From the fermentation broth of a strain of Fusidium a hitherto unrecorded antibiotic, for which the name 'fusidic acid' is proposed, has been isolated ... The activity was determined by the agar cup-plate method using Staphylococcus aureus as test organism ... From the concentrated aqueous solution obtained, fusidic acid was precipitated as a crystalline benzene solvate on acidification in the presence of benzene ... Fusidic acid is non-toxic. The subcutaneous and oral LD50 in mice were found to be 1.2 gm. and 1.5 gm. per kgm. body-weight, respectively ... Daily oral administration of fusidic acid to rats in doses of 0.4 gm. per kgm. body-weight over a period of 6 months was well-tolerated. Post-mortem examination revealed no pathological changes.

From Nature 10 March 1962

100 Years Ago

Mr. G. R. M. Temple sends us from York a copy of a photograph ... which illustrates very clearly the result of the expansion of water by freezing during the recent frost. The bottle was filled with clean water and tightly corked; when the water had frozen a stem of ice about 4½ in. in length was found to be projecting from the bottle ... This stem represented, of course, the increase of volume undergone by the water in passing from the liquid to the solid state. The bottle must have been cracked while solidification was going on, otherwise the water would have escaped.

From Nature 7 March 1912