ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
525 
observable even in the aggregations of mineral particles. The pheno- 
mena of agglutination closely resemble those of coagulation. 
The phenomena of true agglutination may be excited in limpid 
liquids when the particles are extremely divided. In a certain measure, 
and in view of their coagulating and dissolving properties, active serums 
and digestive juices have much in common. In fact, from a chemical 
point of view, immunity may eventually be regarded as a special case of 
the physiology of digestion. 
The production of germicidal juices in vaccinated organisms is not 
to be regarded in a teleological sense. The organism merely brings into 
action forces already pre-existent and the special properties of the 
vaccine-serums existent in an inchoate state in fresh serums. 
Biology of Cheese Ripening.* — Professors S. M. Babcock and H. L. 
Russell were unable to reconcile the many apparent discrepancies of the 
biological theory of cheese ripening, until they sterilised milk by the 
addition of mild antiseptics such as ether and chloroform, which could 
afterwards be removed, and thus avoid any changes which might be 
produced by boiling. Such milks, although sterile, underwent similar 
changes to those that occur in cheese. Prom this it is inferred that 
milk contains an unorganised ferment capable of digesting casein. 
This enzyme is inherent in the milk itself, and the authors succeeded 
in isolating it. This ferment, which plays an important part in the 
proteolytic changes that occur in the ripening of cheese, is named 
galactase. 
Effect of Bile on Rabies.f — M. H. Vallee controverts the statement 
of Franzius that the bile of animals dead of rabies contains an anti- 
toxin to rabies. The author’s experiments point to the exact contrary. 
He also found that the bile of rabbits acts as an energetic antiseptic 
towards the rabid virus. An emulsion of virulent medulla oblongata 
is neutralised by an equal volume of bile in a few minutes. 
The inoculation of a mixture of equal parts of rabies virus and ol 
bile from a rabbit dead of rabies does not kill the animals, nor does it 
impart any immunity. 
Pneumococcus and the Sleeping Sickness.J — Dr. E. Marchoux 
advances a novel theory to explain the disease known as sleeping sick- 
ness. According to the author, the sleeping sickness is a residuum after 
cerebrospinal meningitis of Pneumococcus origin. 
The author’s experiences are derived from official duties in Senegal, 
where pneumonia and cerebrospinal meningitis are apparently rife 
among the coloured people. The sleeping sickness is also not un- 
common. The Dijplococcm intracellular is Weichselbaum was not found 
in any of the cases, not even in those of cerebrospinal meningitis 
without pneumonia. The author adopted serum treatment in four cases, 
and in three of these with some apparent benefit. 
Commensalism of Typhoid, Coli, and other Bacteria. § — Prof. E. 
Pfuhl shows that the typhoid bacillus can thrive on the same medium 
* Proc. American Assoc. Advancement Sci., xlvii. (1898) pp. 420-1. Cf. this 
Journal, 1898, p. 338. 
f Ann. Inst. Pasteur, xiii. (1899) pp. 506-12. % Tom. cit., pp. 193-208. 
§ Centralbl. Bakt. u. Par., l te Abt., xxvi. (1899) pp. 49-51. 
1899 2 n 
