BACTERIOLOGY OF THE OYSTER. 19 



manner: After opening the shell, the oyster was removed from the 

 shell and dried between filter papers. A hot spatula was then passed 

 upon the surface of the mollusk directly over that portion of the in- 

 testine which it was desired to reach, and the tube was then opened 

 with a sterile scalpel. Through this opening a portion of the contents 

 was drawn out by means of a pipette or platinum loop. Portions 

 of the visceral mass were obtained by cutting out cubes of flesh from 

 that portion of the body after sterilizing the surface with a hot 

 scalpel." 



McWeeney^ in his examination of oysters on the Irish Coast used 

 the shell liquor alone, if abundant. But in cases where the amount 

 of shell liquor was small he supplemented the small quantity of 

 liquid "with a block of tissue cut from the animal itself so as to 

 include portion of the alimentary canal. " 



The next worker to do a great deal of routine and experimental 

 work in the examination of shellfish was H. W. Clark. In a prelimi- 

 nary report published in 1902^ Clark describes his method of analysis 

 as follows : — 



"To determine the presence of B. coli in the juice on the shell, the 

 clams, oysters, etc., were washed with sterilie water, then opened, 

 and this juice inoculated into bouillon." 



"To determine whether the germ was present in the bodies of the 

 clams, oysters, etc., they were opened after washing with sterile 

 water, and the intestine, after maceration with sterile water, was 

 inoculated into phenol dextrose bouillon. 



In 1905, Clark^ in a report covering his experimental work for the 

 previous five and one-half years makes the following statement in 

 regard to the "Examination of Raw Oysters:" — "The shelUiquor 

 and the crushed body of the oyster were examined together by insert- 

 ing the entire mass in a fermentation tube, and if fermentation was 

 obtained, carrying out the cultural tests. " 



In determining the presence of B. coli in the body of the oyster as 

 detailed in his first report it appears that Clark disected out the ali- 

 mentary tract. This is not stated as part of the procedure, but it is 

 implied from the above quotation. This procedure would be rather 

 cumbersome if one attempted to use it on a large scale in routine exam- 



^Report on the Bacte.ioscopic Examination of Samples taken from Shellfish Layings on the Irish 

 Coast, Local Government Board for Ireland, 1904 

 ^Senate Document 336, State of Mass., 1902. 

 ^Report Mass. State Board of Heaith, 1905, 427. 



