OF THE ALniENTARY TRACT 57 



tory notes of 1922 occur observations of apparent 

 multiplication of Endamoeba histolytica and Etid- 

 amoeha coli in 1 to 5 serum mixture with 0.9% so- 

 dium chloride solution, incubated, at 37°C. This 

 cultivation was ungovernable, however. It was a 

 hit or miss procedure. Subculture was, also, un- 

 governable. The organisms multiplied for two or 

 three days and then gradually disappeared by the 

 fourth or fifth. The undeterminable and ungov- 

 ernable factors were thought to be the bacterial con- 

 tent of the cultures and the changing reaction of 

 the media. 



It has appeared to the writer in working with the 

 various described media for cultivation of alimentary 

 tract protozoa that their reliability is by no means 

 comparable to that of bacterial cultures. The con- 

 tent and reaction of the media is controllable only 

 primarily. 



The subsequent changes in the media must be 

 variable and uncontrollable, as are the contaminating 

 bacteria in them. Apparently identical media will 

 grow them at times and will fail at others. Until 

 the bacterial growth can be eliminated or controlled, 

 cultivation of these protozoa will not be satisfactory 

 and the benefits from such procedures will not be 

 fully realized, although in the hands of some (Craig, 

 1928, and Craig and St. John, 1927) cultivation of 

 Endamoeba histolytica has been reliable enough for 

 recommendation as a measure of diagnosis of the 

 infection. 



