234 BACTERIA 



ency of these organisms is rather to decrease and die out 

 than live and multiply. 



We shall probably maintain a satisfactory balance of truth 

 if we place alongside these facts the summary of the Local 

 Government Board Report. 



" There can be no doubt/' wrote Sir Richard Thorne, ** that 

 oysters which have been brought into sustained relation with the 

 typhoid bacillus are liable to exhibit that microbe within the shell 

 contents and to retain it for a while under circumstances not only- 

 permitting its rapid multiplication when transferred again to ap- 

 propriate media, but conserving at the same time its ability to 

 manifest its hurtful properties." 



From what has been said the preventive treatment is 

 obvious. All oyster-layings and shell-fish beds round the 

 coast should be superintended and inspected by the sanitary 

 authority of the Government. - The importation of foreign 

 oysters, grown on uncontrolled beds, should, if possible, be 

 restricted or supervised. Further, as a protective measure of 

 the first importance, oysters should be cleansed, after fat- 

 tening on a contaminated bed, by being deposited for several 

 weeks at some point along the coast which is washed by 

 pure sea-water. Retention in dirty water-tanks, in uncleanly 

 shops and warehouses, is also to be greatly deprecated. 



In order to examine oysters bacteriologically, it is neces- 

 sary to pay particular attention to the water in the pallial 

 cavity, the contents of the alimentary canal, and the wash- 

 ings of the shell itself. Ordinary media may be used for 

 obtaining a growth of the contained organisms. 



Other shell-fish than oysters do, from time to time, cause 

 epidemics or individual cases of gastro-intestinal irritation, 

 and probably contain various germs. These they acquire in 

 all probability from their food, which by their own choice 

 is frequently of a doubtful character. 



Meat. Parasites are occasionally found in meat, but 

 bacteria are comparatively rare. Not that they do not 



