572 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
days or weeks. In the dried condition the retention of vitality appeared 
to dejiend upon spore-formation. 
Winter Habitat and Dissemination of the Alcoholic Ferments.* — 
Dr. A. Berlese has demonstrated that the alimentary canal of flies forms 
a suitable and important conservatory for Saccharomyces ellipsoideus and 
S. pastorianus during the winter. It is owing to flies that the yeast-cells 
are transported from one place to another, and are deposited on ripe 
fruits. The air plays little or no part in the dissemination of yeasts. 
Tlie yeasts are preserved in the intestines of the pupa of certain diptera, 
and proceed to multiply in the perfect insect. Yeasts may be preserved 
in the faeces of animals and in putrefying flesh for considerable periods, 
and it is possible that they may be transported therefrom by flies. 
Action of Oxygen on Beer Yeast, f — M. J. Effront has found that 
if beer yeast be finely fragmented and exposed to the air, there takes 
place an absorption of oxygen which is accompanied by considerable 
elevation of the temperature. The author considers this oxidation of the 
yeast to be due to the presence in the cells of an oxidising enzyme. 
Saccharomyces guttulatns B,oh4 — Drs. L. Buscalioni and 0. Casa- 
grandi, in some recent observations, state that S. guttulatus is a Saccharo- 
jnyces which exists normally in the stomach and intestine of rabbits ; 
though it develops only in the stomach of these animals, it is cultivable 
on various media. Its shape on artificial media differs slightly from that 
observed in the faeces. On solid media (agar) it is usually oval; on 
other substrata it is much elongated, though oval cells are still formed. 
It contains a nucleus which during budding and spore-formation di- 
vides by fragmentation. In this way secondary nuclei are produced, and 
these are frequently united by an intermediary piece which, however, 
is rarely seen in the cultivated forms. The nucleus in the elongated 
cells of old cultures degenerates by a process of irregular fragmentation, 
or assumes various forms. In budding cells the nucleus passes to the 
pole from which the bud is arising, while in the resting state it occupies 
tho middle part of the elements if they be elongated ; and if the cells be 
ovoid, it approaches more or less to one of the poles. 
Its protoplasm contains glycogen, which is especially abundant in 
the cells found in the intestines and in the large ovoid cells of cultures. 
The cultural characters vary somewhat for the different media, but 
are fairly constant for the same substratum. It multiplies both by buds 
and spores. Spores are formed in faeces, whether dry or moist ; but the 
exact conditions of their formation are at present obscure. S. guttulatus 
has the power of forming alcohol from glucose and of inverting saccha- 
rose. It is pathogenic to rats, rabbits, and guinea-pigs when injected 
into the subcutaneous tissue or into the peritoneal sac; rabbits die in 
15-30 days, guinea-pigs in 10—20 days, and rats in 10—16 days. Endo- 
venous injection of rabbits kills tbe animals in 6-8 days. At the 
injection sites nodules with purulent contents are formed. 
Fungi intermediate between Trichophyton and Achorion.§ — M. E. 
Bodin has observed in man and in animals cutaneous lesions of which 
* Rivista Patologia Veg., vi. (1897) pp. 1-20, 24-44. 
f Comptes Rendus, cxxvii. (1898) pp. 326-7. 
I Malpighia, xii. (1898) pp.,59-75 (1 pi. and 15 figs.) Cf. this Journal, 1897, p. 60. 
§ Comptes Rendus, exxvi. (1898) pp. 1528-9. 
