304 



THE BACTERIOPHAGE AND ITS BEHAVIOR 



Lactic and oxalic acids. These acids, in 2 per cent solutions, destroy 

 the corpuscles in less than 24 hours (de Poorter and Maisin^^) ^ 



Formal. Prausnitz and Firle^^^ obtained the following results when 

 1 cc. of a bacteriophage suspension was added to 1 cc. of a 3 per cent 

 solution of formalin (formic aldehyde concentration, 0.6 per cent). 



Duration of contact. , Number of plaques 



■' found upon spreading 



1 minute 4 



5 minutes 1 



10 minutes 



20 minutes 



Control, 1 cc. of bacteriophage + 1 cc. physiological saline 8000 



Antiformin. Destruction occurs within a few minutes in a 2 per cent 

 solution (Seiffert). 



Tetraline (hydrated derivative of naphthalene). The resistance of 

 bacteriophage corpuscles to this antiseptic is essentially the same as that 

 of anthrax spores (Prausnitz and Firle^^^). 



Lysol. Prausnitz and Firle^^^ have also tested this antiseptic, finding 

 that the bacteriophage is a little more resistant than are the spores of 

 B. anthracis. 



Furfurol. Bacteriophage corpuscles are inert after exposure for 24 

 hours in a mixture of equal parts of corpuscle suspension and of 2 per 

 cent furfurol. 



Salts and derivatives of quinine. Eliava and Pozerski^^^ introduced 

 5 drops of a Shiga-bacteriophage suspension into 10 cc. of physiological 

 sahne and added to this dilution variable quantities of a neutral 10 per 

 cent solution of quinine hydrochloride. Table 30 summarizes the results 

 which they obtained. 



They further state that the plaques obtained upon the agar spread 

 from the control suspension and those derived from the first two dilu- 



