THE GEELONG NATURALIST, “5 
shortly become extinct. A little timely advice will greatly 
assist in stopping these thoughtless youths from continuing in 
their depredations, and, it is to be hoped, induce them to adopt 
a more humane and systematic course. 
A fitting tribute for thorough and painstaking work has been 
paid to Mr. Goodlet by the Club. He has been made a life 
honorary member of the Field Naturalists’ and Science Associa- 
tion, and we heartily wish Mr. Goodlet many years to enjoy the 
privilege conferred upon him. Mr. Goodlet in the past has 
been one of the chief contributors, and his paper on Plant 
Stems, read before the Association on September 6th, shows 
that he still maintains his reputation for enthusiastic and careful 
observation in the field of biology. 
We take the opportunity of reminding our corresponding 
members that any contributions addressed to the Magazine 
Editor will be acceptable, and will be read on the evenings 
specially set apart for Magazine papers. 
THE BACILLUS TYPHI MURIUM. 
In the last number of the “ Zoologist,” just to hand, are two 
exceedingly interesting papers on the discovery and practical 
use of the bacillus typhi murium. The discoverer, Professor 
F. Loeffler, of Griefswald, describes how he was first led to 
examine the bacillus, and at some length details the experi- 
ments. It appears that at the Hygienic Institute at Greifswald, 
with which institution Professor Loeffler is connected, a stock 
of white mice were kept in glass cases, and regularly fed on 
oats and pieces of bread moistened with water. In 1889 an 
epidemic broke out amongst the mice and many died. The 
professor examined the dead mice, and discovered that death 
was, apparently, due to a bacillus previously unknown. The 
following year, another epidemic broke out, and 69 per cent. of 
the mice died. This time every care was taken, and exact 
experiments made, which conclusively proved that the disease 
was caused by a particular bacillus. The bacilli found in the 
liver and spleen of some of the dead mice were cultivated in 
different cultures, and in each case when an otherwise healthy 
mouse was fed with food saturated with the culture it died 
within a few days, exhibiting all the symptoms of the disease. 
Then experiments were made on other animals of allied nature 
to the mouse, and it was found that the field vole (arvicola 
arvalis), which occurs in vast swarms in England and various 
places on the Continent, and does such immense harm to crops, 
was susceptible to the disease when fed with food containing the 
bacilli of the epidemic in the mice. It was also found that if a 
dead vole were thrown in with live healthy ones, the latter at 
