ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
117 
Examining purulent Exudations for Bacteria.* — Dr. Heim adopts 
tlie following procedure for examining exudations, e. g. of the pleural 
sac, and especially for streptococci. Before proceeding to puncture, the 
contents of two glycerin-agar tubes are poured into the capsules and 
allowed to set. The exudation having been removed with proper pre- 
cautions, some 1/2 ccm. is injected into the peritoneal sac of a mouse, 
and 1—2 ccm. into that of another. Stroke cultivations are next made on 
the agar plates, and these are incubated with the lid downwards. The 
rest of the exudation serves to make microscopical preparations. Should 
there be a suspicion of tuberculosis, 1 ccm. should be injected into the 
peritoneal sac of a guinea-pig, and this should always be done if the 
exudation be of a serous character. If capsule cocci be present the mice 
will die within 24 hours, and then microscopical preparations are easily 
made. The colonies of capsule cocci on agar plates are closer and less 
diffused than those of streptococci. The microscopical preparations in 
these cases show the lancet-shaped diplococci or chains of cocci. White 
mice are the animals most sensitive to streptococci, and when injected 
subcutaneously at the root of the tail die in from 2-7 days, and the cocci 
are demonstrable in almost every part and organ. 
Sterilizable Injection Syringe. t — Prof. F. Loeffler recommends for 
experimental injections a syringe which can be sterilized by steam or 
alcohol-ether and which works satisfactorily. The piston-rod and its 
plunger are made of metal. The latter is a disc of thin metal with a 
sharp edge, and its diameter is such that the piston can be moved up and 
down without touching the inside of the syringe. Over the disc is 
stretched a thin rubber cap, which is fastened behind by silk thread or fine 
iron wire. When thus fitted and lubricated with vaseline or even water 
it glides up and down the canula quite easily if the proper thickness of 
rubber have been chosen. There is no escape of fluid behind the 
plunger. Syringes of this construction may be made to hold 1-50 ccm. 
of fluid. In order to ensure that the syringe works perfectly it is 
necessary that the internal diameter of the canula should be quite 
regular throughout, and that the plunger should not be too thick. 
Filtration of Agar-agar.f — The ordinary methods of filtering taking 
too much time, Dr. W. St. C. Symmers employs the method used at the 
Pasteur Institute. The important requisite in this method is the filter- 
paper known as the “papier chardin,” made by Cogit et Cie. The 
.agar-agar is heated in an autoclave to 120° C., and poured at once on to 
the filter-paper in a cold funnel. It filters as rapidly as nutrient gelatin 
does in the ordinary method, and a litre may be obtained in half an hour. 
Hup pe, F., & A. Fajans — Ueber Kulturen im Hiihnerei und uber Anaerobiose 
der Cholerabakterien. (On Cultures in Fowls’ Eggs, and on the Anaerobiosis of 
Cholera-bacteria.) Arch. /. Hygiene , XX. (1891) pp. 372-83. 
Kleiber, A. — Qualitative und quantitative bakteriologiscbe Untersuchungen des 
Ziiricbseewassers. (Qualitative and Quantitative Investigations on the Bac- 
teriology of the Water of the Lake of Zurich.) 
Zurich-Oberstrass, 1894, large 8vo, 57 pp., 1 fig., 1 pi. 
* Munchener Med. Wochenschr., 1894, No. 22. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. 
Parasitenk., xvi. (1894) pp. 799-801. 
t Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xvi. (1894) pp. 729-31. 
I Brit. Med. Jouru., No. 1765 (1894) p. 951. 
