264 BACTERIOLOGY. 



tion of corrosive sublimate, and allow it to remain in 

 contact with the organisms for only one-half the time 

 necessary to destroy them (use an organism for which 

 this has been determined). Then transfer a drop of 

 the mixture to each of three liquefied agar-agar tubes 

 and pour them into Petri dishes. Place them in the 

 incubator and observe them for twenty-four, forty- 

 eight, and seventy-two hours. No growth occurs. How 

 is this to be accounted for ? 



At the end of seventy-two hours inoculate all of these 

 plates with a culture of the same organism which has 

 not been exposed to sublimate, by taking up bits of cult- 

 ure on a needle and drawing it across the plates. A 

 growth now results. We have here an experiment in 

 which organisms which have been exposed to sublimate 

 for a much shorter time than necessary to destroy them, 

 when transferred directly to a favorable culture-medium 

 do not grow, and yet, when the same organism which 

 has not been exposed to sublimate at all is planted upon 

 the same medium it does grow. How is this to be ac- 

 counted for? 



SKIN-DISINFECTION. With a sterilized knife scrape 

 from the skin of the hands, at the root of the nails, and 

 under the nails, small particles of epidermis. Prepare 

 plates from them. Note the results. 



Wash the hands carefully for ten minutes in hot 

 water and scrub them during this time with soap and 

 a sterilized brush. Rinse them in hot water. Again 

 prepare plates from scrapings of the skin on the fingers, 

 at the root of the nails, and under the nails. Note the 

 results. 



Again wash as before in hot water with soap and 



