BACTERIOLOGICAL PROCEDURE. 11 
differential media: (1) Plain agar slants, (2) peptonized beef broth, 
- (3) alkaline litmus milk, (4) potato, (5) Dunham’s peptone solution, 
(6) 2 per cent dextrose bouillon, (7) 2 per cent lactose bouillon, (8) 
2 per cent saccharose bouillon, (9) nitrate broth, and (10) gelatin, all 
prepared according to standard methods. Cultures were observed 
from one to three weeks, and all except gelatin incubated at 37° C. 
Morphology and stainvng.—In connection with the biological char- 
acters on culture media the staining and morphological properties 
were observed with each culture under consideration. 
Motility: Determined in freshly prepared liquid gelatin, or slant 
agar cultures. 
Staining: Reaction to Gram’s stain, methylene blue, fuchsin, -ete.— 
also stained for flagella when convenient. 
Morphology: Form, arrangement, size, involution forms, spores, etc. 
Some bacteriologists consider the great amount of work involved 
in identifying the individual species of organisms as useless, but the 
experience of this laboratory is quite to the contrary. Undoubtedly 
more reliance can be placed upon given bacteriological results if a 
more exact knowledge of the contained organism is ascertained than 
if such a detailed study is omitted. Little is known concerning the: 
specific action of the ordinary organisms such as molds, yeasts, and 
common saprophytes which are encountered in routine work on food | 
bacteriology, and all information along this line is of value. A 
thorough study of the chemical nature of the bacterial products 
elaborated by the growth of saprophytic as well as pathogenic 
bacteria would also add materially to the value of the results obtained 
from the biological side of the investigations. These results should 
be further confirmed if possible by animal inoculations with the 
isolated bacteria or their toxins. 
BACILLUS ENTERITIDIS SPOROGENES DETERMINATION. 
From a number of samples of water and oyster liquor 10 ce quan- 
tities were heated for fifteen minutes at 80° C., and from each sample 
thus treated 1 ce and 0.1 cc were inoculated into alkaline litmus milk 
fermentation tubes to determine the presence of the Bacillus enteri- 
tudis sporogenes. This organism was recorded as being present when 
the medium coagulated with abundant gas formation within forty- 
eight hours. Smear preparations from old cultures showed the pres- 
ence of numerous spore-bearing organisms in the closed portion of 
the tube. 
DESCRIPTION OF ISOLATED ORGANISMS RESEMBLING BACILLUS TYPHOSUS. 
Four different strains of motile organisms, somewhat resembling 
Bacillus typhosus, were isolated from samples of water and oysters 
collected during this investigation. The following general descrip- 
tion illustrates the character of these organisms: 
