism is immune when a disease-germ is unable to develop within it, 
point out that the detrimental action of micro-organisms is due either 
to a mechanical interference with those conditions without which life 
* Journ. Anat. and Physiol., xxvi. (1892) pp. 409-29. 
f Comptes Rendus, cxiv. (1892) pp. 559-62. 
% Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., x. (1891) pp. 727-36. 
§ Zeitschr. f. Hygiene, xii. pp. 137-82. See Biol. Centralbl., xii. (1892) 
pp. 250-6. 
