SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
568 
the pigment ; it is actively mobile, aerobic, and liquefying, and measures 
about 1 /a in length. To prove that this Bacillus is the real cause 
of the green coloration in the wool submitted to him, normal wool from 
the fleece was inoculated with pure cultures from the tube, and in about 
a fortnight a characteristic colour made its appearance. All the 
specimens of green wool had a very characteristic odour, reminding one 
of the smell of woollen garments that have been put away in a wardrobe 
in a damp state. This smell is present likewise in the cultures, and 
even in the alcoholic solutions of the pigment. The pigments are two 
in number : one blue, soluble in chloroform, the other light green or 
yellow, soluble in ether. The growth of the organism does not appear 
to injure the staple; it grows upon the strands, and possibly on the 
abundant organic and foreign matter found in all fleeces. As shown by 
the sample examined, about half of its weight is lost when wool is 
scoured. As to the origin of the organism there can be little doubt ; 
it is a saprophyte distributed more or less abundantly all over the world, 
and there is little cause for wonder that, having entered the fleece, and 
finding there moisture, warmth, food, and shelter in the dust and dirt 
already referred to, it should grow and multiply. 
Anaerobiosis and the Treatment of Wounds.* — In the course of 
some remarks on anaerobiosis Dr. E. Braatz mentions that pathogenic 
bacteria are potential anaerobes, and that in virtue of this faculty they 
flourish in abscess cavities and in the discharges of wounds from which 
air is excluded. Hence the open treatment of infected wounds is 
indicated. Experiments showing the beneficial effect of free aeration 
were made with the tetanus bacillus in fluid sugar-gelatin. By passing 
filtered air through tubes inoculated with tetanus it was shown that 
these remained perfectly clear, while the control cultures exhibited 
copious growth. 
The author then relates some experiments made with mica plates for 
the purpose of excluding air. The bacteria used were Bacillus pyocyaneus, 
Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus , and anthrax, and these were cultivated on 
agar in capsules. On the surface bits of mica plates were scattered 
irregularly. Beneath these pieces of mica, most of which were tri- 
angular, no growth occurred, and this result is ascribed by the author to 
the exclusion of air from pressure by the mica. 
Effect of Kidney Extract in Cultivation Media. f — Dr. 0. Henssen, 
who has made a series of experiments as to the effect of kidney extract,, 
in the fresh and boiled condition, when added to nutrient media, finds, 
that the fresh juice of the kidneys of healthy Carnivora, Herbivora, and 
Omnivora possesses an inhibitory influence on the growth of certain 
Schizomycetes, which is expressed more or less markedly in the different 
species. The influence is most striking in diphtheria, cholera, and 
typhoid, and in these instances this action is all the more remarkable as 
renal affections are frequent in these diseases. The influence on anthrax, 
glanders and Bad. coli was less unfavourable. The growth of B. coli in 
fresh kidney juice is considerably better than that of the typhoid bacillus,, 
a discovery which may possibly possess some diagnostic value. 
* Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., l te Abt., xvii. (1895) pp. 737-42 (1 ph). 
f Tom. cit., pp. 401-11. 
