SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
603 
ticular as to the quality of the culture media supplied them, 
will bear transplanting well, and are not dangerous to have on 
clothing or utensils in case the operator clumsily breaks his 
glassware while cultivating or examining his growing colonies. 
They are much safer than the bacillus anthracis , which will next 
receive our attention. This bacillus is the best known of all 
bacteria. It was the first to be positively identified as a spe¬ 
cific cause of disease. It has been the subject of continuous 
experimentation. It makes a ready growth upon any of the 
common media. The rods extend longitudinally as the colony 
of a thrifty culture grows, until they form long filaments, which 
weave and twist themselves together so intimately that a large 
section from the culture may sometimes be lifted with the 
needle, and where the culture is forcibly divided the torn, edges 
always present a very ragged appearance. The chief danger 
from the bacillus anthracis seems to arise when spores have 
been formed. Referring to this transformation, Ostertag says : 
“ Of the greatest interest is the knowledge of the conditions 
most favorable to the sporulation of anthrax bacilli. Anthrax 
spores are only produced in the presence of a liberal supply of 
acids and under suitable conditions of temperature. The limits 
of favoring temperatures being i8°C. and 34°C., the most favor¬ 
able being 30°C. But they will neither in the living animal 
body nor in the unmutilated carcass form spores. Once the 
spores are formed, however, they become a serious menace to all 
animal life that may come in contact with them. They will 
live for a long time in the earth or in stagnant water. Conse¬ 
quently low swampy places and especially those that are sub¬ 
ject to occasional overflow, are often in certain districts charged 
with anthrax spores for months and even years at a time. 
These spores though inactive are alive and if again placed un¬ 
der favorable conditions each spore will develop into a mature 
anthrax cell and this cell in turn will rapidly multiply until 
myriads are produced. Another of the motionless microbes 
and one that is likewise dangerous for inexperienced parties to 
handle in any way is the bacillus mallei or the glanders bacil¬ 
lus. It grows better if the temperature of the incubator is kept 
rather low. As I have never grown any of the glanders bacilli 
I will allow Abbott to furnish the following paragraph : “ Its 
reactions to heat are very interesting; at 42°C. it will often 
grow for twenty days or more. It will not grow at 43°C. and 
is killed by exposure to this temperature for forty-eight hours. 
It is killed in five hours when exposed to 5Q°C. and in five min- 
