xiii
the neutral red, lactose peptone water medium at the end of 24 hours. This did not however
progress any further even after incubation for many days. The cultures remained as a thin:
emulsion even after a full week's incubation, creating an impression that the trace of initial
acidity in the lactose medium inhibited further multiplication. Such slight acidity is known
to be produced by the organism in milk, but in this medium there soon follows a progressively
increasing alkalinity up to about two weeks or so. Another peculiarity observed was that
most of the strains when grown on agar showed sooner or later an inequality in the size of
different colonies, suggesting impurity of culture. All the colonies, big and small, were
however equally transparent almost as much as those of B. Typhosus, but the very large
colonies tooked more opaque on account of their relative thickness.
From the subjoined table it is seen that the B. Dysenteriae was isolated in six cases out of
eleven, the organisms belonging to the Shiga as well as the Flexner types—
No.
Patient from
Result of culture.
Remarks.
1
Lunatic Asylum
Negative.
2
General Hospital
Do.
Chronic dysentery.
3
Lunatic Asylum
Do.
4
Do.
B. Dysenteriae (Shiga group)
isolated.
Patient's serum gave strong agglutination.
1 in 240 with organism. Recovery from
use of autogenous vaccine.
5
Do.
B. Dysenteriae (Flexner group)
isolated.
6 Penitentiary
B. Dysenteriae (Shiga group)
isolated.
7
Lunatic Asylum
Do.
Marked agglutination 1 in 120.
8
Do.
Negative.
9
St. Thomas' Mount
B. Dysenteriae (Flexner group)
isolated.
Complete agglutination 1 in 80. Higher
dilutions not tried; recovery from use of
autogenous vaccine.
10 Palamcottah
B. Dysenteriae (Shiga group)
isolated.
11
Lunatic Asylum
Negative .
As has been shown by many observers there were indications that no two of the six strains
isolated were identical with each other judging by their sugar reactions ( vide table) and serum.
agglutination tests. Thus Laboratory Flexner fermented raffinose and showed decided indol
formation in broth in seven days. Strains Rodrigues and Mount did not ferment raffinose, the
former producing no indol and the latter only a trace. Again Strain Kandan fermented
saccharose whilst strains Pavaday,Madurai, Palamcotta and Laboratory Shiga did not. Though
Laboratory Shiga seemed. to be identical with Pavaday in its sugar reactions their non-identity
vas proved by the latter being agglutinated by the patient's serum in a dilution of one in 240,
the Laboratory Shiga strain giving at test a doubtful reaction of one in 60 with the same
serum. It is likely that if a much larger number of different sugars or principles were used
the fermentation reactions alone would be sufficient to differentiate the strains.
Strain.
Lactose.
Gl u c o s e .
Gal act ose.
+S a c c h a r o s e .
Inulin.
Dulcit.
Raffinose.
Adoni t e.
Mannite.
Mal t ose.
I ndol .
Laboratory Shiga
−
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
Laboratory Flexner
−
+
+
−
−
−
+
−
+
−
+
Shiga group No. 4, Pavaday
−
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
Flexner group No. 5, Rodrigues
−
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
−
Shiga group No. 6, Madurai
−
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
Shiga group No. 7, Kandan
−
+
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
Flexner group No. 9, Mount −
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
Trace.
Shiga group No. 10, Palamcotta
−
+
+
−
−
−
−
−
−
+
−
With a view of finding out the relationship between the different strains isolated by means
of their group agglutination reactions, three rabbits have been immunised with three different
strains (Laboratory Shiga, Laboratory Flexner and Rodrigues) but since a sufficient number of
strains has not yet been isolated the final tests could not be carried out.
A polyvalent dysentery vaccine was made from the Laboratory strains Shiga and Flexner
together with strains Pavaday and Rodrigues. This vaccine was tried on nine cases of dysen-
tery in the Lunatic Asylum, eight of which are reported to have been cured after two or three
inoculations in doses of 20, 50 and 100 million bacilli respectively, at intervals of three to eight
days. The only unsuccessful case was one complicated with advanced ulceration of the colon
which ended fatally three days after a single inoculation of 20 million had been given. From
an experience of previous epidemics the Superintendent of the Asylum considers that vaccine
treatment has given excellent results.
4