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QUANTITATR^ DETERMINATIONS OF SOME OF 



THE BIOCHEMICAL CHANGES PRODUCED 



BY A S.\PROPHYTIC ANAEROBE' 



L. D. BUSHNELL 



Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station 



Received for publication December 3, 1921 



INTRODUCTION 



The differentiation and classification of microbial species is 

 certainly the most difficult of all problems in bacteriologj\ "^Tien 

 one finds what he considers a new species he is at once aware of 

 the lack of means to characterize it adequately so that it may be 

 recognized bj^ others. At the same time the similarities that it 

 presents to other types, which are certainly distinct, may lead 

 to confusion, when an attempt is made to place it properly among 

 species already described. This confusion is more marked in the 

 case of the anaerobic than of the aerobic types. This is prob- 

 ably due to the fact that anaerobic types are supposed to be 

 very unstable in their characteristics and less care has been used 

 in describing them; and also to the fact that many mixed cul- 

 tures of anaerobes have been described as pure cultures. 



Probablj' some of this confusion is due to the fact that too 

 much emphasis has been placed on one factor, such as the form 

 of the colony, or the location and size of the spore. It is a well 

 known fact that colony formation is quite variable, in many cases 

 being completely altered by the consistency of the medium. 

 Again the location of the spore varies in many of the individuals 

 of the same culture. 



Bacteriological experience has taught us not to rely too much 

 upon one factor, but rather to classify microorganisms accordmg 



' Contribution no. 41 from the Bacteriological Laboratories of the Kansas 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. 



373 



lOCrBNAL OP BACTEBIOLOGT, VOL. Til, NO I 



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