346 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
cannot consist of sulphur or of any other solid or liquid substance 
but that, on the contrary, they are gas-vacuoles, containing either atmo- 
spheric air or nitrogen. Their existence is especially noteworthy in 
Gloiotricliia ecMnulata , but they occur also in G. Pisim, Anabsena flos- 
aquse , Aphanizomenon flos-aquse , and others. Several new species of 
Anabsena are described. 
Schizomycetes. 
Bactericidal Action of Light arid Air. — Mr. R. F. D’Arcy and Mr. 
W. B. Hardy * * * § confirm the result arrived at by Marshall Ward f that 
the bactericidal power of light is a peculiar property of light of short 
wave-length, and is at its maximum at the violet end of the blue. 
Mr. F. F. Wesbrook J agrees with other observers in the conclusion 
that oxygen is a necessary factor in the destruction of bacteria by light. 
Without oxygen sunlight is powerless. 
Thermophilic Bacteria.§ — Mr. A. Macfadyen and Mr. F. A. Blaxall 
give an account of those bacteria which flourish at a high temperature in 
manures, &c. They have active fermenting properties, and appear to 
be the cause of spontaneous combustion. 
Fossil Bacteria.|j — M. B. Renault finds in fossil remains in the 
‘ £ Culm,” vegetable tissues, more or less disorganised by the attacks of 
bacteria, accompanied, in several instances, by the bacteria themselves. 
These present a considerable resemblance to Bacillus megaterium , but 
are larger, septated, and with spherical spores. M. Renault proposes 
the name B. vorax for this Schizomycete, which he regards as the most 
ancient yet described. 
Number* Vitality, and Virulence of Bacteria in Articles of 
Clothing.1T — For the purpose of estimating the number, vitality, and 
virulence of microbes in clothes, Herr E. Leitz punched out round 
pieces of 3 mm. diameter, which were teazed out and placed in gelatin. 
In this way he obtained 956 colonies from a woollen stocking, and 712 
colonies from a cotton one, both of which had been worn ; 33 colonies 
from a glove ; 20 from a cotton cloth, and 9 from a linen cloth, all 
unused ; 23 from a linen cloth in use for eight days ; 26 from a piece of 
velvet, and 32 from a piece of silk, both worn ; 22 from an unused 
piece of silk. The jmthogenic microbes were infrequent, and confined 
to Staphylococcus pyogenes. The bacillus of enteric fever was found in 
the clothes after 21-26 days, Staphylococcus pyogenes albus after 19 
days, and anthrax on a linen cloth still virulent after the lapse of a year. 
The coccus of erysipelas was not found after 18 hours, while the cholera 
bacillus on linen lasted three days. The shirts of two consumptives 
who sweated profusely were tested on two guinea-pigs, but the results 
were negative. 
* Journ. Physiol., xvii. (1894) pp. 390-3. See Journ. Chem. Sue., 1895, Abstr., 
p. 57. t Cf. this Journal, 1894, p. 241. 
X Journ. Pathol, and Bacteriol., iii. (1894) pp. 70-7. See Journ. Chem. Soc. r 
1895, Abstr., p. 58. 
§ Journ. Pathol, and Bacteriol., iii. (1894) pp. 87-99. See Journ. Chem. Soc., 
1895, Abstr., p. 58. || Comptes Rendus, cxx. (1895) pp. 1G2-4. 
H Munchen, 1893. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xvi. (1894) p. 1018. 
