233 'The Philvp'pine Journal of Science wis 
It has been the good fortune of one of us to witness for 
some time the working out of the methylene blue-eosin plate 
by the authors ^ of this medium. They found it a very conve- 
nient medium in the bacteriological diagnosis of typhoid fever. 
Bacillus dysenteric and B. typhosus behave identically with 
regard to acidification of lactose. It naturally occurred to us 
to employ the methylene blue-eosin lactose agar in the bacterio- 
logical diagnosis of bacillary dysentery. Since we began work a 
paper by Meyer and Stickel,^ which deals with the same subject, 
has been published. It is pleasing to note that our experience 
coincides with that of these workers. 
During an outbreak of bacillary dysentery in Manila in 1918, 
we had an opportunity of subjecting the methylene blue-eosin 
lactose plate to a practical test as to its suitability in bacterio- 
logical diagnosis of bacillary dysentery. The stools were taken 
at random from hospital patients. Each stool was plated di- 
rectly on litmus lactose agar and on methylene blue-eosin lactose 
agar. An equal amount of material was smeared on the surface 
of each plate. 
In case of typical dysenteric stools a flake of bloody mucus 
was fished out, washed in salt solution, and smeared on the 
surface of the plate. Liquid or fsecal stools were used in four 
dilutions. A standard size loopful of each dilution was plated. 
The plates were incubated overnight. Colorless colonies were 
thoroughly searched for, and agglutination test was performed 
in hanging drop. Those colonies that showed positive aggluti- 
nation were transplanted in sugar media for identification of 
the type. The advantages of the methylene blue-eosin plate, as 
given by the originators of this medium in typhoid diagnosis, 
were found to hold true in our examinations. Bacillary dysen- 
tery was found to form small colorless colonies, the various 
types of B. dysenteric showing no particular differences of 
growth. 
The results of these examinations, thirty-eight specimens in 
all, are given in Table I. 
Of the thirty-eight stools examined thirty-three were found 
positive. While the lactose litmus plate gave positive results 
in twenty-nine specimens (76 per cent) , the methylene blue-eosin 
lactose plate showed a superiority of 8 per cent, giving positive 
results in thirty-two specimens (84 per cent). This is not the 
only advantage gained by the use of this medium ; but, also, the 
’ Holt-Harris, J. E., and Teague, Oscar, Joum. Infect. Dis. (1916), 18. 
'Meyer, V. F., and Stickel, J. E., Joiirn. Infect. Dist. (1918), 23. 
