CULTIVATTON OF ANAEROBES 281 



placed in a separate dish and not upon the bottom of the jar 

 since these chemicals attack the metal. The capacity of the 

 size which was used is about twenty-five plates or eighty test 

 tubes of 15 mm. diameter. Everything considered, this is the 

 most convenient and effective method of culturing anaerobes 

 which we have yet encountered. One precaution which must 

 be taken on all occasions, is not to allow bits of phosphorus to 

 remain exposed to the air. These may not burn for several hours 

 if moist, but as soon as they become dry they will bum and may 

 set fire to the laboratory. The phosphorus in stock should 

 be placed in firmly corked glass bottles and kept in the ice box. 

 In this laboratory we have had some difficulty because the tem- 

 perature became so high during the summer that the sticks melted 

 together into a mass in the bottom of the container, thus making 

 it difficult to remove. This trouble may be overcome by keeping 

 the material in the ice box. Sellards recommends drawing 

 out the phosphorus into small sticks. This is not at all necessary, 

 and involves considerable trouble. 



REFERENCE 



Sellards, A. W. 1904 Some researches on anaerobic cultiirea with phospho- 

 rus. Cent. f. Bakt. Abt. I. 37, 632-637. 



