710 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



water in the can was kept vigorously boiling, and steam at 100° C 

 consequently bubbling through the medium mass for 25 minutes, by 

 which time complete solution of the agar had been effected. (If one 

 had been preparing 10 p.c. or 12 p.c. gelatin instead of agar, bubbling 

 the steam through for a period of 10 minutes would have been ample.) 

 The medium mass was then rapidly cooled to 15° C. in a normal 

 measuring flask, and found to amount to 900 ccm. A further 100 ccm. 

 of distilled water was then added, the medium melted up, titrated, and 

 controlled, and the reaction estimated as being + 20. Dekanormal 

 soda solution 0*95 ccm. was therefore added to produce a reaction 

 of + 10 in the 950 ccm. of medium remaining in the flask, and the 

 medium egged, steamed, filtered, tubed, and sterilised in the usual way. 

 The reaction of the finished medium was finally estimated as + 10. 



Cultivation of Amoebae. * — H. Zaubitzer obtained amoebae from 

 straw infusion where they were in symbiosis with a bacterium. Culti- 

 vations were made from the sporocyst stage at 15°-20° C. The most 

 suitable of the liquid media tried were 1 p.c. Heyden-water and 2-5 p.c. 

 somatose solution ; of the solid, 1 p.c. Heyden-agar and 2 ■ 5 p.c. somatose- 

 agar. Fucus crispus was much less favourable. Examinations were 

 made in hanging drops, after staining with methylen-blue and eosin, 

 and after Delafield's hematoxylin and methylen-blue. Pure cultures, 

 free from bacteria destroyed with 20 p.c. soda solution, were not 

 obtained. 



Acid Media for Cultivating Tubercle Bacilli, t — G. Jochmann 

 finds that media which are prepared with meat-water possess a favour- 

 able degree of acidity. Media which are naturally alkaline or neutral 

 should be first tested for the neutral point with litmus, and then acidu- 

 lated with 1 p.c. lactic acid ; 10 drops to 50 ccm., or about 10 ccm. 1 p.c. 

 lactic acid to 1 litre of medium. 



Culture of Gonococcus. — Dr. EL H. Young J records the successful 

 cultivation of Gonococcus from cases of arthritis, abscess, cystitis, 

 pyonephrosis, and peritonitis. The medium used was hydrocele-agar. 

 The sterile fluid obtained aseptically may be kept for use in stoppered 

 bottles. Agar slants are autoclaved for 5 minutes, and then put into 

 water-bath at 55°. Hydrocele fluid is then poured into a tube in the 

 proportion of a little more than one to tw T o. 



M. Wassermann § made successful cultivations of Gonococcus from 

 vegetations of the aortic valves on human blood-agar. 



Dr. N. M. Harris and Dr. W. H. Dabney j| report a case of endo- 

 carditis from which the Gonococcus was successfully cultivated. 



Insects as Living Substratum for Cultivating Infectious Diseases 

 of Man and Animals.^" — C. von Holub states that he has used insects 

 as cultivation media for the past two years, and has found them an 



* Arch. f. Hvgiene, 1901, No. 2. See Centralbl. Bakt., 1" Abt., xxx (1901). 



p. 311. 



t Hygieu. Bundschau, 1901. No. 1. See Centralbl. Bakt., l_ ,e Abt., xxix. (1901) 

 p. 958. ! Johns Hopkins Hosp. Rep., ix. (1900) pp. 677-707. 



§ Munch. Med. Wochenschr., 1901, No. 8. See Centralbl. Bakt.. 1" Abt-, xxix. 

 (1901) p. 913. 'J Johns Hopkins Hosp. Bull., xii. (1901) pp. 68-77. 



t Centralbl. Bakt., l t0 Abt., xxx. (1901) pp. 281-7. 



