ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 387 
ditions, &c., a dropsical state. He gives an account of its occurrence in 
man, and of its influence when inoculated into the calf, and describes at 
length its morphological and biological characters. 
New Gas-forming Bacillus.* — Dr. F. Gartner describes a bacillus 
which was isolated from the guinea-pig. It is a short rodlet with 
rounded ends; its length is variable, being 4-12 times greater than the 
breadth, which is constant. It grows slowly on gelatin, and does not 
liquefy the medium. The growth on gelatin and agar is of a greyish- 
white colour, and on potato the growth varies with the temperature, the- 
optimum being 24°, while that for agar is 37°. It is endowed with slight, 
movement and possesses a single polar flagellum. The organism, which 
is a facultative aerobe, is best stained by Pfeiffer’s method in Ziehl’s fuchsim 
solution, and then decolorized with acetic-acid-alcohol, though cover-glass, 
preparations are stainable by Gram’s or Loeffler’s methods. The most, 
characteristic feature of the organism was the large amount of gas it 
gave off when cultivated in grape-sugar bouillon, 1^ and 3 per cent. 
The gases collected were carbonic acid and hydrogen. Pure cultivations 
were fatal to guinea-pigs and rabbits. 
Bactericidal Properties of Vasogen.f — Dr. Max Dahmen records 
some experiments as to the bactericidal properties of vasogen. Yasogen 
is a vaselin impregnated with oxygen under a high pressure. This 
excess of oxygen imparts to the mixture the singular power of forming an 
emulsion with water, the product being named Yaselinum oxygenatum 
vel Yasogen. Many pharmacopoeial substances are soluble in vasogen, 
e. g. iodoform, kreasot, ichthyol, menthol, pyoktanin, pyrogallol. It 
seemed useful therefore, to test the bactericidal property of the mixture. 
Experiments with Vibrio cholerse asiaticse showed that vasogen itself 
had no influence, but, in conjunction with other substances having anti- 
septic properties, it forms a valuable adjunct. 
Influence of Physico-Chemical Agents on some Pathogenic An- 
aerobes of the Soil. J — The conclusions arrived at by Dr. F. Sanfelice as 
to the influence of physico-chemical agents on anaerobic pathogenic 
organisms found in the soil, such as those of malignant oedema, tetanus, 
symptomatic anthrax, are that the spores of pathogenic anaerobes are 
capable of resisting a high temperature for several hours ; consequently 
they are not destroyed by heat in a short time, though they are killed in 
a comparatively short time by sunlight independent of heat. Spores of 
pathogenic anaerobes can remain alive for several days in water, whether 
this be fit for drinking, or contain putrefying animal or vegetable sub 
stances. These spores are very resistant to desiccation, to the action of 
gases constantly or occasionally present in the soil, and to chemical sub- 
stances dissolved in the soil. The spores the most resistant to heat, 
sunlight, and chemical elements dissolved in the soil, are those of tetanus ; 
those of the bacillus of malignant oedema are less so, and those of symp-. 
tomatic anthrax the least. 
* Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xv. (1894) pp. 1-10. 
f Op. cit., xiv. (1893) pp. 720-4. 
X Ann. de Micrographie, v. (1893) pp. 409-36, 473-92. 
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