ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
479 
septicaemia. At 35° the frog is still immune to anthrax, the bacteria 
being destroyed as at 20°. But in frogs which die less than 2-3 days 
after inoculation, in consequence of the leucocytes being paralysed, the 
microbes which are still alive develop freely in the blood and organs. 
When microbes are introduced directly into the blood they are seized on 
much more quickly than those injected into the dorsal sac, and in this 
destruction the macrophages of the liver play an important part. The 
eosinophilous cells of the frog .and lizard are endowed with a positive 
chemiotaxis, less than that of ordinary phagocytes ; the granulation cells 
of the lizard are capable of commencing the digestion of the bacteria 
which they have incorporated. 
Procuring and transmitting Diphtheritic Discharges for Exami- 
nation.* — Prof. D. J. Hamilton advises an ordinary 3/4 in. wide test- 
tube, fitted with a tight plug of cotton into which is inserted the handle 
of a small goat’s hair brush. The brush must be firmly fixed, and its 
end reach nearly to the bottom of the tube. The whole is, after having 
been sterilised, ready for use. In starting a cultivation on blood serum 
or other medium the brush is merely rubbed over the surface. 
Preparing Kidney-Juice Cultivation Media.j — Dr. 0. Henssen 
prepares kidney-juice media in the following way. The kidneys must 
be taken out directly the animal has been killed, and after the capsule 
has been removed the organs are finely minced and then pulped on a 
mortar. An equal bulk of water is then poured over the mass, and after 
three hours the juice is squeezed out through a fine linen cloth. The 
juice is then drawn through a sterilised clay filter by means of a water 
pump. The filtrate is of a straw yellow colour. It is warmed to 40° C., 
and then mixed with an equal bulk of 2J per cent, agar, heated to the 
same temperature. The mixture is then allowed to stand for 24 hours, 
in order to see if it be sterile, after which it may be used for cultivating 
micro-organisms. 
Apparatus for clearing Agar without Filtration.^ — Dr. M. Bleisch 
has devised an apparatus for obtaining clear agar without filtering. The 
apparatus consists of a cylindrical glass vessel holding about two litres, 
and furnished at top and bottom with a tube, the lower one being closed 
with a perforated caoutchouc plug, and kept firm by means of a clamp. 
The perforation is for the passage of a glass tube of suitable length, 
capable of being pushed up and down. The lower end is supported 
by a brass plate, fixing it to the apparatus, which in its turn is sup- 
ported on a stand. Before using it the tube is pushed up as high as 
it will go, and the lower aperture closed by tightening the clamp. Warm 
water should then be poured into the apparatus to see if all the parts fit 
tight, and after the water has been removed agar is poured in through a 
funnel until the top of the glass rod just remains above the level of the 
fluid. The apparatus is then placed in an incubator at 50°-60° C. 
After the sediment has settled (and the deposition may be hastened if 
phosphate be used instead of carbonate of sodium), the apparatus is 
removed and placed at a convenient height. To the lower end of the 
* Brit. Med. Journ., 1895, i. p. 298. 
t Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Pesasitenk., l te Abt., xvii. (1895) p. 403. 
X Tom. cit., pp. 360-2. 
2 i 2 
