278 CHEN CHONG CHEN AND LEO F. RETTGER 

 THE VOGES AND PROSKATJER REACTION 



This reaction was first observed by Voges and Proskauer (1898) 

 in their studies on the bacteria of hemorrhagic septicemia. It 

 was soon found that certain members of the colon group gave the 

 reaction, and that on this as a basis the typical and atypical, or 

 the fecal and non-fecal, types coming under this group could be 

 differentiated from each other. Durham (1901), McConkey 

 (1905-09), Archibald (1907), Bergey and Deehan (1908), Fer- 

 reira, Horta and Paredes (1908), West (1909), Copeland and 

 Hoover (1911), Clemesha (1912), Kligler (1914), Levine (1916), 

 and more recently Hulton, Greenfield, Johnson, Winslow and 

 Kligler, Burton and Rettger, Winslow and Cohen, and Rogers 

 and his associates have made use of this reaction. As a result 

 the test has been given added significance, and promises to be 

 one of the most important methods of differentiating the coli 

 from the aerogenes type of organisms. 



The chemistry of this reaction was not known until the publi- 

 cation of the thorough and painstaking researches of Harden and 

 his co-workers. Harden (1905) in his study of the fermentation 

 of glucose by colon bacilli discovered two important facts con- 

 cerning the end products of glucose fermentation of the coli 

 and aerogenes types of bacteria. He found that B. coli gives a 

 high acidity, with only a partial utilization of the glucose, whereas 

 the aerogenes type produces low acidity and complete exhaustion 

 of the sugar. He concluded that "B. lactis aerogenes acts upon 

 glucose in a totally different manner from B. coli and is therefore 

 to be regarded as a distinct organism." 



Harden and Walpole (1905-06) recognized a new substance, 

 glycol, among the usual products of glucose fermentation, such 

 as lactic, acetic, formic and succinic acids, alcohol and carbon 

 dioxide. According to them, this new substance, crude glycol, 

 contains a large amount of 2 : 3 butylene glycol (CH 3 -CHOH- 

 CHOH-CH3) which in the presence of atmospheric oxygen is 

 oxidized to acetyl-methyl-carbinol (CH 2 -CO-CHOH-CH 3 ) . This 

 volatile reducing substance is further oxidized in a relatively 

 strong alkaline solution to di-acetyl (CH3CO-CO-CH3). The 



