ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
513 
Bismarck-brown. It grows well in peptonized .agar, in gelatin, in 
bouillon, in solutions of sugar, and on potato. The most favourable 
temperature was about 37° C. 
The microbe does not liquefy the medium nor develope spores. It is 
essentially aerobic. It has little or no action on albumen, and though 
it will develope on starch, does not saccharize this substance. It decom- 
poses sugar, forming carbonic acid, lactic acid, succinic acid, and alcohol. 
It does not possess apparently any specific pathogenic action. 
Pathogenic Bacillus obtained from Floor-dust* * * § — Ur. Okada has 
isolated from dust from the floor a bacillus endowed with pathogenic 
properties. It grows in the usual media at ordinary temperatures in 
whitish colonies somewhat like the bacillus of typhoid. Examined 
microscopically it is found to be a short rod with rounded ends, about 
twice as long as broad. It was stainable with the ordinary auilin pig- 
ments, but Gram’s method failed. The bacillus is immobile, and spore- 
formation was not observed. Inoculations in rabbits, guinea-pigs, and 
mice were made. The most marked post mortem appearance was the 
great swelling of the lymphatic glands and of the spleen. The micro- 
organisms were found, by means of the Microscope, in all the organs. 
The author conceives that this bacillus resembles those described by 
Emmerich and by Brieger, but is not identical therewith, since the two 
latter grow well on potato, while the former does not. 
Baumgarten’s Report on Micro-organisms.f — Dr. P. Baumgarten’s 
Annual of Pathogenic Micro-organisms, which embraces Bacteria, Fungi, 
and Protozoa, has recently been published. The present volume deals 
with the year 1889, and contains 632 pages. It presents similar features 
to the previous volumes. 
Action of Light on Acetic Fermentation .{ — Sig. M. Giunti finds 
that direct sunlight prevents the development of Mycoderma aceti, and 
therefore of the acetic fermentation. Even diffuse daylight possesses an 
inhibitory influence if the surface of the fluid be not shaded. Prolonged 
exposure to the sunlight, however, is not sufficient to sterilize the fluid. 
Bacteria in Sputum. §— Dr. S. Panzini’s examination of sputum was 
conducted at three different times. It was examined directly by different 
microscopical methods ; it was inoculated in animals. Pure cultivations 
of the various organisms were made. 
Besides the microbes already known, the author isolated a new 
organism, Bacillus tenuis sputigenus. This is a diplococcus or diplo- 
bacillus which stains by Gram’s method, grows on gelatin at the 
ordinary temperature, spreading out flat on the surface of the medium, 
and in this differing from Friedlaender’s bacillus, which forms a distinct 
swelling. It grows well on potato, and coagulates milk with formation 
* Centralbl. f. Bacteriol. u. Parasitenk., ix. (1890) pp. 442-4. 
f Baumgarten’s Annual Report on Pathogenic Micro-organisms, 5th year, 1889, 
Brunswick, 1890, 8vo, pp. 632. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., ix. (1891) 
p. 605. 
x Le Stazioni Sperimt. Agrar. Ital., xviii. p. 171. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. 
u. Parasitenk., ix. (1891) pp. 539-40. 
§ Virchow’s Archiv, cxxii. (1890). See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk 
ix. (1891) pp. 566-9. ’’ 
