40 SEWAGE-POLLUTED OYSTEKS AS CAUSE OF TYPHOID. 



B. typJiosus biologically, but did not agglutinate typhoid immune 

 serum. These cultures were obtained in 1908 from Jamaica Bay 

 oysters. The description of those organisms is identical in character 

 to that of a culture isolated from oysters which had been allowed to 

 " drink" under an oyster house at In wood, Long Island, on October 

 12, 1911, in a similar manner as were the oysters floated at Indian 

 Creek, near Canarsie. The oysters from Inwood were seized and con- 

 demned by the United States Government. 1 



It will be recalled that the oysters furnished the Minisink banquet 

 came from the floats on October 2, 1911, or 10 days before the oysters 

 floated at Inwood, Long Island, from which the above organism was 

 isolated. 



The cultural characteristics of the organism isolated from the 

 oysters floated at Inwood are as follows : 



Morphology and staining properties: Gram-negative, actively "motile bacilli, rods 

 usually straight with slightly rounded ends, varying in size from about 0.4 to 0.8 by 

 1.5 to 4 microns, generally somewhat longer and more slender than Bacillus coli. No 

 chains, spores, or capsules observed. 



Biological characters: Plain agar: Soft, grayish white, moderately abundant growth. 

 Endo's medium: Small pearly dewdrop colonies. 



Peptonized beef broth: Rendered uniformly turbid with no ring or membrane. 



Potato: No visible growth. 



Alkaline litmus milk: Unchanged or faintly alkalinized after a slight initial acidity. 



Sugar solutions: No gas production in dextrose, lactose, or saccharose. 



Nitrate solution: Nitrates absent. 



Dunham's solution: Indol not present. 



Gelatin: Not liquefied, more or less circular, flat, whitish growth on surface, filiform 

 stab. 



Agglutination: Positive in 1 : 1,000 dilutions after five minutes. The typhoid serum 

 was furnished by Dr. Russell of the Army Medical School. 



This organism is considered to be a typical strain of B. typhosus. 

 To confirm this opinion, cultures were submitted to Dr. F. F. Russell, 

 of the Army Medical School, and Dr. Wm. H. Park, of the New York 

 City Department of Health, who agreed with these findings. This 

 organism was isolated in pure cultures by Ruth C. Greathouse, a 

 scientific assistant in the Bacteriological Laboratory of the Bureau 

 of Chemistry, from oysters received on October 19, 1911, or seven 

 days after the oysters were taken from the water. These oysters 

 were from the lot seized, were taken from the floats at Inwood, L. I., 

 and were in apparently good physical condition. The typhoid cul- 

 ture, together with 24 other cultures in bouillon 24 hours old, includ- 

 ing members of the B. coli, B. paratyphosus, and B. paracoli groups, 

 were primarily isolated from Endo's plates made directly from the 

 oyster liquor without enrichment. The cultures which produced no 

 gas (15 in number) were incubated in lactose-dextrose litmus agar 



* U. 8. Dept. Agr., Office of the Secretary, Notice of Judgment 1380. 



