NOT DESCRIBED IN PREVIOUS SECTIONS. 535 



4 ' The method followed by the writer in the general bacteriological exam- 

 ination of water consists, first, in the preparation of gelatin plates for the 

 usual enumeration ; and, second, in the addition to every one of ten fermen- 

 tation tubes, containing a oiie-per-cent dextrose bouillon, a certain quantity 

 of water. This is added most easily by first diluting the water, so that one or 

 two cubic centimetres are equivalent to the quantity which it is desired to add 

 to each tube. Pipettes graduated by drops are convenient, but not so accurate. 

 In case of ground water it is well to prepare in addition a flask containing 

 fifty to one hundred cubic centimetres of the water, and an equal, or greater, 

 quantity of bouillon, to which sugar is not added. Plates may be prepared 

 from this flask after sixteen to twenty -four hours. When gas begins to ap- 

 pear in the fermentation tubes, the amount accumulated at the end of each 

 twenty-four hours should be marked with a glass pencil on the tube. From 

 these tubes, which contain fifty to sixty per cent of gas on the third day, and 

 are very strongly acid, plates may be prepared to confirm the indications of 

 Bacillus coli. This, however, is not essential, for the writer has found as 

 yet no species having these fermentative characters which is not one of the 

 following : Bacillus coli, Bacillus lactis aerogenes, Bacillus enteriditis, Bacil- 

 lus typhi murium, Bacillus cholera? suis. The three last-mentioned species 

 are probably as rare in water as Bacillus typhosus itself. 



' ' My own experience coincides with that of Matthews when he states that 

 ninety-two per cent of all bacteria in ground water are suppressed in the 

 thermostat. While the addition of 0.5 cubic centimetre, or even more, of 

 such water may fail to produce cloudiness in any of the series of fermenta- 

 tion tubes, the same quantity, or less, of surface water never fails to infect 

 the tubes." 



Bacillus Coli Communis in Peritonitis. The researches of A. 

 Frankel show that Bacillus coli communis may be obtained in pure 

 cultures from the exudate into the peritoneal cavity in a considerable 

 proportion of the cases of peritonitis, and there is good reason for 

 believing that in these cases it was the cause of the inflammatory 

 process. Thirty-one cases were examined by Frankel, with the fol- 

 lowing result: Pure cultures of Bacillus coli communis were obtained 

 in nine cases ; of Streptococcus (pyogenes ?) in seven ; of Bacillus 

 lactis aerogenes in two; of " diplococcus pneumonise " in one; of 

 Staphylococcus pyogenes aureus in one. Of the remaining eleven 

 cases, seven gave mixed cultures, and in three of these Bacillus coli 

 communis was the most abundant species. The author referred to 

 has also shown that pure cultures of Bacillus coli communis injected 

 into the cavity of the abdomen of rabbits cause a typical peritonitis. 

 The present writer has frequently obtained the same result in experi- 

 ments made with this bacillus. It would appear, therefore, that the 

 peritonitis which so constantly results from wounds of the intestine 

 is probably due, to a considerable extent, to the introduction of this 

 microorganism from the lumen of the intestine, where it is con- 

 stantly found, into the peritoneal cavity, where the conditions are 

 favorable for its rapid development. 



