34 



Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



inches long, seven inches wide, and five 

 inches deep; is made of tin-lined copper, 

 and stands upon an iron frame eight 

 inches high. The bottom, where it is 

 exposed to the flame, has an extra cov- 

 ering of sheet-iron easily removable.. On 

 the top is a place for filling, and a simi- 

 lar opening at the other end to hold a 

 thermometer. There are two nests of 

 concentric rings, five in number, giving 

 openings of one inch to six inches, and 

 an extra cover intended to replace the 

 rings, which contains twenty-two open- 

 ings for medium-size test tubes. The 

 heater, which we have used in connection 

 with this bath, is a Primus No. 1, oil 

 heater, which will boil the water in a few 

 minutes. The bath has proven in opera- 

 tion satisfactory, and is as economical 

 of space and fuel as could be reasonably 

 desired. 



William Mabox, M. D. 



St. Lawrence State Hospital, Ogdens- 

 burg, N. Y., January 15, 1898. 



only a very thin film of paraffin remain- 

 ing on the top of the culture medium 

 at "C." 



During the heating a large portion of 

 the air absorbed by the bouillon is 

 driven out, and its reabsorption while the 



Fig. 1. 



Fig. 2, 



ABSTRACTS. 



A Simple Method for the Culture of An- 

 aerobic Bacteria in Liquid Media. 

 Dr. Theodore Kasparec, Vienna. 



In order to be able to cultivate tetanus 

 bacilli in bouillon in a simple manner, I 

 prepared the cultures in ordinary flasks 

 and selected the paraffin method, as 

 recommended by Kitasato, for excluding 

 the air. As pouring the liquid paraffin 

 upon the inoculated bouillon did not 

 appear practical enough, on account of 

 the danger of foreign germs entering 

 while pouring, the smearing of the neck 

 of the glass with paraffin as well as the 

 influence of the heat of the melted par^ 

 affin, I had a special flask made for 

 the purpose, which had proved very 

 reliable in keeping the culture air-tight. 



As the manipulation is exceedingly 

 simple, I feel impelled to recommend my 

 method. 



The flask intended for the above- 

 mentioned purpose may be a spherical 

 one, may be of any desired size, with a 

 rather long neck tapering toward the 

 top. A small tube terminating in a bulb 

 is blown into the side of the neck of the 

 flask about one centimeter from "C." 

 The flask is flrst filled with bouillon 

 almost to the neck and about three cubic 

 centimeters of liquid paraffin are then 

 added, after which the whole is sterilized 

 in the steam sterilizer. The heat 

 expands the bouillon, causing the paraffin 

 to rise in the neck of the flask and over- 

 flow into the side neck and small bulb 

 "A," so that after sterilization there is 



flask is cooling is prevented by the thin 

 paraffin film. After cooling the paraffin 

 hardens into a solid coating which can 

 be readily pierced when it is desired to 

 inoculate the bouillon. After inoculation 

 the hardened paraffin in the small bulb 

 is liquified by heating slightly, when it 

 may be poured upon the film already 

 formed above the bouillon by slightly in- 

 clining the flask. Upon hardening, this 

 additional paraffin constitutes an almost 

 perfectly air-tight layer, which becomes 

 even more effective by being pressed 

 into the tapering neck when the culture 

 is heated in the incubator. This closure 

 is made still tighter by the pressure of 

 the gases generated in the culture. 



Although the covering of anaerobic 

 cultures with paraffin is not new and is 

 quite simple, yet I consider this method 

 advisable, as the flask described need 

 only be opened once, that is, for inocula- 

 tion. "When pouring out the cultures 

 after growth has taken place, the paraffin 

 is again led into the lateral bulb after 

 warming the vessel, by inclining the 

 flask. 



This method is likewise advantageous 

 in the preparation of toxins, as the cul- 

 ture can be easily transferred in a very 

 pure condition to the fllter after the 

 warmed portion of the neck of the flask 

 has cooled and the paraffin has hardened 

 in the lateral bulb. 



(Central-Blatt f. Bakt. Band xx., p. 536.) 



Culture of Diatoms. 



Dr. Henri Van Heurck gives the fol- 

 lowing notes on the cultivation of 

 diatoms. They may be separated by the 

 fractional method. One drop of the 



