ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
5G9 
The inhibitory influence of fresh kidney juice is not only entirely 
removed by boiling, but media prepared with the boiled juice are 
extremely favourable cultivation media for Schizomycetes. Media made 
with boiled pig’s kidney juice are quite inhibitory to the growth of 
anthrax ; but with this exception the behaviour of the kidneys of the 
three species examined was approximately equal. 
Infectiousness of Milk.* — Mr. C. H. Ernst made a series of experi- 
ments to ascertain if the milk of tuberculous cows contained tubercle 
bacilli ; only tuberculous cows free from affection of the udder were 
employed. 
Series I. Samples of milk and cream were tested for two years. Of 
121 samples from 36 cows, 19 gave positive results (12 different cows). 
Twenty out of the 36 were killed, and careful examination showed that 
they were free from udder disease. 
Series II. (a) Inoculation of 88 guinea-pigs with milk from 15 
different cows: 12 guinea-pigs became tuberculous. ( b ) Of 90 rabbits, 
only 6 became affected. 
Series III. Feeding experiments. Milk given to young rabbits, 
pigs and calves. The animals were killed after 6 months. Results, 
2 out of 48 rabbits ; 5 out of 12 pigs ; 8 out of 21 calves. 
During the experiments 19 calves were born of tuberculous cows. 
These were all slaughtered within 6 days of birth, but none gave any 
evidence of tubercle. These results therefore exclude direct inheritance. 
Bacteria in the Intestinal Contents of Hew-born Infants. f — 
Dr. Schild has examined the intestinal contents of new-born infants, and 
also determined the paths whereby the bacteria gain access to the 
intestine. He finds that the intestine of the infant is sterile, and that 
infection first occurs 10-17 hours after birth ; that the infection is 
independent of food, but is influenced by the prevailing temperature, 
occurring more quickly in summer than in winter. The infection takes 
place through the oral or anal opening. The author’s experiments 
further show that some of the bacteria are derived from water, and 
others from air. Thus in children as in adults, an infection may occur 
per anum, and the appearance of bacteria in the intestine cannot be pre- 
vented even when the children receive only sterilised food. Before any 
food had been taken, the author isolated seven species of bacteria, some 
of which were peptonising. 
Cream Ripening with Bacillus 23b. 414 — Prof. H. W. Conn describes 
an organism obtained from milk coming from Uruguay, S.A., which has 
a remarkable effect on butter. It is a diplobacillus 1*1 /x by 0 * 7 /x, or 
when growing on potato a little larger. It does not form spores and is 
motionless. Optimum temperature about 23°, but will grow, though 
less readily, in culture oven, as the author says. Grows well on agar 
and gelatin, forming white uncharacteristic colonies and overlay. On 
* ‘Result of Investigations made for Trustees of Massachusetts Society for pro- 
moting Agriculture,’ Boston, 1895, 17 plates. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Para- 
sitenk., l tB Abt., xvii. (1895) pp. 650-1. 
t Zeitschr. f. Hygiene, xix. (1895) No. 1. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Para- 
sitenk., l te Abt., xvii. (1895) p. 648. 
X Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., 2 te Abt., i. (1895) pp. 3S5-92. 
