386 University of California Puhlications in Zoology ["^'ol. 20 



CULTURE 



Pentatrichomonas may be cultivated with facility in 10 per cent 

 serum of the rabbit or guinea pig in Locke's solution at room tempera- 

 ture. Seven cultures started on September 29 in guinea pig serum 

 ran until October 28 with a great abundance of flagellates. One 

 culture was used for preparations on that date. One had died out 

 by November 7, two more by the thirteenth, one by the twentieth, two 

 by the twenty-fifth, and the last one lingered till January 24, a period 

 of 118 days. The flagellates survived in the original stool only six 

 days. A culture in 10 per cent rabbit serum in Locke's solution 

 started on October 4, subcultured on October 27 and on November 9, 

 survived without later subcultures till February 14, 98 days after 

 the last subculture. 



Using stools from this case Mrs. E. H. Wagener has cultured this 

 organism .successfully in 10 per cent human serum from Wassermann 

 samples at 37?5 C, at present writing for 134 days, with 40 trans- 

 plants at intervals of approximately 3 days. They thrive best in 

 neutral serum (PH 7.4) and die out at 6.2 and 8.2 respectively. Of 

 late these cultures are growing in a ' pure mixed ' culture with B. coli. 



Dobell and O'Connor (1921) discredit Escomel's (1913) state- 

 ment that he had cultivated Tricliomonas Jwminis by inferring, with- 

 out the least evidence, that this investigator mi.stook free-living 

 flagellates in his cultures for Tr-ichomonas. They also discredit 

 Lynch 's (1915) successful culture of Trichomonas in acid broth, with 

 the statement, ' ' Lynch claims ' ' and proceed to dogmatize as follows : 

 "At the present time, however, it is not possible to cultivate this 

 organism with certainty in any medium. All attempts which we 

 ourselves have made have been failures." Fortunately ex-cathedra 

 statements and negative results are easily evaluated. 



We have cultivated Trichomonas Jwminis in fecal suspensions by 

 Boyd's method and in 10 per cent guinea pig serum in normal saline, 

 with transplants at intervals of 3 to 5 days, for several months. 



