Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... iv cultivation of bacterium (bacillus) tuberculosis The isolation of this organism from tuberculous lesions and getting it to multiply readily on artificial media necessitates a very special and careful procedure. When it becomes accustomed to artificial media its continued cultivation is not difficult. Dr. Theobald Smith, of Harvard University (Jour, of Exp. Med., Vol. iii., 1898, p. 451), has the credit of formulating a method by combining details in such a manner that the procuring of cultures is, in most cases, possible. Dog serum is used. The method, as he gives it, is as follows, viz.: "The dog was bled under chloroform and 'the blood drawn from a femoral artery, under aseptic conditions, through sterile tubes directly into sterile flasks. The serum was drawn from the clots with sterile pipettes and either distributed at once into tubes or else stored with 0.25 to 0.3% chloroform added. Discontinued sterilization was rendered unnecessary. The temperature required to produce a sufficiently firm and yet not too hard and dry serum is for the dog 750 to 760 C. For horse serum it is from 4 to 50 lower. The serum was set in a thermostat into which a large dish of water was always placed to forestall any abstraction of moisture from the serum. About 3 hours suffice for the coagulation. When serum containing chloroform is to be coagulated, I am in the habit of placing the tubes for an hour or longer in a water bath at 550 to 60 C, or under the receiver of an air pump, to drive off the antiseptic. This procedure dispenses with all sterilization excepting that going on during the coagulation of the serum. It prevents the gradual formation of membranes of salts, which, remaining on the surface during coagulation, form a film unsuited for...
