Potato: Growth slender, moist and white. Coagulated blood serum: Growth viscous, mucoid, white. Indole not produced. Hj-drogen sulfide produced. No action on carbohydrates or alcohols, of which the following were tested: glucose, fructose, galactose, lactose, maltose, su- crose, starch, dextrin, salicin, glycerol, sor- bitol, dulcitol and mannitol. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. Ammonia produced in peptone solutions. Temperature relations: Optimum, be- tween 37° and 39° C. Minimum, 17° C. Maxi- mum, 45° C. Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. Not pathogenic for guinea pigs. Source: Isolated from feces in a case of food poisoning. Habitat: Found in decomposing mate- rials. 3. Kurthia bessonii (Hauduroy et al., 1937) Severi, 1946. (Bacille isole des selles, Besson, Tech. microbiol. et s^rotherap., Paris, 1" ed., 1924, 920; Listerella bessoni (sic) Hauduroy et al.. Diet. d. Bact. Path., Paris, l" ed., 1937, 271; Severi, Giorn. di Batteriol. e Immunol., 34, 1946, 107.) bes.son'i.i. M.L. gen. noun bessonii of Besson; named for A. Besson, the bacteri- ologist who first described this organism. Description taken from Hauduroy et al. (op. cit., 1937, 271). Rods, 0.7 by 1.0 to 8.0 or even 12.0 mi- crons, which form filaments. Actively motile by means of peritrichous flagella. Gram- positive. Gelatin colonies: Thin and spreading; fimbriate margins. Gelatin stab: Rapid liquefaction. Agar colonies: Thinner in center than at margins; lacerate edges. Broth: Slightly turbid; thin, fragile pel- licle; slight precipitate. Odor ammoniacal and putrid. Litmus milk: Alkaline and digested. Indole not produced. Hydrogen sulfide not produced. Little or no action on carbohydrates. Slight action on glycerol. Coagulated blood serum: Liquefied. Neutral red partially and slowly reduced. Source: Isolated from normal and diar- rheal human feces. Habitat: Believed to be widely distrib- uted in putrid organic matter. FAMILY X. LACTOBACILLACEAE WINSLOW ET AL., 1917.* (Winslow, Broadhurst, Buchanan, Krumwiede, Rogers and Smith, Jour. Bact., 2, 1917, 561; Lactobacteriaceae (sic) Orla-Jensen, Jour. Bact., 6, 1921, 266; Streptobacteriaceae Bergey, Breed and Murray, Preprint, Manual, 5th ed., 1938, 71.) The generic name Lactobacter proposed by Beijerinck (Cent. f. Bakt., II Abt., 6, 1900, 200) was used by him to designate a physiological genus that included both the lactic acid cocci and the lactic acid rods. No species are described so that the status of this name is questionable. Lac.to.ba.cil.la'ce.ae. L. noun lac, lactis milk; L. mas. dim. n. bacillus a little rod; -aceae ending to denote a family; M.L. fem.pl. n. Lactobacillaceae the Lactobacillus family.
- The following have been consulted in regard to the general arrangement of the genera
recognized in this family: Prof. E. G. D. Murray, McGill University, Montreal, P.Q., Canada; Prof. J. M. Sherman, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Dr. C. F. Niven, Jr., American Meat Institute Foundation, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Dr. L. DS. Smith, ^Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, Bozeman, ^Montana; and Prof. C. S. Pederson, New York State Experiment Station, Geneva, New York, March, 1955. The descriptions of the anaerobic species are taken largely from Dr. A.-R. Prevot, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France.
