216 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
are identical, Herren F. Nobbe, L. Hiltner, and E. Schmid have come to 
the conclusion that they are all (including those of the Mimoseae) forms 
of Bacillus radicicola , but that this microbe is so greatly influenced by 
the plant in the root of which it lives, that its progeny can thrive only 
in that host, or in another very nearly related to it, though it may live 
in others. Thus Bisum sativum could be infected only by bacteria from 
Bisum or Vicia ; Bobinia Bseud-acacia only by bacteria from Bobinia 
or Car ag ana. Of the forms found in the tubercles of the Viciese one 
appears to be confined to that family, while another attacks Bobinia only 
among the Galegeae. 
Leucocytes in Diphtheria.* — The principal results of the clinical 
and ^experimental observations of M. G. Gabritschewsky on diphtheria 
may be summed up as follows : — The general leucocytosis in diphtheria 
(i. e. the number of white corpuscles in the blood) possesses a special 
character which distinguishes it from the leucocytoses observed in the 
majority of other infectious diseases. There is a local as well as a 
general leucocytosis. In cases going to recover, or in immunized 
animals, the initial rise of the general leucocytosis is soon followed by a 
progressive diminution in the number of white corpuscles in the general 
circulation. A progressive leucocytosis, therefore, augurs a bad pro- 
gnosis. In immunized animals the local leucocytosis is more marked 
than in the non-immunized, and the corpuscles appear about an hour 
after infection. In the first case, however, phagocytosis is well marked, 
and the bacilli have disappeared. In the second the bacilli predominate, 
and the leucocytes are dead. Hence the cure of a local diphtheritic 
lesion is tantamount to a successful phagocytosis. The author also deals 
with the diphtheritic toxin which impedes the phagocytic action of the 
leucocytes by its necrotic power, and suggests the probability that phago- 
cytes are not only capable of seizing and assimilating solid bodies, but 
of imbibing and absorbing liquid substances, and of rendering them 
harmless to the orgauism. For this action the term pinocytosis is 
suggested. 
The favourable results obtained from the use of therapeutic serum 
are supposed to be brought about by the serum rendering the cells of the 
organism less sensitive to the necrotic action of the diphtheritic virus. 
Action of Anthrax on Hippocampus.^ — MM. Sabrazes and Colombot 
find that anthrax is very virulent to Hippocampus , all the animals dying 
in a few days. The injections were made at the root of the tail, beneath 
the skin, and intraperitoneally. The temperature of the water in which 
the fish were kept varied from 18°-26°. Cultivations from the infected 
hippocampi showed that the anthrax increased in virulence by passage 
through the animals. 
Phagocytosis was a well-marked phenomenon, the leucocytes being 
from 12-10 p in diameter. The nucleus (6-3 p) is single, oval, compact, 
and granular. The nucleus stained w r ell with methylen-blue, while the 
cytoplasm, which is more or less vacuolated, was only slightly tinged. 
Long Continuance of Diphtheria Bacilli in Nasal Secretion.J — 
Dr. R. Abel records a case in which diphtheria bacilli could be demon- 
* Ann. Inst. Pasteur, viii. (1891) pp. 673-95 (1 pi). 
f Tom. cit., pp. 696-705. 
X Ceutralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xvi. (1891) pp. 571-2. 
