100 BACTERIA AS ANTAGONISTS 



species of Brucella {Br. melitensis, Br. abortus, Br. suis) ; in liquid 

 media, however, the activities of these species were repressed, the sar- 

 cina thus acting as an antagonist. A white staphylococcus exerted an an- 

 tagonistic action on Brucella species both in liquid and on solid media. 



Certain acid-producing aerobes were found capable of inhibiting toxin 

 production by Clostridium hotulinum in glucose but not in noncarbo- 

 hydrate media (372). Since acid itself cannot bring about this effect, 

 Holman (426) suggested that the acid must be active in a nascent state. 

 A mixture of a Clostridium sf or genes and CI. hotulinum also inter- 

 fered with the development of the toxin ; it was even thought possible 

 that the first anaerobe might cause the disappearance of toxin already 

 produced (158, 1 59, 463 ) . 5. aureus, E. coli, P. vulgaris, and other bac- 

 teria permitted the growth of CI. hotulinum in aerobic cultures, accom- 

 panied by toxin production (291 ). However, Streftococcus thermofhi- 

 lus inhibited the growth of CI. hotulinum, the toxin of the latter being 

 gradually destroyed (478). 



Passini (671) claimed that Bacillus futrificus verrucosus destroyed 

 M. tuberculosis in nine days. The effect of other anaerobes on the sur- 

 vival of anthrax spores in dead animals has been extensively studied 

 (425). Novy (649) reported that the injection into guinea pigs of P. 

 vulgaris and Clostridium oedematiens resulted in rapid death of the 

 animals and extensive growth of the anaerobe in the animal bodies j 

 however, the simultaneous inoculation of CI. sforogenes and P. vul- 

 garis did not result in putrid lesions (426). According to Barrieu (40), 

 the presence of P. vulgaris and certain nonpathogenic spore-bearing 

 aerobes in wounds favors, through their proteolytic activity, the viru- 

 lence of pathogenic bacteria. Pringsheim (705) grew CI. welchii with 

 Alkali genes fecalis for ten generations on agar slants and could easily 

 detect in the growth of the latter the opaque colonies of the anaerobe. 

 A liquefying sarcina allowed CI. welchii and Clostridium butyricum to 

 grow in open tubes. Weinberg and Otelesco (958) believed that many 

 war-wound infections are due to an association of P. vulgaris with 

 anaerobes, since the former increased the virulence of Clostridium fer- 

 fringens and others. 



The antagonistic effects of lactic acid bacteria of the L. hulgaricus and 

 L. acidofhilus groups have received considerable attention (76), espe- 



