November 27, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



777 



iias been kept at room temperature until 

 the present time, April 12, 1896. Plates 

 made on April 9th show as large and as 

 characteristic colonies as from the original 

 culture. The gas production of the orig- 

 inal culture was, with glucose, one-half the 

 fermentation tube ; with lactose, one-half, 

 and with saccharose two-thirds. After 

 growing in the faecal fluid for 110 days the 

 gas production for glucose is one-third ; for 

 lactose, one-third ; for saccharose, a bubble. 



A culture was inoculated into the same 

 fluid in a flattened test-tube, and exposed 

 to the light and sun. It lived only thirty 

 days, giving nearly the same reduction in 

 gas production as the one which was kept 

 in faecal fluid for 110 days. 



The effect of the insolation of cultures on 

 agar-agar plates was also tested in regard to 

 the fermenting power. Each culture was 

 insolated for two hours and then incubated 

 until the next morning. A series of cul- 

 tures was made, consisting of removes from 

 the original culture, which was the one 

 used for inoculation of the faecal fluid. 

 The amount of gas produced after six re- 

 moves was, with glucose, one- third; with 



the throwing off of cellular products from 

 the intestinal walls. 



Pere^ found that the colon bacillus gave 

 great variation in the amount of lactic acid 

 formed in fluids containing different pro- 

 portions of proteid materials. With 10 

 grammes of glucose and 6 grammes of pep- 

 tone in 250 c. cm. of fluid, the colon bacillus 

 gave 2.37 gr. of lactic acid; but with the 

 same amount of glucose and 6 grammes of 

 peptones only 1.170 gr. was formed. 



A tested culture was therefore inoculated 

 intraperitoneally into a guinea pig, recov- 

 ered again, and the cultures tested in sugar 

 bouillon. The gas production was consid- 

 erably diminished by one passage through 

 an animal, as will be seen in the first series 

 of the following table. These cultures were 

 taken from the spleen of the guinea pig. 

 In the second series the cultures were taken 

 from the typhoid spleen of man, in which 

 the typhoid bacillus was also very plentiful. 

 The escape of the colon bacillus through 

 the ulcerated intestinal wall into the organs 

 of the body has been especially noted by 

 Wathelet,^'* who considers that it is fre- 

 quently found in the spleen. 



lactose, one- quarter; with saccharose, a 

 bubble. 



The decrease in the fermenting function 

 observed in the series of cultures taken 

 from fresh typhoid faeces suggested that 

 the colon bacillus may lose this function in 

 some degree, because of the change in the 

 nature and amount of proteid materials in 

 the contents of the intestine, resulting from 



It seems, therefore, that the fermenting 

 power of the colon bacillus may be easily 

 decreased, not only by unfavorable condi- 

 tions of growth, but also by conditions 

 which do not injure its growth and which 

 may be favorable for and increase some of 

 its other functions. 



The colon bacillus, deprived of its fer- 

 menting power, would be difl&cult to differ- 



