ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
469 
are that obligatory anaerobic bacteria are never found in cheese ; that as 
the bacterial floras of ripe cheeses are very different, it would seem to 
follow that the ripening process is either set up by different species or 
that those w T hich have brought it about are already dead. A large 
number of species probably participate in the ripening process. 
Formation of Sulphuretted Hydrogen by the Cholera Vibrio in 
Hens’ Eggs.*' — According to Herr Kempner, the hen’s egg is a very 
suitable medium for cultivating the cholera vibrio. The conditions of 
the medium are approximately those of the intestinal canal, viz. a large 
quantity of albumen and a small or negative amount of oxygen; the 
vibrio may retain its virulence for 1-2 months in the egg. During the 
growth of the vibrio a large amount of sulphuretted hydrogen is evolved, 
as may be shown by the mercury and lead tests and also by the smell, 
even when the cultivation has stopped. For determining the purity of an 
egg cultivation the gelatin plate is quite sufficient. The Fraenkel- 
Weichselbaum pneumococcus retains its virulence in an egg-culture 
for at least two months and the bacillus of swine erysipelas for quite 
3^ months. 
Effect of severe Cold on Anthrax.f — Herr C. Klepzoff records some 
interesting observations as to the effect of prolonged and severe cold 
on the vegetative form of anthrax. Virulent cultivations exposed for 
12 days to a temperature varying from — 14° *9 to — 31° '0 0. were 
found to be quite dead. An exposure for 25 days to a temperature 
varying from — 1°*0 to — 24° *0 gave similar results; the series was 
tested daily, but up to the twenty-fifth day colonies developed, though with 
increasing infrequency. No very noticeable peculiarity was observed 
in the colonies that grew up after exposure, except on gelatin where 
the liquefaction was less energetic than normally. The author agrees 
with Pictet and Young, who submitted anthrax to a temperature of 
— 130° C., that very severe cold will kill anthrax, and further that a 
lesser degree (24 days at — 10° C.) causes a diminution in the patho- 
genic properties of this organism. 
Experimental Streptococcous Meningitis.^ — By injecting rabbits 
with Streptococci, MM. F. Vidal and F. Besan9on succeeded in setting 
up paralysis in 7 animals out of 116, the palsy appearing 7 days to 
2 months after the inoculation. The Streptococci injected were derived 
from 89 different sources, the successful ones having come — (1) from the 
mouth of a person suffering from erysipelas, (2) from mouth of a small- 
pox patient, (3) from the uterus of woman suffering from jmerperal fever, 
(4) two cases from the normal mouth, (5) two cases from pseudo- 
diphtheritic membrane. The injections of the cultures were made 
subcutaneously or intravenously, or both in combination. In all the 
7 cases the palsy was followed by death. In some cases the muscles 
were in a condition of spasm, in others they were flaccid. 
The spinal cord was examined in four cases only, an admission which 
considerably discounts the value of the word myelitis. Sections showed 
affections of the white as well as the grey matter. In the grey matter 
* Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., It® Abt., xvii. (1895) p. 660. See Arch, 
f. Hygiene, xxi. (1894) p. 317. 
f Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. n. Parasitenk., 1 Abt., xvii. (1895) pp. 289-95. 
t Ai n. Inst. Pasteur, ix. (1895) pp. 104-19 (2 pis.). 
