474 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
Bey kept 44 samples of cholera stools, and examined them after periods 
of 3 to 22 months. From all the cholera bacillus had been isolated. 
The object of the examination was to ascertain what microbes survived. 
Cultivations w~ere made on 1 per cent, pepton water, and from this on 
gelose. Out of the 44 cases' only four were sterile. The most frequent 
organism was the Coli bacillus (22), then came Streptococcus , while 
saprophytes, such as Bacillus subtilis , were infrequent. 
Cultivation of the Diplobacillus of Conjunctivitis.* — Dr. Y. Morax 
describes a diplobacillus which he considers to be the cause of subacute 
conjunctivitis, a disorder marked by a mucopurulent discharge, and 
lasting some six to eight weeks. In this secretion exists a diplobacillus 
5-6 [a long and 1-1 * 5 /x broad. It is easily stained by anilin dyes, but 
not by Gram’s method. The cultivation medium used contained 2 per 
cent, gelose, 2 per cent, pepton, and ascitic fluid. The reaction was 
neutral. The gelose-pepton solution placed in test-tubes was sterilised 
at 115°, and when the solution had cooled down to about 60° the ascitic 
fluid, obtained with antiseptic precautions, was added. The tubes were 
then gently shaken in order to mix their contents. The medium was 
allowed to set in the vertical and oblique positions, and then the tubes 
were incubated for 48 hours to test their sterility. The media were 
inoculated with some of the mucopurulent secretion and incubated at 
35°. The greyish colonies became visible in 24 hours. 
Another medium which gave excellent results was composed of serum,, 
or serous fluid and bouillon, in the proportion of one-third ascitic fluid 
and two-thirds bouillon. The medium gets cloudy in 24 hours at 35°, 
a deposit falling for 8 to 10 days, after which it resumes its clearness. 
This diplobacillus is aerobic, is easily killed by heat (58° for 15 minutes)* 
and while non-pathogenic to animals, pure cultivations easily reproduce 
the disease in man. 
Bacteriological Diagnosis of Glanders, f — Dr. C. Gorini uses a 
modification of Chenzinsky’s method for staining the bacillus of glanders, 
-both in sections and on cover-glasses. The stain must be prepared 
afresh immediately before use (1 part saturated aqueous solution of 
methylen-blue, 1 part of \ per cent, solution of eosin in alcohol of 70°, 
2 parts of distilled water). Sections are left in this mixture for 30 to 
60 minutes and cover-glasses for a few minutes. They are then washed 
in water and mounted in the usual way. As cultivation media the 
author used glycerin-gelose and potato. The latter was found to be far 
superior to the former, which is almost universally used for isolating the 
bacillus of glanders. The potato cultures, incubated at 37°, gave a posi- 
tive result in 48 to 72 hours, while the growths on gelose did not appear 
till the fourth or fifth day, or remained sterile. 
The author also records that the bacillus of glanders coagulates 
milk at 37° in 10 to 12 days, the reaction being neutral, and no further 
changes taking place in the clot. 
Bacteriological Examination of Water by Parietti’s Melhod.f — 
The bacteriological examination of water by Parietti’s method consists 
* Ann. Inst. Pasteur, x. (1896) pp. 337-45 (1 pi. and 5 figs.). 
f Ann. de Micrographie, viii. (1896) pp. 111-7. J Tom. cii., pp. 89-110. 
