242 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
growing yeast. The latter recommended that these cubical blocks 
should be made of firebrick instead of plaster of Paris. The author 
agrees with Klocker, who found that spore formation, like all other 
physiological functions, was subject to oscillations, determined partly 
by the condition of the cells themselves, but also by slight variations 
in the experiments. Now these oscillations are less marked with plaster 
blocks than with those made of clay, and hence the plaster blocks are 
superior. 
Vitreous Humour as a Nutrient Medium.* — Dr. Herrnheiser has 
tested the value of vitreous humour as a nutrient medium, and it seems 
to answer very well. About 10 ccm. of vitreous is obtained from each 
eye (bullock) by incising the sclerotic. The fluid obtained is at once 
steam sterilized for half an hour, then filtered and afterwards sterilized 
again. The fluid, after these procedures, is somewhat milky from 
coagulation of the albumen. Besides using the fluid thus obtained, the 
author also employed modifications, rendered advisable for experimental 
purposes, owing to the richness in saline substances and to the poverty 
in proteid, by diluting with water and by adding 1 per cent, pepton 
solution. Comparative experiments with these three varieties of vitreous 
medium and also control cultivations with bouillon and sugar bouillon 
showed that the undiluted non-peptonized vitreous was the most effective 
medium for most bacteria. 
Production of Sporeless Anthrax.j — MM. H. Surmont and E. 
Arnould have re-tried the methods for obtaining sporeless anthrax, and 
they infer from their experiments that it is very difficult to transform 
certain races of anthrax into sporeless ones. The best method for 
attaining a positive result is that of Roux, and if the results be not 
immediate it becomes easy to succeed by previously heating the cultures 
up to 42°, sowing them again every five days. The methods tried were 
four in number. 
(1) Roux’s method, where carbolic acid is added to the bouillon. The 
bouillon was alkaline veal broth, to which carbolic acid in the proportion 
of 1-10,000 to 20-10,000 w as added. After sterilization the tubes were 
inoculated with the blood of a guinea-pig dead of anthrax. The 
presence or absence of spores was determined by placing bouillon 
cultures in water heated to 65° for 15 minutes. 
(2) Method of Chamberland and Roux ; this consists in adding 
bichromate of potash to the medium 1, 2, and 3 per 4000. 
(3) Addition of hydrochloric and rosolic acids to the medium or 
Behring’s method. Neither of these reagents was successful. 
(4) Application of heat or the method of Phisalix. Pasteur’s flasks 
containing bouillon inoculated with anthrax were incubated at 42°, and 
resown every five days. 
New Method of Preparing Culture-media. £ — Dr. Lorrain Smith 
describes a method for preparing media suitable for the cultivation of 
bacteria. The principle of the method consists in the addition of a 
* Prager Med. Wochenschr., 1894, Nos. 22, 24. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. 
Parasitenk., xvi. (1894) pp. 980-1. 
f Ann. Inst. Pasteur, viii. (1894) pp. 817-32. 
% Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc., viii. (1894) p. 217. 
