40 



THE COMPOSITION OF EXPIRED AIR, 



bacillus belonging, apparently, to the B. coli grunp ".ib found iTrinost of the cultures; in one 

 instance this bacillus was present in very large numbers and excluded nearly all the other forms. 

 It was also noted in the gelatin plates exposed in the ward, and in the cultures from dust collected 

 near the apparatus. 



On several occasions the dust which had collected on the meter and mantel during the night 

 was taken up on a sterilized cotton swab and inoculated upon gelatin plates. The cultures in 

 these plates did not differ greatly from those made from the fluid, except that the moulds were 

 present in larger proportion than the other organisms noted in the cultures from the fluid. 



(ielatin plates exposed to the air of the ward showed the same character of organisms as in the 

 cultures from the condensed fluid and those which developed from the dust collected in the vicinity 

 of the apparatus. In addition to the species already noted, colonies of staphylococcus aureus 

 and albus were also noted in these plates. 



The small amount of fluid collected from the air of the hospital ward in the manner stated, 

 and the rapidity with which it evaporated on clear days, made it impossible to collect a suflicient 

 quantity to inoculate it into animals. To overcome this difficulty a small quantity of sterilized 

 glycerine (7.5 to 10 c. c.) was aspirated through the condensers after it had been cleansed. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether this served to withdraw an appreciable amount of moisture from the air. 

 After aspirating air through the apparatus for several days it was brought to the laboratory and the 

 fluid in the receptacle transferred to a small sterilized flask. The condenser was then washed out 

 by aspirating 8 to 10 c. c. of twice distilled water (sterilized) through it. This was added to the 

 fluid poured from the receptacle, thoroughly mixed with it, and inoculated into animals. The 

 glycerine in this fluid inoculated into the animals was diluted at least 50 per cent. Three sejs of 

 animals were inoculated and each time a control animal was inoculated with equal parts of glycerine 

 and distilled water that had been sterilized for one hour. The results of these experiments are 

 shown in Table E. 



T.IBLE E. 



COLLECTION OF BACTERIA, ETC., FROM THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE HOSPITAL WARD, USING GLYCERINE 



IN THE ABSORPTION APPARATUS. 



Litres of .-lir 

 Aspirated. 



■3338-8 



7754-2 

 7669.3 

 4924.2 



No. of bacteria 



in dilute fluid, 



per c. c. 



900 

 450 



2675 



1893 

 1646 



The animals inoculated with the products collected from the air of the hospital ward in the 

 manner stated were under observation for two months. Three of these animals died during the 

 time they were under observation. The control animal of the third series died after twelve days. 

 This animal was observed to be in] poor health for several days before its death. On examination, 

 />os/ mortem, it was found to have had a good-sized abscess in the right axillary fossa, which had 

 ruptured externally : The liver i)resented numerous whitish bands and foci on all of its surfaces 

 and throughout the matrix. .\ number of echinococcus cysts were found adherent to the liver, 

 spleen, and the omentum. The kidneys were normal in size and appearance, and the capsule was 

 easily removed. The other organs appeared normal. 



Cultures were taken from the abscess, blood, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys. Those from the 

 site of the abscess were the only ones developing any growth. The prevailing organisms in the 

 cultures from the abscess were staphylococcus albus and aureus. 



