234 BACTERIA 



ency of these organisms is rather to decrease and die out 

 than live and multiply. 



We shall probably maintain a satisfactory balance of truth 

 if we place alongside these facts the summary of the Local 

 Government Board Report. 



" There can be no doubt," wrote Sir Richard Thorne, " that 

 oysters which have been brought into sustained relation with the 

 typhoid bacillus are liable to exhibit that microbe within the shell 

 contents and to retain it for a while under circumstances not only 

 permitting its rapid multiplication when transferred again to ap- 

 propriate media, but conserving at the same time its ability to 

 manifest its hurtful properties." 



From what has been said the preventive treatment is 

 obvious. All oyster-layings and shell-fish beds round the 

 coast should be superintended and inspected by the sanitary 

 authority of the Government. The importation of foreign 

 oysters, grown on uncontrolled beds, should, if possible, be 

 restricted or supervised. Further, as a protective measure of 

 the first importance, oysters should be cleansed, after fat- 

 tening on a contaminated bed, by being deposited for several 

 weeks at some point along the coast which is washed by 

 pure sea-water. Retention in dirty water-tanks, in uncleanly 

 shops and warehouses, is also to be greatly deprecated. 



In order to examine oysters bacteriologically, it is neces- 

 sary to pay particular attention to the water in the pallial 

 cavity, the contents of the alimentary canal, and the wash- 

 ings of the shell itself. Ordinary media may be used for 

 obtaining a growth of the contained organisms. 



Other shell-fish than oysters do, from time to time, cause 

 epidemics or individual cases of gastro-intestinal irritation, 

 and probably contain various germs. These they acquire in 

 all probability from their food, which by their own choice 

 is frequently of a doubtful character. 



Meat. Parasites are occasionally found in meat, but 

 bacteria are comparatively rare. Not that they do not 



