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SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
genous and other birds were affected by the chicken-cholera microbe. 
The results appear co have been doubtful. 
Pathogenic Micro-organisms of the Mouth.^ — Dr. E. Kreibohm’s 
investigation of the micro-organisms found in the month extended to 
Lejptothrix buccalis and some pathogenic bacteria. From microscopical 
examination, and from cultivation, the author came to the conclusion 
that Leptothrix merely represents a peculiar phase of growth of different 
Schizomycetes. Four forms were observed to develope Leptothrix, two 
of which were bacilli, and two short bacteria. 
Of the pathogenic microbes, the author was able to demonstrate four 
different species, of which three were not cultivable on the usual nutri- 
tive media. All four kinds were fatal to animals, producing a septicaemia, 
and they were afterwards found in the blood in large quantities. 
Positive results were obtained only from the tongue-fur of sick 
persons, and best from those in condition of high fever. To only one 
of these micro-organisms is a name given, Bacillus sputigenus crassus, a 
short fatbacillus found in the sputum and tongue-fur of chronic bronchitis. 
These grew well on potato, agar and gelatin, and were easily stained by 
the customary methods. They were found to be very fatal to animals, 
producing gastroenteritis, pulmonary haemorrhage, and death in a few 
hours. {Sterilized cultures had the same effect. 
Passage of Pathogenic Micro-organisms from Mother to Foetus.f 
— Dr. M. Simon has endeavoured to solve the problem of the passage of 
pathogenic microbes from mother to foetus by the microscopical observa- 
tion of anthrax in rabbits. Cultivation experiments for determining the 
presence of the anthrax bacilli in the foetus were not made. 
According to the author, the placenta does not form a physiological 
filter for anthrax bacilli, which were found not only on the surface of 
the foetus, but as deep down as the peritoneum. 
Coarse pathological changes such as haemorrhages were not observed 
in the placenta. Bacilli were detected in the foetal placenta, in the amniotic 
fluid, and in the foetus, but they were found to vary in quantity and in 
situation with the length of the disease. 
Bacteria of the Normal Respiratory Tract.:}; — Dr. L. von Besser 
has examined the secretion from the nasal cavities in 57 men of 20 to 60 
years of age : 28 of these were convalescents, the rest being healthy 
individuals employed in the laboratory. The experiments were micro- 
scopical, cultural, and vaccinal. Of pathogenic microbes, Diplococcus 
pneumonise, Stajphylococcus pyogenes aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and 
Bacillus pneumonise were discovered, and less frequently in the invalids 
than in the healthy persons. Of non-pathogenic bacteria, the author 
found M. liquefaciens albus, M. albus, M. cumulatus tenuis, M. Jlavus 
liquefaciens, and several others. The laryngeal and bronchial secretions 
were also made the subject of examination, and with analogous results. 
* Inaugural-Dissertation Gottingen, 1889. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Para- 
sitenk., vii. (1890) pp. 312-3. 
t Zeitschr. f. Gebiiitshiilfe u. Gynaekologie, xvii. (1889) pt. 1. See Centralbl. 
f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., vii. (18*90) p. 219. 
X Beitr. z. Pathol. Anat. u. z. Allgem. Pathol., vi., No. 4. See Centralbl. f. 
Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., vii. (1890) pp. 151-2. 
