March 7, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



363 



the small utensils in the large vat, drawing 

 a canvas cover over the same and forcing 

 steam into the vat for twenty minutes. 

 This treatment was highly successful in 

 two factories and fairly so in a third where 

 the outside influences were quite unfavor- 

 able. 



On the Apparent Identity of the Cultural 

 Reactions of B. coli communis and Cer- 

 tain Lactic Bacteria: S. C. Prescott, 

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 

 Boston, Mass. 



While engaged in an examination of cer- 

 tain lactic bacteria, the author was im- 

 pressed with the similarity presented by 

 some of the cultures to B. coli communis, 

 and has carried on investigations with a 

 large number of laetie-acid-produeing or- 

 ganisms, comparing their cultural reac- 

 tions to those of B. coli. He defines the 

 colon bacillus as a short, motile rod of 

 intestinal origin, which forms thin, irreg- 

 ular films upon the surface of gelatin ; pro- 

 duces no liquefaction ; gives nail growth 

 in stick cultures; a whitish translucent 

 layer upon agar; a more or less abundant, 

 moist, yellowish growth upon potatoes; 

 produces turbidity and some sediment in 

 broth; ferments dextrose and lactose with 

 the formation of gas; reduces nitrates to 

 nitrites; coagulates milk; reduces litmus 

 with subsequent slow return of the color, 

 and produces indol. 



The lactic acid group is broadly defined 

 as consisting of those bacteria in which 

 the ability to bring about the fermentation 

 of sugars to lactic acid is strongly devel- 

 oped. Forty-seven cultures were isolated 

 from the following sources: bran (7), 

 fresh meat (3), sour milk (4), flour (2), 

 cornmeal (6), buckwheat (7), barley (4), 

 butter culture (3), an acid-producing or- 

 ganism in technical use (5), and a break- 

 fast food (2). All these were tested in 

 the following particulars: grow1:h on lit- 



mus, lactose agar, gelatin agar, milk, dex- 

 trose broth, nitrate solution, Dunham's 

 solution, bouillon and potato; and were 

 further compared morphologically with re- 

 lation to motility and spore formation, and 

 with relation to air. Of the forty-seven 

 cultures examined, twenty-five gave the 

 typical colon reactions; six gave the tests 

 weakly or failed in one test only, while 

 the others failed in a greater degree. Some 

 of the bacteria from most of the sources 

 gave typical colon reactions. 



The author points out two views that 

 may be entertained regarding these ba- 

 cilli : ( 1 ) They may be true colon bacilli 

 from sources which can only be conjec- 

 tured, or (2) they may be lactic acid 

 organisms, not absolutely identical with the 

 colon bacilli, but yet almost impossible to 

 differentiate from them. The latter view 

 the author regarded as more probable. Of 

 great importance is the fact that had they 

 been isolated from water they would have 

 been undoubtedly regarded as colon ba- 

 cilli. Hence the work has a very practical 

 sanitary bearing and indicates that too 

 much reliance must not be placed upon the 

 so-called colon test of potable waters. 



Oysters and Seivage in Narragansett Bay: 



Caleb A. Puller, Brown University, 



Providence, R. I. 



The city of Providence discharges, daily, 

 about 14,000,000 gallons of sewage into 

 upper Narragansett Bay, chiefly through a 

 single main. This sewage is carried down 

 the bay by tide and comes into more or less 

 direct contact with some of the oyster beds. 

 Samples of water and oysters were col- 

 lected from different localities in the bay, 

 and analyses made before the material was 

 six hours old. The ordinary tests for sew- 

 age contaminations were used, the fermen- 

 tation tube, carbol broth and litmus lactose 

 agar. 



The results showed : ( 1 ) That water, 



