128 



EXPERIMENT STATION. 



[Jan. 



normal acid in all the experiments. In the third series of ex- 

 periments, where inoculation was made with Bacillus subtilis, 

 the following method was used. A ])urc tube culture of Jjacillus 

 subtilis was made; from this pure culture a number of bacteria 

 were transferred with a platinum loop to 100 cubic centimeters 

 of sterilized water. From here on the method was followed as 

 above indicated. 



Experimental. 



Table II. — Showing Comparison oj the Number of Bacteria in Decoctions 

 of Sterilized and Unsterilized Loam. {Inoculations made with Ordinary 

 Soil Bacteria.) 



The results shown in Table II. are of special interest for the 

 following reason : in the three experiments recorded in this table 

 the sterilized loam decoctions w^re found to contain a far greater 

 number of bacteria per cubic centimeter of contents than the 

 unsterilized loam decoction. 



Table III. — Showing Comparison between the Number of Bacteria in 

 Decoctions of Sterilized and Unsterilized Loam and Subsoil. {Inocu- 

 lations made with Ordinary Soil Bacteria.) 



Son.. 



Number of Bacteria in 1 Cubic Centi- 

 meter OF Decoction. 



Experiment 1 . Experiment 2 



Average. 



Sterilized loam, 

 Unsterilized loam, . 

 Sterilized subsoil, 

 Unsterilized subsoil. 



5.724,000 



203,520 



76,320 



178,080 



4,693,060 

 199,308 

 81,134 

 185,138 



5,208.530 

 201,414 

 78,726 

 181,608 



The results given in Table TIT. are important since they show 

 that decoctions made from different soils affect the growth of 

 bacteria in them in a decidedly different manner. When a ster- 

 ilized loam is used we find a greater number of bacteria present 



