1895. (Jour. Roy. Microscop. Soc, Ser. II, 5, 1895, 592.) al've.i. L. noun alveus a beehive; L. gen. noun alvei of a beehive. Rods, 0.5 to 0.8 by 2.0 to 5.0 microns, frequentl}- occurring side bj^ side in long rows. Motile. Gram-variable. Variation: Non-motile and with capsular material (Clark, Jour. Bact., 38, 1939, 491). Spores, 0.8 to 1.0 by 1.2 to 2.0 microns, ellipsoidal, central to terminal. Spore wall thick and easily stained. Free spores fre- quently^ in parallel arrangement like that of the rods. Sporangia distinctly bulged, spindle- shaped to clavate. Gelatin stab: Slow liquefaction. Gelatin agar streak plate: Good zone of hydrolysis. Agar colonies: Thin, smooth, translucent, quickly spreading as a thin layer over entire plate. Variation: Round and rather gummy. Giant colonies: Motile, bullet-shaped, micro-colonies moving in large arcs from point of inoculation, usually covering the plate in 1 day (agar plates should stand a couple days in order to dry the surface some- what before using). Agar slants: Growth thin, flat, spreading over the surface. Migrating colonies on the upper, drier part of the slant. Variation: Growth thick and gummy. Glucose agar slants: Growth thinner or thicker than on agar. Glucose nitrate agar slants: Scant, if any, growth. Proteose-peptone acid agar slants: No growth. Soybean agar slants: Growth, if any, scant, thin and spreading. Variation: Abun- dant, dense, wrinkled. Broth: Turbidity uniform, light to mod- erate. NaCl broth: No growth in 5 per cent NaCl.' Milk: Usually coagulated; little or no acid; peptonized. Milk agar streak plate: Wide zone of hy- drolysis of the casein. Potato: Growth, if any, inconspicuous to moderate, spreading, yellowish. Indole is produced. Acid but no gas (with ammonium salts as source of nitrogen) from glucose; acid usually produced from sucrose. Generally no acid from lactose or mannitol. No acid from arabinose or xylose. Starch is hydrolyzed. Acetylmethj'lcarbinol is produced. pH of glucose broth is usually 4.8 to 5.6. Citrates not utilized. Methylene blue reduced; reoxidation variable. Nitrites not produced from nitrates. No gas produced in nitrate broth under ana- erobic conditions. Urease not produced. Thiamine is essential for growth. Lecithinase reaction negative or re- stricted. Aerobic, facultatively anaerobic. Growth in glucose broth under anaerobic conditions, often with a few bubbles of gas. Temperature relations: Optimum, about 30° C. Maximum, between 43° and 45° C. Source: Isolated from the larvae of the honey bee infected with European foul- brood. Habitat: Widely distributed in soil and bee-hives. 15. Bacillus stearotherniophilus Donk, 1920. (Jour. Bact., 5, 1920, 373.) ste.a.ro.ther.mo'phi.lus. Gr. noun stear fat; Gr. noun thermus heat; Gr. adj. phibis loving; M.L. adj. stearotherniophilus (pre- sumably intended to mean) heat- and fat- loving. Rods, 0.6 to 1.0 by 2.0 to 5.0 microns, sometimes occurring in filaments. Motile. Gram- variable. Spores, 1.0 to 1.2 by 1.5 to 2.2 microns, characteristically variable in size, ellip- soidal, terminal to subterminal. Spore wall thick and easily stained. Sporangia definitely swollen and racket- shaped. Gelatin stab: No liquefaction (tempera- ture too low). Gelatin agar streak plate: Usually there is a wide zone of hydrolysis. Agar colonies: Not distinctive, pinpoint to small, round to irregular, translucent to opaque, rough to smooth.
