SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING A RATIONAL BASIS FOR 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE ANAEROBIC 



BACTERIA^ 



STUDIES IN PATHOGENIC ANAEROBES. IV 

 I. PRELIMINARY PAPER 



HILDA HEMPL HELLER 



From the George Williams Hooper Foundation for Medical Research, University 

 of California Medical School, San Francisco 



Received for publication March 1, 1921 



During the past three or four years I have made a study of 

 a carefully controlled series of certain groups of anaerobic strains 

 secured from pathological material. Attention was directed 

 almost entirely to such strains as were found to be capable of 

 penetrating living guinea-pig muscle in doses of 1 cc. or less 

 of young ground beef-heart culture. B. Welchii was not con- 

 sidered, and this organism is not included in the following Hst. 

 Though I was forced for want of time to neglect non-pathogenic 

 forms, such organisms are so frequently encountered in a study 

 of pathological material that one who has collected anaerobes 

 of one group must necessarily observe those of other sorts and 

 learn something of their ways. The pathogenic tissue-invading 

 strains included in my collection are 80 in number: 23 from 

 human wound infections, 32 from cases of so-called "blackleg" 

 of cattle, 10 from cases of braxy and of blackleg of sheep, and 

 15 from other animals. The collection includes 30 odd strains 

 of tetanus and other proteolytic organisms of various sorts. 



1 This work and that described in the following papers was commenced during 

 the author's tenure of the Alice Freeman Palmer Fellowship of Wellesley College. 



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