704 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
injection the animal gives a serum which will neutralize its own volume 
of toxin. 
The serum is preserved by drying it in vacuo and diluting it with 
six times its weight of distilled water when required for use. 
Concentrated Must as a Nutrient Material for Fungi.* — Prof. J. 
Wortmann recommends the use of a specially prepared must, from ripe 
grapes, as a nutrient material for fungus-cultures. It has the advantage 
of presenting all the nutrient substances in a convenient form for 
assimilation. 
Sterilizing Power of Porcelain Filters.f — Dr. P. Miquel compares 
the sterilizing power of four different kinds of unglazed porcelain 
filters ; the names are not given, the author’s object being to show that 
the results, good or bad, are closely connected with the construction of 
the filters. However good any particular system may be, the filtering 
power is only of comparatively short duration, and this is associated 
with the kind of water that is filtered and the difference in the bacteria. 
The author quotes some interesting facts; the typhoid bacillus does 
not pass through the filter under ordinary circumstances, as may be 
shown by immersing the filter in clear broth. At any rate the bouillon 
remains quite clear. But if some few drops of water from La Yanne be 
added to the culture, the typhoid bacteria will pass in a few days. The 
cholera vibrio passes in four days. Anthrax behaves like enteric. 
Large organisms such as Saccharomycetes never pass. 
The author praises the Chamberland filter highly, though he admits 
that it has defects : but contends that these will eventually be remedied, 
possibly altogether. 
Cultivating Lower Algae in Nutrient Gelatin.*— M. W. Beyerinck 
reports on the cultivation experiments he has made during the past three 
years with the lower algae. Scenedesmus acutus was the only species 
which exhibited very marked loss of vitality. The others were more 
resistant, and though their growth was slow, the cultivations were suc- 
cessful. Of these there were five, and though the number seems small, 
yet, from morphological considerations, they are important, inasmuch 
as they represented the three chief forms of cell proliferation in algae ; 
that is to say, simple division in one direction in Stichococcus, sporangial 
division in Chlorella, and vegetative division and swarm-spore-formation 
in Chlorosphaera and Chlorococcum. 
Dachnewski, P. N. — Eine vergleichende Untersuchung der Chamberland- 
Pasteur’schen und Berkefeld’schen Filter. (A Comparative Examination of the 
Chamberland-Pasteur and Berkefeld Filters.) 
WratscJi, 1893, pp. 543-5 [Russian]. 
Lacoue-Eymabd — E xperiences sur le filtre Chamberland. (Experiments with 
the Chamberland Filter.) Rev. d. Hygiene , 1893, pp. 486-500. 
Migula, W. — An Introduction to Practical Bacteriology. Translated by M. 
Campbell and edited by H. J. Campbell. London, 8vo, 1893, 234 pp. 
Pfeifer, Y. — Eine leicht sterilisierbare Aspirationsspritze zum Zwecke bakterio- 
logischer TJntersuchungen am Krankenbette. (An easily sterilizable Injection 
Syringe for Bacteriological Investigations by the bedside.) 
Wien. Klin. Wochenschr , 1893, pp. 293-4. 
* Bot. Ztg., li. (1893) 2 te Abtheil., pp. 177-84. 
t Ann. de Microgr., 1893, pp. 138-44. 
% Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xiii. (1893) pp. 368-73. 
