On the Influence of Ozone on the Vitality of some Bacteria. 63 



Animal. 



Weight. 



Inoculated with — 





grammes. 





Guinea-pig I. . 



500 



Small quantity of crude sputum. 



II.. 



470 



Emulsion from filter-paper, not ozonised. 

 » )> » 



III.. 



390 



IV.. 



339 



v . 



420 



,, „ ozonised J hour. 



VI.. 



436 





VII.. 



450 



',' 1 „ 



VIII. . 



455 



33 33 3? 5) 1 33 



IX.. 



390 



,, ,, „ ,, 2 hours. 



X.. 



450 



„ 2 „ 



XI.. 



370 



4 „ 



XII.. 



370 



33 33 33 33 4 33 



XIII.. 



410 



33 33 3. 33 8 „ 



XIV.. 



370 



33 33 53 33 8 



The various animals were either allowed to die naturally or were 

 Mlled with chloroform after definite signs of tubercular infection had 

 developed. And it may at once be said that a severe infection occurred 

 in all the animals ; there was not the least indication that the ozonisa- 

 tion had exerted any effect whatever on the virulence of the bacilli. 

 As examples, we may mention the following animals : — Guinea-pig 

 No. I died on the twentieth day after inoculation, with a caseous 

 abscess in the flank, infected mesenteric glands, and tubercles in the 

 spleen ; guinea-pig No. II was killed on the twenty-second day after 

 inoculation, and was found to be in a similar condition ; guinea-pig 

 No. XI died on the twenty-second, and guinea-pig No. XIV on the 

 twenty-third day, both being again in a similar stage. The presence of 

 the specific bacillus in one or other of the internal lesions was proved 

 in the case of every animal on the list. 



Conclusions. 



Our experiments have made it clear that ozone in the dry state, and 

 in such strength as we used it, has no appreciable action on the vitality 

 of the various bacteria experimented with, and, so far, our results are 

 in accordance with those of Sonntag and Ohlmiiller. Nor did a 

 prolonged exposure to the action of ozone diminish in any way the 

 pathogenic virulence of B. tuberculosis in sputum, as shown by 

 Experiment V. Single experiments would also tend to show that 

 ozone can have little, if any, effect on the pathogenic virulence of 

 B. mallei and B. anthracis. 



On the other hand, Experiment IV would appear to confirm the 

 •conclusion arrived at by Ohlmiiller as to the bactericidal property of 

 ozone when passed through a fluid medium containing bacteria in 

 suspension. 



