ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
321 
endocarditis. The organism was obtained from the blood during life, and 
post mortem w r as isolated from’ the yegetations.cn the aortic valve, and, 
from infarcts in the spleen and kidneys. It is a small micrococcus, and 
cultivated on agar media, shows considerable resemblance to Diplococcus 
lanceolcitus. Like the latter it is easily stained by Gram’s method, but 
is distinguished therefrom by liquefying gelatin and coagulated blood- 
serum, and more especially by its action on milk, which it acidifies, co- 
agulates, and finally converts into a clear fluid by its peptonising power. 
It is pathogenic to white mice, rabbits, and dogs. An acute vegetative 
endocarditis was excited in a dog which had been intravenously injected 
after the cusps of the aortic valve had been artificially damaged. From 
these vegetations pure cultures of the coccus were obtained. Filtered 
cultures, which therefore contained no bacteria, peptonised milk, gelatin, 
&c. Owing to this ferment action the authors have designated the 
microbe M. zymogenes. 
Non-motile Hog-Cholera Bacillus.* * * § — Prof. Th. Smith mentions the 
discovery of a bacillus isolated from an animal dead of hog-cholera. 
Except that it is devoid of motility, it exactly resembles in all its other 
characters hog-cholera bacillus a described by him in 18854 This 
discovery proves that there is a race of non-motile hog-cholera bacilli ; 
and this conclusion is strengthened by the fact that hog-cholera serum 
agglutinates these bacilli just like the motile races. 
Streptococcus of Broncho-pneumonia.t — According to the observa- 
tions of Dr. G. Catterina, a Streptococcus is of frequent occurrence in 
certain kinds of broncho-pneumonia. It is cultivable only in liquid 
media, wherein it forms long undulating chains. It is but little resistant, 
and dies in 6-8 days. It is stained well with anilin dyes and by Gram’s 
method. It is pathogenic to white mice and rabbits. Its virulence is 
increased by successive transferences through animals, and is well pre- 
served in Marmorek’s serum. Sterilised cultures injected into rabbits 
up to 35-40 ccm. re nder the animal immune. Rabbits vaccinated against 
Sir. equi, Str. pyogenes, or Sir. erysipelatis, are not immune to this strepto- 
coccus. Indeed vaccination with Str. erysip. predisposes to a more 
rapidly fatal infection with Streptococcus pneumonicus. 
Pathogenic Agent of Hydrophobia.§ — M. E. Puscariu has found in 
sections of the nervous system of men and animals dead of hydrophobia, 
appearances which lead him to believe that he has discovered the patho- 
genic agent of this disease. The sections w r ere stained with hot methylen- 
blue by Nissl’s method, decolorised in anilin-alcohol, then in absolute 
alcohol, and, after having passed through origanum oil, were mounted in 
balsam. In sections thus stained globular formations varying in size 
from 7-50 p were observed in considerable numbers, chiefly in the lym- 
phatic spaces, but also in nerve-cells. When stained with methyl- 
violet they gave the amyloid reaction ; w'hen unstained they w r ere 
yellowish and refracting. The granulations or formations are composed 
of blue-stained bacilli, mostly 2-3 p long and 0-4-0 *6 p broad, wdth 
* Centralbl. Bakt. u. Par., l te Abt., xxv. (1899) pp. 241-1. 
t Of. this Journal, 1895, p. 1052. 
+ Atti Soc. Y T eneto-Trentina, iii. (1898) pp. 438-48. 
§ Comptes Rendus, cxxviii. (1899) pp. 691-3. 
