660 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
produced in man and animals by this parasite have tlie naked-eye 
appearance of a degenerated myxosarcoma. Microscopical examination, 
however, shows them to consist merely of a parasitic infiltration accom- 
panied by abundant leucocytic invasion. 
The animal most susceptible to the influence of cultures of this 
yeast was the white rat ; and an illustration shows the appearance and 
size of a tumour on the neck of one of these animals. In some cases 
there were numerous secondary deposits. Both in man and in animals 
the histological appearances were those of a culture of micro-organisms 
and not those of a neoplasm. 
Fermentation Experiments with Different Yeasts.* * * § — Herr I. Schu- 
kow records the results of numerous experiments made with pure cultures 
of certain yeasts, alone and in combination, in media of different com- 
position. The media used were (1) sweet unhopped wort ; (2) wort 
acidified by Pediococcus acidi lactici and Bacillus acidi lactici ; (3) hopped 
wort with and without pepton. The chief results were that Pombe, Logos, 
and Odosporus were found to possess higher fermenting power than 
yeasts of the Frohberg type, and that two or more of the former were 
more effective in combination than when acting alone. In acid wort the 
presence of different species of bacteria affected the results very little. 
The presence of pepton in the wort had the effect of accelerating fer- 
mentation. Competitions between three kinds of yeasts (Nos. 128, 129, 
and 130) showed that in unhopped sweet wort yeast 128 drove out 129. 
In unhopped acid wort of 11*3° Bllg. yeast 129 cleared out 128 in 
36 days ; while in wort of 17*7° Bllg. the reverse obtained in seven days. 
The acid, expressed in cubic centimetres of normal soda per 20 ccm. of 
wort, was in the first case 0-7 ccm., in the latter 1*2 ccm. 
Importance of Lime to Yeast Cultures and in Brewing.f — Accord- 
ing to Herr H. Seiffert, the deterioration of pure yeast cultures may 
depend upon a deficient quantity of lime in the wort. This conclusion 
was arrived at from analysis of yeast-ash, and was confirmed by experi- 
ment. The presence of calcium salts, moreover, seems to be needed not 
only for nutrition, but for an important part in the stages of brewing. 
Blue-Staining of Spores of Saccharomyces octosporus by Iodine-! — 
Dr. P. Lindner has found that the spore-bearing cells of Saccharomyces 
octosporus are extremely sensitive to the action of iodine. These cells 
stain blue, the spore membrane being the first part to show the reaction. 
This reaction was 'remarked in the course of some observation as to the 
effect of iodopotassic iodide solution on old yeast cultures. This effect 
was found to be very variable. The author also remarks that many 
yeasts lose the power of forming spores after prolonged cultivation. 
Lactic Acid Barm.§ — For some fifty years it has been the practice 
to submit beer-yeast to a special treatment in order to increase its 
fermentative power. This is done by the lactic process, a process which 
* AVochenschr. f. Brauerei, 1896, p. 302. See Bot. Centralbl., vi. (1896) Beih., 
pp. 306-8. 
t Zeitschr. f. d. ges. Brauwesen, 1896, p. 318. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. 
Parasitenk., 2 te Abt., ii. (1896) p. 465. 
X Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., 2 te Abt., ii. (1896) pp. 537-9. 
§ Ann. Inst. Pasteur, x. (1896) pp. 524-44. 
