576 ABSTRACTS 



LABORATORY TECHNIQUE 



Hydrochloric Acid as a Decolorizing Agent for the Tubercle Bacillus. R. 

 A. Keilty. (Jour. A. M. A., 1916, 68, 1619-1620.) 

 The following technic is given : Make thin smears, fix with heat, and 



stain with cold carbolfuchsin for five minutes. Decolorize for thirty 



seconds or more with 30 per cent hydrochloric acid. Counterstain 



with Loeffler's methylene blue. — G. H. S. 



A Device for Protection against the Tubercle Bacillus. R. A. Keilty. 



(New York Med. Jour., 1916, 103, 1074.) 



The device described is used to prevent the scattering of tubercle 

 bacilli from a platinum loop while it is being flamed. 



The apparatus consists of a tube of Russian iron, so constructed that 

 it surrounds the flame of a Bunsen burner, fitting the burner tightly at 

 the bottom. The platinum loop may be plunged into the flame and 

 any masses which jump are caught upon the sides or bottom of the 

 tube.— M. W. C. 



Stabilized Gentian Violet. W. D. Stovall and M. S. Nichols. (Jour. 



A. M. A., 1916, 66, 1620-1621.) 



To prevent deterioration of the gentian violet used in Gram's stain 

 the authors suggest a stain of the formula: 



Anilin 28 cc. 



Gentian violet 8 gm. 



95 per cent alcohol 100 cc. 



N Hydrochloric acid 5 cc. 



Distilled water qs. ad 1000 cc. 



Dissolve gentian violet in the alcohol. Add hydrochloric acid to the 

 anihn and dissolve in water to make 900 cc. Filter the aqueous solu- 

 tion and add to the alcohoHc stain. Filter. — G. H. S. 



The Production and Collection of B. coli in Quantity on Synthetic media. 

 Robert Bengis. (Jour. Infect. Diseases, 1916, 18, 391-39a.) 

 The best medium was composed of the following: 2.5 per cent agar, 

 1 per cent ammonium lactate, and 0.2 per cent disodium phosphate, 

 with or without 1 per cent calcium carbonate. The absence of lac- 

 tose increased the eflficiency. Inoculation of specially constructed 

 plates was accomplished by means of a De Vilbiss atomizer. The 

 growth was scraped off with a safety blade and placed in 75 per cent 

 cent alcohol.— P. B. H. / 



Production of Clear and Sterilized Anti-Hog-Cholera Serum. M. Dor- 

 set and R. R. Henry. (J. Agr. Res., 1916, 6, 333-338.) 

 The occasional presence of the foot-and-mouth virus in hog-cholera 

 serum makes it necessary to devise some means of sterilizing it. Heat- 

 ing for thirty minutes at 60° kills the foot-and-mouth virus; but unless 



