The Microscope. Its History, Construction, and Application 15th ed. / Being a familiar introduction to the use of the instrument, and the study of microscopical science

by Jabez Hogg

Apparatus for Incubation and Cultivations in Liquid Media.

Lister’s Flasks.—Lister devised a globe-shaped flask with two necks, a vertical and a lateral one, the lateral being a bent spout, tapering towards the extremity. When the vessel is restored to the erect position after pouring out some of its contents, a drop of liquid remains behind in the end of the nozzle, and thus prevents the regurgitation of air through the spout. A cap of cotton-wool is tied over the orifice, and the residue left in the flask for future use. The vertical neck of the flask is plugged with sterilised cotton-wool in the ordinary way.

Fig. 254.—Pasteur’s Bulb Pipette.

Fig. 255.—Storing Cultivation Tube.

Sternberg advocates the use of a glass bulb, provided with a slender neck drawn out to a fine point and hermetically sealed. Special forms of tubes, bulbs, and pipettes were devised by Pasteur, and are still in use at the Bacteriological Institute, Paris, and known as the Pasteur’s bulb pipette ([Fig. 254]).

Others are provided with lateral or with curved arms, one of which is drawn out to a fine point, and the slender neck plugged with cotton-wool, as in [Fig. 255].