CARBOHYDRATE FERMENTATION BY BACILLUS PESTIS, COM- 

 PARING CERTAIN AMERICAN AND ORIENTAL STRAINS 



WITH ANALYSIS OF DISCREPANCIES OF FERMENTATIONS WITH HISS'S SERUM 

 WATER, LITMUS AGAR, AND BOUILLON ^ 



By H. Windsor Wade 

 {From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I.) 



In spite of the great amount of study to which Bacillits pestis 

 has been subjected, it cannot be determined positively by a survey 

 of the literature what ability this organism has for breaking 

 down carbohydrates with the production of acid, nor is it clear 

 whether all strains are alike in this regard. 



Recently the opportunity has arisen to compare cultures 

 isolated in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1914, and which at the 

 time were thought possibly to be different from those from the 

 Orient, with a number of strains isolated at different times in 

 the Philippine Islands. As a result of a somewhat intensive 

 study, which was extended considerably beyond the scope at first 

 intended, the fermentative powers of these strains have been 

 clearly defined. The results are recorded, not because of any 

 controversy on the subject, but to establish clearly these features 

 of the biology of Bacillus pestis and to emphasize the unusual 

 similarity of the strains studied, as well as to illustrate certain 

 features of fermentation reactions in general. 



LITERATURE 



Few of the many articles touching on the bacteriology of 

 plague deal with the reactions of the organism in carbohydrate 

 media. The earlier writers knew that acid was produced in dex- 

 trose media, and in 1898 Gioso and Biginelli(i) determined this 

 to be lactic acid. Rees(2) said that, according to Klein, B. pestis 

 formed a small amount of acid in sugar agar and caused coagula- 

 tion of milk in about two weeks. Other authors, however, stated 

 that litmus milk was little affected. The German Plague Com- 

 mission (1897-1898), according to Dieudonne and Otto,(3) tested 

 for gas formation in bouillons containing dextrose, levulose, lac- 

 tose, and mannite, with negative results. Simple acid formation 



* Received for publication August 25, 1916. • 



159 



