1 Sir H.A. Blake has called attention to the fact that the “mosquito theory” of malaria is mentioned in a Sanscrit manuscript of about the 6th century A.D.?
2 Myxomycetes excepted, and they are probably to be regarded as animals—Mycetozoa. ?
3 Centralblatt f. Bakteriologie, etc. LXIII. 1 Abt. Orig. 1912, 4, idem LXVI. 1 Abt. Orig. 1912, 323. ?
4 The pronunciation of this word according to English standards is kok-si; the continental pronunciation is kok-kee; the commonest American seems to be kok-ki. We prefer the latter since it is easier and more natural and should like to see it adopted. (Author.) ?
5 With the possible exception of blue green algÆ which have been found with bacteria in the above-mentioned hot springs. Seeds of many plants have been subjected to as low temperatures as those above-mentioned without apparent injury. ?
6 It is popularly supposed that in canning fruit, vegetables, meats, etc., all the air must be removed, since the organisms which cause “spoiling” cannot grow in a vacuum. The existence of anaËrobic and facultative anaËrobic bacteria shows the fallacy of such beliefs. ?
7 “By cellulose is understood a carbohydrate of the general formula C6H10O5 not soluble in water, alcohol, ether, or dilute acids but soluble in an ammoniacal solution of copper oxide. It gives with iodine and sulphuric acid a blue color and with iodine zinc chloride a violet and yields dextrose on hydrolysis.”—H. Fischer. ?
8 The sulphur bacteria are partially prototrophic for S; probably the iron bacteria also for Fe. Some few soil bacteria have been shown to be capable of utilizing free H, and it seems certain that the bacteria associated with the spontaneous heating of coal may oxidize free C. So far as known no elements other than these six are directly available to bacteria. ?
9 Only a few kinds of bacteria so far as known are proto-autotrophic. The nitrous and nitric organisms of Winogradsky which are so essential in the soil, and which might have been the first of all organisms so far as their food is concerned, and some of the sulphur bacteria are examples. ?
10 The term pathogenic is also applied to certain non-parasitic saprophytic bacteria whose products cause disease conditions, as one of the organisms causing a type of food poisoning in man (Clostridium botulinum), which also probably causes “forage poisoning” in domestic animals. ?
11 The term “fermentation” was originally used to denote the process which goes on in fruit juices or grain extracts when alcohol and gas are formed. Later it was extended to apply to the decomposition of almost any organic substance. In recent years the attempt has been made to give a chemical definition to the word by restricting its use to those changes in which by virtue of a “wandering” or rearrangement of the carbon atoms “new substances are formed which are not constitutents of the original molecule.” It may be doubted whether this restriction is justified or necessary. A definition is at present scarcely possible except when the qualifying adjective is included as “alcoholic fermentation,” “ammoniacal fermentation,” “lactic acid fermentation,” etc. ?
12 See “Oil and Gas in Ohio,” Bownocker: Geological Survey of Ohio, Fourth Series, Bull. I, pp.313–314. ?
13 It is probable that this is the way “Jack o’lanterns” or “Will o’ the wisps” are ignited. Marsh gas is produced as above outlined from the vegetable and animal matter decomposing in swampy places under anaËrobic conditions and likewise phosphine. These escape into the air and the “spontaneous combustion” of the phosphine ignites the marsh gas. ?
14 Dr. H.H. Green, of Pretoria, South Africa, has isolated from “cattle dips” a bacterium that reduces arsenates to arsenites. ?
15 Dr. Green (l.c.) has also isolated an organism which causes some deterioration of cattle dips by oxidizing arsenites to arsenates. ?
16 It will be noted that the names of enzymes (except some of those first discovered) terminate in ase which is usually added to the stem of the name of the substance acted on, though sometimes to a word which indicates the substance formed by the action, as lactacidase, alcoholase. ?
17 Tetanus toxin is about 120 times as poisonous as strychnin, both of which act on the same kind of nerve cells. ?
18 In the author’s laboratory in the past ten years all sterilization except those few objects in blood and serum work which must be dry, has been done in autoclaves of the type shown in Fig.81 which are supplied with steam from the University central heating plant. A very great saving of time is thus secured. ?
19 The author has tested an “electric milk purifier” (Fig.102) which was as efficient as a first-class pasteurizer and left the milk in excellent condition both chemically and as far as “cream line” was concerned. The cost of operation as compared with steam will depend on the price of electricity. ?
20 The exact laboratory details for preparing various media are not given in this chapter. It is the object to explain the choice of different materials and the reasons for the various processes to which they are subjected. ?
21 For a discussion of this method of standardization consult the following:
Clark & Lubs—J. Bact., 1917, II, 1–34, 109–136, 191–236.
Committee Report—Ibid., 1919. IV, 107–132.
Jones—J. Inf. Dis., 1919, 25, 262–268.
Fennel & Fisher—Ibid., 444–451.
Additional references will be found in these articles. ?
22 Term also applied to the solidification of serum in media: e.g., the Hiss inulin medium for the differentiation of pneumococci (see diplococcus of pneumonia). ?
23 The term “antigen” is also used to designate substances which may take the place of what are supposed to be the true antigens in certain diagnostic reactions (Chapter XXIX, Complement Fixation Testfor Syphilis). ?
24 If the antitoxin is later concentrated (see last paragraph in this chapter) a serum containing as little as 175 units per cc. may be commercially profitable. ?
25 Tho term “allergie” was introduced by Von Pirquet to designate the state of the animal’s being sensitized and “allergic” as the adjective derived therefrom. It does not seem to the author that there is any advantage gained by the introduction of these terms. ?
