BIOLOGY OF CLOSTRIDIUM WELCHII 6il 



typical Clostridium Welchii colonies were fished from around the 

 gas zones and reinoculated into glucose-liver broth and later 

 into milk. The purity of the culture was determined by micro- 

 scopic examination. Although glucose agar and glucose broth 

 with meat extract gave satisfactory results, liver medium was 

 used in the greater part of this work, since Clostridium Welchii 

 grew luxuriantly in the presence of glycogen. 



The Welch-Nuttall incubation test was tried in order to prove 

 that the "stormy fermentation" is characteristic of Clostridium 

 Welchii and gave positive results throughout, with the recovery 

 of the organism from the organs and body fluids of the animal. 



III. DISTRIBUTION 



Clostridium Welchii is extensively distributed in nature in the 

 spore form. It has never been found in the vegetative form 

 except in the tissues of the animal body. Members of this 

 group have been isolated from the soil, dust in barns, dirt on 

 laboratory floor, street dirt, from grains, such as gluten, meal, 

 beet pulp and oats, from sewage and oysters, oyster liquor and 

 mud surrounding the oysters. 



Clostridium Welchii was present in most of the pasteurized 

 milk examined in Providence, R. I., regardless of its bacterial 

 content. Raw milk samples were consistently contaminated 

 with spores of Clostridium Welchii in certain cases, while in 

 other cases negative results were obtained. Clean milk contained 

 Clostridium Welchii, although in less numbers and in fewer 

 cases than milk of high bacterial content. Few dairies were 

 continually free from Clostridium Welchii infection. 



Clostridium Welchii was found on all parts of the cow, on the 

 ceiling and floor of the barn, walls, cobwebs, milk utensils, 

 milker's hands, barn dust and stable air. Milk direct from the 

 cow was free from Clostridium Welchii and, therefore, became 

 contaminated through some external source of uncleanliness and 

 carelessness after the milk had been drawn. 



Feces from human beings, guinea pigs (rarely), the cow, horse, 

 rabbit, calf, hen, and dog contained spores of Clostridium Welchii 



THE JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOG V, VOL. V, NO. 4 



