556 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
hours, act ou moist germs, if they be used at ordinary temperature, 
but if they be heated to 40°-50°, or even higher, moist germs are de- 
stroyed much more rapidly — a few minutes suffice. Hence it follows that 
whatever the disinfectant used, it should be made as hot as possible. 
Dry germs are more resistant than moist germs ; while the latter are 
killed in a few minutes, the former may resist for several hours, even at 
a temperature of 40°-50°. Hence it follows that the germs must be 
moistened before the disinfectant can act. It was found that when dry 
germs were damped, especially with warm water, they were attacked 
after an hour’s soaking, just as rapidly as if they had been wet. The 
necessity of spraying the walls of a room with water before using a 
disinfectant is therefore of paramount importance. The authors call 
especial attention to the fact that a saturated solution of calcium chlo- 
ride is far less active than when this solution is diluted with 10 or even 
20 times its volume of water ; and that too on moist or dry germs at 
ordinary temperatures or at 50°. 
The disinfectants used on Bacillus subtilis destroy very rapidly, in 
several minutes, and even when used cold, anthrax spores, Aspergillus 
niger, beer yeast, and the microbe of enteric fever. 
For practical disinfecting purposes, the authors recommend the 
chloride of lime solution, as it is effective, economical, and not 
dangerous. 
Method of using Thor Stenbeck’s Centrifuge for detecting Tubercle 
Bacilli.* — Dr. L. Kamen first treats the sputum suspected of con- 
taining tubercle bacilli by Biedert’s methods, and then with absolute 
alcohol, until the mixture has the same specific gravity as water. By 
this means the tubercle bacilli will be found to collect in the sediment, 
which, as their specific weight is only 1023, they will not do in the 
much heavier fluid, the gravity of which is never less than 1035. 
Method for Testing Filtering Apparatus.! — The opinions as to 
the value of Chamberland’s bougies are, say Dr. E. Giltay and M. J. 
H. Aberson, extremely divergent, some persons regarding them as 
indispensable, and others as perfectly useless. It seemed desirable, 
therefore, to devise some method for accurately testing their value, and 
the authors have constructed an apparatus, by means of which samples 
of the water can be tested from time to time during the process of 
filtration. 
A is a collector to which three bougies are connected on one side, 
while on the other it is connected by means of a rubber tube with a 
cylindrical glass vessel C, from which four elbow-pipes D come off. 
The elbow-pipes are, in their turn, connected with test-tubes containing 
nutrient gelatin, and the test-tubes, in addition to the inlet opening, 
have another tube at the side, the opening of which is plugged with 
cotton-wool. The vessel is connected below by means of a caoutchouc 
tube H with a receiver I, through the stopper of which three tubes pass, 
viz. K, L, and M ; K is plugged with cotton, and L-M is for drawing off 
the water ; it is kept closed by a pinch-cock. The bougies are tested 
* Intern. Klin. Runrlschau, 1892, No. 16. See Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Para- 
sitenk., xiii. (1893) pp. 733-4. 
f Centralbl. f. Bakteriol. u. Parasitenk., xii. (1892) pp. 92-5 (1 fig.). 
