Evening star., 1899-06-15
Work Being Done at the Army Med
ical Museum.
HUNTING FOR TIE COLON BACILLUS
How the Experiments Are Being
Conducted by Dr. Smart.
STAGES OF INVESTIGATION


is experimenting with system of fltra-
| ton of Potomac water for Washington,
the medical department is conducting at
the same time tests of the water which is
being filtered to determine the presence
| of bacilli. This is being done under the
direction of Colonel Smart of the surgeon
generals office, and the tests are made at
the Army Medical Museum by the officials
engaged in meteorological work.
The tests will continue for several
months Colonel Smart told Star reporter
today, but no report will be made for some
time. The work has gone far enough. how
ever, to determine the presence of the
colon bacillus in Potomac water. This is
the bacillus which comes from human or
animal focal matter, and indicates se"ase
in the drinking water.
For that matter, however, DR.. smart mas
known for years by frequent examinations
of Potomac water that the colon paciiius
existed in it. To that extent the Plesen.
examination is but repetition OF former
tests, but is being made to lurnish
proper scientific accompaniment to the eX-
periments with filtration.
Method of Pursuing the Tests.
At the Army Medical Museum Star re-
porter was shown the method Whlcn Is
being pursued in testing the water. II Is
an exceedingly interesting procedure pue
the results are rather startling, especialS
to one whose principal beverage Is ~
tomac water. Thus far no typnolu seI nLs
have been separated from the water s Iesteu, u
IT is explained that the colon Dacluus III
the water leads at least to the suSplcion
of the presence of typhoid. 1t means tnat
sewage is present, and Wnere ma
the chances are favorable for typnoiu'
The officials say that one hope!ul teatua .i,
i-t
fer seem to prove fatal often to typhoiu
germs. For this reason, 1t Is saiu, II - sal
er to drink plain hydrant water tilan tli Sftar
which has passed through defectiVe inter.
OF course thorough filtration is deslraple'
but the filters must be looked aiter r con-
stantly The typhoid germs, 1t mas peen
found, decrease after Two OF @ tnles @niSiy "a in
hydrant water, but multiply very rapioiy III
milk. .. oo,
The archaeological tests are being con-
Quoted in the laboratory on the thlro moor
of the Army Medical Museum, amidst be-
wiIdering layout of glass tubes, theriho-
stats and the other mysterious parapner-
MALTA of the bacteriologist. On the snelNes
are scores of tubes with cultures ana COL
onies of all kinds of germs, sufficient IN
number and deadlineSS to poison all WASH
ington, and bring whole city DOWN WIN
diseases, from plain cramps 10 oedqly ~
phoid, if they were taken INTO the human
system.
Growing the Germs.
The first step in examining the fotonac
water for germs is to catch the water.
Colonel Miller who is doing the filtering,
sees that this is attended to- 1t is sent to
the laboratory once week in glass nasks'
which have previously been sterilized by
being subjected to a temperature OF 1oo de-
prees centierade for one and one-halt
hours A flask of filtered and one OF un-
filtered water are brought at the same
time
The bacteriologist takes from the flask a
tube of the water one-half cubic cent?
meter in quantity and adds 1t TO a tuoe OIL
melted agar, WHICH is nutrient medium ,
in which germs grow and hourlSh. he
pours this mixture into a small, covered
glass dish, which is TO be the garden
patch of the growing germ rms ne
places in thermostat, which Is simply
heater where the temperature can De
maintained constantly a the same rate as
the temperature of the human pooy- Inc
germs seem to thrive better at TINS tenn
perature than any other.
For twentyfOur hours the SafGenpatch
remains in the heater, during when time
the germs, if present, will multiply ana
thrive like the proverbial green bay tree.
They are then left in the temperature or
the room for another twenty-four hours.
By this time the pathogenic, or disease
making germs, have multiplied enormously
and gathered in little colonies in the gar
den patch and each original organism has
made a colony By means of the micro
scope and glass film divided into sections
it is possible to count the colonies and es-
innate the average number OF bdclil1 pres
ent.
The Dangerous BaciIli.
The next step is to determine whether
these bacilli of the dangerous class.
1t is very easy to ascertain if they are
colon bacilli The experimenter takes a
glass tube shaped something like briar
wood pipe, in which he places nutrient
bouillon and l per cent of grape sugar. The
colon bacillus ferments in grape sugar and
causes a formation of gas, which rises IN
the upper extremity of the closed tube. cor
responding to the mouthpiece of the pipe.
The amount of gas formed Is gauged every
twenty-four hours. 1t is known how much
gas the colon bacillus will produce, so the
experimenter adds two cubic centimeters
of water to tube, taking ten or dozen
tubes for the experiment, and waits for the
gas to develop and show the presence OF
the colon bacillus.
If gas is formed and the bacillus is dis
covered, he next proceeds to make a plate
of colonies of bacilli, above described.
to separate the organisms. The suspicious
looking colonies are taken from the garden
patch and transferred to another tube,
called a pure-culture tube, where further
growth and development is induced.
Another way to identify the colon bacn-
lus is to take tube in which is placed
some argon, portion of sterilized milk, a
small quantity of litmus and some grape
sugar milk sugar and cane sugar. The
bacillus fermentS in this, and as it grows it
and turns the litmus a reddish color. Thus
again the colon bacillus is identified. After
he is found he is put in the pure-culture,
where he continues to grow and to furnish
material for further investigation. One
drop of Potomac water in which the colon
bacillus has been discovered, when placed
in the pure-culture, will develop within
twenty-four hours mass of bacilli the en-
tire length of the tube.
One Drop of Water.
A drop of Potomac water taken from a.
flask drawn from the aqueduct last month
was placed under the microscope, where 1t
was magnified 500 diameters. There ap-
peared then ON the plate under the micro
scope a mass Of colon bacilli. They resem-
bled an aggregation of small specks. A bit
of coloring matter was added to the plate
and the baclli stood out more plainly. be-
Ing wriggling conglomeration of particles.
taking on odd shapes
The experimenter exhibited a drop of ty-
phoid culture, which was not taken from
Potomac water, however. This, when
placed under the microscope and magnified
25O diameters, showed the plate to he
swafming with little specks. as though nil
lions of infinitesimal maggots had heen
ont fha ,1,t@