IDENTIFICATION OF CHOLERA CULTURES. 



127 



In cases of subsiding cholera, the Pfeiffer experiment is performed with 

 the serum of the patient in dilutions of i to 20, i to 100 and i to 500. 



Bacteriolysis with typhoid organisms is less typical than with cholera. 

 For diagnostic purposes the test is resorted to, only when the agglutination 

 reactions are doubtful. When bacteriolysis also gives uncertain results, an 

 animal is immunized with the typhoid suspected bacteria and its serum 

 tested for its power of agglutinating or destroying definitely known typhoid 

 bacteria and eventually the immunized animal may be injected with virulent 

 typhoid bacilli. 



Bacteriolysis is even more unsatisfactory with bacillus paratyphosus and 

 the related hog cholera group of organisms. 



While in typhoid the onset of bacteriolysis offers a favorable prognosis for the animal, 

 guinea-pigs inoculated with bacteria of the paratyphoid hog-cholera group die in spite 

 of complete bacteriolysis. Death always takes place late (from three to six days), 

 while the control animals succumb in about twenty-four hours. Bacteriolysis has also 

 been observed with the bacillus of dysentery and with the tubercle bacillus; but thus 

 far, these phenomena have gained no clinical significance. Bacteriolysis does not occur in 

 anthrax, pest and the various diseases due to cocci. 



