MATERIAL FOR BACTERIOLOGICAL STUDY 103 



lary pipettes (see page 33). A sterilized cotton swab, made 

 by winding a pledget of absorbent cotton around the end of a stiff- 

 wire, enclosing it in a test-tube and sterilizing it, is also useful, 

 especially when it is impossible or undesirable to employ the 

 glass tube. 



At autopsies on human subjects, the same principles for col- 

 lection of material apply. Fluids are best collected in sterile 

 glass pipettes and even solid organs may be seared and punctured 

 with a strong glass capillary into which some of the pulp is drawn 

 by suction. The tubes may be sealed in the flame and trans- 

 ported considerable distances to the laboratory. This is usually 

 more satisfactory than the inoculation of culture media in the 

 autopsy room, especially if the facilities for bacteriological work 

 there are somewhat limited. Smears on slides or cover-glasses 

 should also be made for microscopic examination, and pieces of 

 the various organs fixed in alcohol or formalin and preserved 

 for sectioning. 



