Research into the chemical processes in the small intestine of man / by Allan Macfadyen, M.D. Ed., M. Nencki, M.D., and N. Sieber, M.D.

  • Macfayden, Allan, 1860-1907
Date:
[1891?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Research into the chemical processes in the small intestine of man / by Allan Macfadyen, M.D. Ed., M. Nencki, M.D., and N. Sieber, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/44 (page 403)
    20° C.—the remaining agar-plates were placed in an incubator at 37° to 38° C. Portions of the discharge were also mixed with a weakly alkaline meat broth, and after one to two days gelatine and agar-plates made therefrom. Anaerobic plates were also made. The agar and gelatine after inoculation were poured out in small glass vessels, and covered with a layer of gelatine or liquid paraffin. Esmarch “ roll-plates” were also covered with sterile paraffin or olive oil. Nutrient solutions, containing glycerine, grape-sugar, and bile respectively, were also used. We will return to these later on. We made inoculations twice whilst the patient received a diet in which proteids preponderated, and once whilst the diet con¬ sisted in great part of carbohydrates (mashed peas). I. The Cultures after a Meat Diet. The coloured and uncoloured microscopical preparations con¬ tained a great number of bacteria. Amongst these were isolated forms, which remained uncoloured, or only faintly stained, by the pigments (methylene blue and phenolfuchsin). It was not easy to distinguish the different forms from one another. We could, however, recognise with certainty four forms of bacilli and two species of micrococci—in all six. Examined in meat broth in a glass cell, some of the bacteria were motile. The majority were non-motile, and seemed to us to be in an enfeebled condition. The gelatine plates were next examined. The first dilutions were quickly liquefied, and it was difficult to separate the different colonies from one another. From the more dilute plates we could, however, isolate the different colonies. The liquefying bacteria were present on all the plates, and as they grew more quickly they were first isolated. They were bacilli, and in “ stabcultures ” produced a funnel-shaped liquefaction of the gelatine. The agar-plates and those made from meat broth rendered it easier to isolate the more slowly-growing forms. We examined the plates so long as there was any apparent growth. By these methods we isolated eight bacterial forms, three of which were distinguished by their constant presence on the plates. These were:—