502 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
of phagocytosis, the part played by the spleen in infectious maladies, 
and the chemiotaxis of leucocytes. With regard to phagocytosis, it is 
pointed out that in the circulating blood only a few leucocytes with 
bacteria inside can possibly be present at any given time; that they 
remain in the circulation stream for a short time only, i. e. until they 
get transported to the liver. Hence they should be looked for in the 
liver. With regard to the second point the author puts forward an 
original view with some determination. The reason why bacteria are 
found in the spleen in infectious disease is that this organ is feebly 
phagocytic, and per contra , the liver being endowed with considerable 
destructive power, few micro-organisms are found therein. This con- 
clusion of the author is deduced partly from the appearances observed 
by him in the liver and spleen of the animals experimented on by him, 
and partly from the consideration that the spleen being quite a small 
viscus would have little power or opportunity for exercising effective 
phagocytic functions. The liver, on the other hand, is large and highly 
vascular. With regard to the chemiotaxis of the leucocytes, the author 
throws over all idea of negative chemiotaxis ; for him the phenomena 
are entirely positive ; and if no future experiments should turn out 
favourably for negative chemiotaxis, then the theory of phagocytosis 
will have a still greater importance than at present. 
Manual of Bacteriology.* — Dr. W. R. Dawson has translated Prof. 
S. L. Schenck’s ‘ Grundriss der Bakteriologie,’ and has brought it up to' 
date with the author’s assistance ; it appears to be a work that will be 
found especially useful by independent workers who cannot obtain the 
larger systematic works. 
Bacteriology of the Plankton Expedition.! — Herr B. Fischer gives 
the results of his observations on marine^bacteria made during the recent 
Plankton Expedition. The methods of research are described in detail. 
Except at very great depths, germs capable of germination were found 
everywhere in the ocean. The number in the Labrador, Florida, and 
Canary currents was larger than in the south equatorial, north equatorial, 
or Guinea currents. No bacteria could be detected with certainty in the 
bed of the ocean. They abound to a depth of 400 m., and are certainly 
present to a depth of 800-1100 m. 
Mould-fungi ( Penicillium and Aspergillus) were but rarely met with, 
but Torula and similar forms were much more abundant. The most 
common form of Schizomycete is the spiral ; bacterium forms are also 
frequent ; micrococci are rare. All the forms observed were endowed 
with motion resembling that of the cholera- vibrio ; no formation of 
endogenous spores was observed. Photobacterium Fischeri exhibited, at 
one extremity, a tuft of long wavy cilia. The spiral form appears to be 
an adaptation to the fluid medium. A resemblance to the comma-bacillus 
is presented not only by their form, but also by their mode of growth. 
They differ, however, from it in their preference for a saline nutrient 
material. Most marine bacteria are areobic, though some appear to be 
* ‘Manual of Bacteriology,’ 1893, 8vo, 324 pp., 100 figs. See Brit. Med. Journ., 
No. 1743 (1894) p. 1130. 
f ‘ Die Bakterien d. Meeres nach d. Untersuchungen d. Plankton-Expedition, 
Kiel and Leipzig, 1894, 82 pp., 1 map and 3 figs. 
