and Laboratory Methods. 1865 



CURRENT BACTERIOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 



H. W. CONN, Wesleyan University. 



Separates of Papers and Books on Bacteriology should be Sent for Review to H. W. Conn, 

 Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 



Macfayden and Roland. The intracellular con- The authors have endeavored to study 

 stituenis of the typhoid bacillus. Cent. f. the toxic nature of the constituents of the 



Bac. u. Par. I, 30: vsd, igoi. ^ i • j u -n j r ^i.- 



^ ^ typhoid bacillus and for this purpose 



have devised a new method of study. The procedure adopted by Buchner of 

 separating their constituents from yeast cells by grinding under pressure with 

 sand, these authors reject on the ground that the method produces considerable 

 heat and the heat will inevitably change the chemical nature of some of the deli- 

 cate products. They, therefore, adopt a plan of destroying the bacteria cells 

 and separating their contents which is free from this error. The bacteria are 

 grown on the surface of agar and then washed from the surface, placed in a cyl- 

 inder and rotated at a high speed so as to separate the organisms from 

 the liquids. There is obtained a pasty mass which is then mixed with dry, clean 

 sand and introduced into a metal cylinder provided with a jacket, through which 

 cold water or brine can be circulated. A tightly fitted lid closes the cylinder, 

 and through the whole a vertical axis is rotated provided with horizontal veins. 

 The veins are revolved at a high speed, five thousand times per minute, while 

 the cold brine circulates outside of the cylinder. The rapid rotation in a few 

 moments results in the complete destruction of the bacteria, and it only remains 

 to separate the sand and solid particles from the fluid to obtain a watery solution 

 of the cell contents of the typhoid bacillus. This is done by pressing through 

 silicious earth. 



The authors further concluded that it would be advantageous if they could 

 eliminate the sand from their method, and for this purpose devised a 

 different method. The organisms were simply rotated in liquid air, the brittle- 

 ness produced by the low temperature making it possible by the simple rotation 

 to break the bacteria to pieces without the addition of sand. The process re- 

 quires about two hours, and the material obtained contains the cell contents of 

 the typhoid bacilli. The details of this method have not yet been given. 



With the liquid thus expressed from the typhoid bacillus, the authors per- 

 formed a number of experiments, and reached the general conclusion that there 

 is no very active toxic material formed by the typhoid bacillus, growing upon 

 ordinary laboratory culture media. h. w. c. 



Holub. Insecten als lebendes Substrat fur This author has devised a new and 

 Kultivierung ansteckender Krankheiten des somewhat ingenious method of culti- 

 Menschen und der Thiere. Cent. f. Bac. u. . ^^^^^.^ infectious bacteria. He 



Par. 1,30: 204, 1901. o 



worked chiefly with the organisms found 



in ulcers. He cultivated the bacteria by inoculating the material of the ulcer 

 into the body of insects. The inoculation was usually performed by simply in- 



