When the thermometer registers the desired temperature, the lead weight must be damped to the lever by means of the milled-head screw which goes through it. After having been once adjusted the heat in the interior will remain constant, notwithstanding the utmost changes of temperature occurring in these latitudes, nor will very great alterations in the size of the lamp-flame seriously interfere with the results. The milled-head screw, P, must be turned, after the first adjustment, during the whole time that the incubator is in use. Observe the temperature before opening the door; observations taken afterwards are worthless.
Preparation of Nutrient Media—Separation, and Cultivation of Bacteria.
Fig. 260.—Plate Cultivation Showing Colonies.
To cultivate micro-organisms artificially they must be supplied with the proper nutrient material, perfectly free from pre-existing organisms. The secret of Koch’s methods greatly depends upon the possibility, in the case of starting with a mixture of micro-organisms, of being able to isolate them completely one from another, and to obtain an absolutely pure growth of each cultivable species. When sterile nutrient gelatine has been liquefied in a test-tube and inoculated with a mixture of bacteria in such a way that the individual micro-organisms are distributed throughout it, and the liquid is poured out on a glass plate and allowed to solidify, the individual bacteria, instead of moving about freely as in a liquid medium, are fixed to one spot, where they develop their own species. In this way colonies are formed, each possessing its own biological characteristics and morphological appearances ([Fig. 260]).
To maintain individuals isolated from each other during growth, and free from contamination, it is only necessary to thin out the cultivation to protect the plates from the air, and to have facilities for examining them from time to time, and observing the characteristic microscopical appearances. The colonies on nutrient gelatine examined with a low power ([Fig. 260]), if micro-organisms such as Bacillus anthraces and Proteus mirabilis, the naked eye appearances in test-tubes of the growth of the bacilli of anthrax and tubercle, and the brilliant growth of micro-coccus prodigiosus, may be given as examples in which the appearances are often very striking and sometimes quite characteristic. I must, however, first direct attention to a well-recognised fact, that bacteriology only touches animal pathology at a few points, and that so far from bacteria being synonymous with disease germs, the majority of these remarkable organisms appear to be beneficent rather than inimical to man. This is of immense importance to science, as I shall attempt to show further on; although even a brief description of all the useful ferments due to bacteria and brought into use would occupy a volume to themselves, and call for a school of bacteriology quite apart from that involved in the medical aspect of the question, for the purpose of fully investigating problems raised by the agriculturist, the forester, the gardener, the dairyman, brewer, dyer, tanner, and other industries, which open up vistas of practical application, and to some extent are already being taken advantage of in commerce.
The Preparation of Nutrient Gelatine and Agar-agar.—Take half a kilogramme (one pound) of beef as free as possible from fat, chop finely, transfer to a flask or cylindrical vessel, and shake up well with a litre of distilled water. Place the vessel in an ice-pail, or ice-cupboard, or in winter in a cold cellar, and leave for the night. Next morning commence with the preparation of all requisite apparatus. Thoroughly wash and rinse with alcohol about 100 test-tubes, and allow them to dry. Plug the mouths of the test-tubes with cotton-wool, place them in their wire cages in the hot-air steriliser, to be heated for an hour at a temperature of 150°C. In the same manner cleanse and sterilise several flasks, and a small glass funnel. In the meantime, the meat infusion must be well shaken, and the liquid portion separated by filtering and squeezing through a linen cloth or a meat press. The red juice thus obtained must be brought up to a litre by transferring it to a large measuring glass and adding distilled water. It is then poured into a sufficiently large and strong beaker, and set aside after the addition of ten grammes of peptone, five grammes of common salt, and 100 grammes of best gelatine.
In about half an hour the gelatine is sufficiently softened, and subsequent heating in a water bath causes it to be completely dissolved.
The next process requires the greatest care and attention. Some micro-organisms grow best in a slightly acid, others in a slightly alkaline, medium. For example, for the growth and characteristic appearances of the comma bacillus of Asiatic cholera a faintly alkaline soil is absolutely essential. This slightly alkaline medium will be found to answer best for most micro-organisms, and may be obtained as follows:—With a clean glass rod dipped in the mixture, the reaction upon litmus-paper may be obtained, and a concentrated solution of carbonate of soda must be added drop by drop until red litmus-paper becomes faintly blue. If it is too alkaline, it can be neutralised by the addition of lactic acid.
Finally, the mixture is heated for an hour in the water-bath. Ten minutes before the boiling is completed the white of an egg beaten up with the shell is added, and the liquid is then filtered while hot.