94 



Examination of "Foul" Sea Water. 



(From a sample given by Mr. Shrubsole, in May, 1894.) 



By Walter P. Shadbolt. 



{Read April \Qth, 1895). 



Stroke and deep inoculations were made in agar and gelatine 

 tubes, and kept at 19-20° C, at which temperature all the following 

 observations were made. The growths were all aerobic, being visible 

 along the stroke in 24 hours faintly. The organisms were fo.;nd 

 to be mixed, and plate cultivations on gelatine for purposes of 

 isolation were made in the usual way. After several transfers from 

 plates to tubes, and from tubes to plates, isolation was effected. 

 Two kinds were occasional, and probably adventitious. Three 

 kinds were persistent. 



The two occasional kinds were : — 



1. A straight rod, motile during the first day, rapidly liquefying 

 gelatine ; soon becoming motionless, and breaking up into spores, 

 with a putrid smell. 



2. Small round organisms, motile to some extent, with a move- 

 ment like Brownian movement, breaking up into spores, and 

 liquefying gelatine rapidly, with a putrid smell. 



These were not observed further. 



The three persistent kinds were all rounded bodies, of which 

 tube cultivations on agar are produced. They all liquefy gelatine 

 slowly. The tubes are marked respectively " Star," " White," and 

 " Yellow." 



No 1, " Star," cultivated on a plate at 19-20°. 



In 24 hours showed no visible growth. In 36 hours there 

 appeared numerous whitish spots, plainly visible under a lin. 

 glass. In two-and-a-half days the spots were "visible to the naked 

 eye, and in three days these had developed into star-shaped colonies, 

 whitish, and so far without perceptibly liquefying the medium. 



The colonies at first grow from one or two round organisms, 

 which increase irregularly by budding. They are about T0 1 oTT m> m 

 diameter, some as large as -^-^q-q. As soon as these are numerous 



