726 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
£. Schizomycetes. 
Influence of Bacterial Association.* * * § — M. Y. Galtier, who made use 
of B. anthracis , Str. pneumoenteritis equi , and the microbe of fowl 
cholera, all previously attenuated, draws the following conclusions from 
his experiments. Microbes which have been attenuated down to a 
point when they are no longer fatal by themselves, may have their 
virulence restored when two species are introduced into an organism. 
The two microbes may multiply side by side, though usually one of 
them disappears or tends to disappear, while the other one becomes 
pathogenic. When two microbes are associated, now one, now the other 
recovers its virulence according to the method adopted for their intro- 
duction, and to the species of animal. This association of bacteria may 
be employed in the laboratory to restore virulence to attenuated microbes, 
and it may explain the recrudescence of certain epidemics, or the 
effects of vaccinations made with a benignant virus. The passage of 
one microbe which confers immunity against a given malady may in- 
crease the susceptibility for another. 
Leptothrix racemosa/f — Sig. P. Vicentini gives this name to the 
parasite of the teeth known as Leptothrix buccalis, constantly found in 
the sputum. He adduces reasons for regarding it, not as an independent 
organism, but as a low stage in the development of a fungus belonging 
to one of the more highly developed families. In addition to propagation 
by means of spores and sporids, he believes he has detected a sexual 
mode of reproduction. The author further suggests that the organism 
forms a member of a biological series of development along with Pneumo- 
coccus, Koch’s bacillus, and Neisser’s Gonococcus. 
Polymorphism of Cladothrix. — From experiments in cultivating 
Cladothrix dichotoma in a weak solution of extract of meat, Herr M. 
Biisgen argues that it is not subject to the polymorphism which has been 
assigned to it. Other Schizomycetes, especially a large Spirillum , con- 
stantly accompany it, and are liable to be mistaken for stages in its 
development. Neither micrococci nor endogenous resting-spores were 
observed. Yery short rods have been mistaken for the former. Invo- 
lution-forms are obtained when the supply of air is limited. 
Disease in Fresh "Water. § — M. E. Bataillon finds that a Diplobacillus, 
whose structural characters he has previously stated, is associated with 
a literal “ peste ” in fresh water. It attacks fishes, whether embryonic 
or adult, and the cray-fish likewise. It finds a particularly favourable 
medium in the spawn of fishes, and above all in the spawn of Amphi- 
bians. 
Influence of Natural Agents on Virulence of Tubercle Bacil- 
lus. j| — Drs. A. Ransome and S. Delepine find that finely divided 
tuberculous matter is rapidly deprived of virulence in daylight and in 
free currents of air ; fresh air has some, though a retarded influence in 
* Comptes Rendus, cxviii. (1894) pp. 1001-4. 
t Acti R. Accad. Medico-chirurgica Napoli, iv. (1893) 48 pp. and 1 pi. 
X Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xii. (1894) pp. 147-52 (1 pi.). 
§ Comptes Rendus, cxviii. (1894) pp. 942-4. 
[| Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond., lvi. (1894) pp. 51-6. 
