64 TECHNICAL BULLETIN 5. 



Rettger and Koser (4) present data which indicate that dextrine, maltose 

 and dulcite are attacked by Bad. sanguinarium with the production of 

 acid but no gas. Bad. pullorum produces, on the other hand, no visible 

 change of media containing these agents except slight alkali production. 

 Bad. pullonmi acts upon dextrose and mannite with evolution of appre- 

 ciable amounts of gas, while Bad. sanguinarium, whether recently isolated 

 or artificially cultivated for many years, does not produce gas in any of 

 the carbohydrate media. Prolonged cultivation of Bad. pullorum in 

 the laboratory does not cause this organism to lose its power of producing 

 gas in dextrose and mannite broth. These authors conclude that Bad. 

 pullorum manifests itself only as the cause of natural epidemic infection 

 in young chicks. They further maintain that Bad. sanguinarium. attacks 

 fowls of different ages, and is of relatively little, if indeed any, significance 

 as the cause of epidemic disease in very young chicks. 



Mulsow (11) concludes from his studies that B. avisepticus may generally 

 be distinguished from Bad. sanguinarium by its action in milk, indol 

 production, fermentation of carbohydrates, agglutination reaction and 

 pathogenesis. Bad. pullorum and Bad. sanguinarium do not produce 

 indol, generally form hydrogen sulphid in lead acetate medium, and pro- 

 duce a temporary acidity in milk, but later alkalinity. As regards fer- 

 mentation, Bad. pullorum produces acid and generally gas in the same 

 carbohydrates, and in addition produces acid in dulcite and maltose. 

 According to this author. Bad. pullorum may be distinguished from Bad. 

 sanguinarium by the inability of the former to ferment dulcite, while the 

 latter ferments this carbohydrate. Bad. sanguinarium generally produces 

 acid promptly in maltose, and does not produce gas in any of the carbo- 

 hydrates. Rhamnose is fermented promptly by Bad. pullorum, while 

 Bad. sanguinarium produces acid only after forty-eight hours' incubation. 

 It appears that there are sufficient differences, reported in this paper by 

 Mulsow, between Bad. sanguinarium and Bad. pullorum to regard these 

 as separate types. 



Krumwiede and Kohn (12) report results which indicate that the 

 essential characteristic of the paratyphoid-enteritidis group is the ability 

 of its members to produce acid from rhamnose, differentiating both the 

 aerogenic and anaerogenic members from B. typhosus. They point out 

 that, without due regard to low and latent avidity for carbohydrates in 

 relation to variability and practical differentiation, erroneous differential 

 significance might easily be given to variation even among members of the 

 fixed groups. 



Experimental. 



In the experiments presented, a study has been made of 112 different 

 strains of Bad. pullorum isolated from diseased materials from poultry 

 plants in various parts of Massachusetts, to determine, if possible, bio- 

 chemical and cultural details which are constant enough to warrant their 

 recommendation as a part of the procedure in diagnosis. The following 

 organisms, listed in Table 1, have been isolated from cases of chick disease. 



