Chapter III: Appendix: 492 (1)

INDEX 505

BACTERIOLOGICAL TECHNIQUE.

I. LABORATORY REGULATIONS.

The following regulations are laid down for observance in the Bacteriological Laboratories under the direction of the author. Similar regulations should be enforced in all laboratories where pathogenic bacteria are studied.

_Guy's Hospital._

~BACTERIOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.~

HANDLING OF INFECTIVE MATERIALS.

The following Regulations have been drawn up in the interest
of those working in the Laboratory as well as the public at
large, and will be strictly enforced.

Their object is to avoid the dangers of infection which may
arise from neglect of necessary precautions or from
carelessness.

Everyone must note that by neglecting the general rules laid
down he not only runs grave risk himself, but is a danger to
others.

REGULATIONS.

1. Each worker must wear a gown or overall, provided at his
own expense, which must be kept in the Laboratory.

2. The hands must be disinfected with lysol 2 per cent.
solution, carbolic acid 5 per cent. solution, or corrosive
sublimate 1 per mille solution, after dealing with
infectious material, and ~before using towels~.

3. On no account must Laboratory towels or dusters be used
for wiping up infectious material, and if such towels or
dusters do become soiled, they must be immediately
sterilised by boiling.

4. Special pails containing disinfectant are provided to
receive any waste material, and nothing must be thrown on
the floor.

5. All instruments must be flamed, boiled, or otherwise
disinfected immediately after use.

6. Labels must be moistened with water, and not by the
mouth.

7. All disused cover-glasses, slides, and pipettes after use
in handling infectious material, etc., must be placed in 2
per cent. lysol solution. A vessel is supplied on each bench
for this purpose.

8. All plate and tube cultures of pathogenic organisms when
done with, must be placed for immediate disinfection in the
boxes provided for the purpose.

9. No fluids are to be discharged into sinks or drains
unless previously disinfected.

10. Animals are to be dissected only after being nailed out
on the wooden boards, and their skin thoroughly washed with
disinfectant solution.

11. Immediately after the post-mortem examination is
completed each cadaver must be placed in the zinc
animal-box--_without removing the carcase from the
post-mortem board_--and the cover of the box replaced, ready
for carriage to the destructor.

12. Dead animals, when done with, are cremated in the
destructor, and the laboratory attendant must be notified
when the bodies are ready for cremation.

13. None of the workers in the laboratory are allowed to
enter the animal houses unless accompanied by the special
attendant in charge, who must scrupulously observe the same
directions regarding personal disinfection as the workers in
the laboratories.

14. No cultures are to be taken out of the laboratory
without the permission of the head of the Department.

15. All accidents, such as spilling infected material,
cutting or pricking the fingers, must be at once reported to
the bacteriologist in charge.

II. GLASS APPARATUS IN COMMON USE.

The equipment of the bacteriological laboratory, so far as the glass apparatus is concerned, differs but little from that of a chemical laboratory, and the cleanliness of the apparatus is equally important. The glassware comprised in the following list, in addition to being clean, must be stored in a sterile or germ-free condition.

~Test-tubes.~--It is convenient to keep several sizes of test-tubes in stock, to meet special requirements, viz.:

1. ~18 x 1.5~ cm., to contain media for ordinary tube cultivations.

2. ~18 x 1.3~ cm., to contain media used for pouring plate cultivations, and also for holding sterile "swabs."

3. ~18 x 2~ cm., to contain wedges of potato, beetroot, or other vegetable media.

4. ~13 x 1.5~ cm., to contain inspissated blood-serum.

The tubes should be made from the best German potash glass, "blue-lined," stout and heavy, with the edge of the mouth of the tube _slightly_ turned over, but not to such an extent as to form a definite rim. (Cost about $1.50, or 6 shillings per gross.) Such tubes are expensive it is true, but they are sufficiently stout to resist rough handling, do not usually break if accidentally allowed to drop (a point of some moment when dealing with cultures of pathogenic bacteria), can be cleaned, sterilised, and used over and over again, and by their length of life fully justify their initial expense.

A point be noted is that the manufacturers rarely turn out such tubes as these absolutely uniform in calibre, and a batch of 18 by 1.5 cm. tubes usually contains such extreme sizes as 18 by 2 cm. and 18 by 1.3 cm. Consequently, if a set of standard tubes is kept for comparison or callipers are used each new supply of so-called 18 by 1.5 cm. tubes may be easily sorted out into these three sizes, and so simplify ordering.

5. ~5 x 0.7~ cm., for use in the inverted position inside the tubes containing carbohydrate media, as gas-collecting tubes.

These tubes, "unrimmed," may be of common thin glass as less than two per cent. are fit for use a second time.

~Bohemian Flasks~ (Fig. 1).--These are the ordinary flasks of the chemical laboratory. A good variety, ranging in capacity from 250 to 3000 c.c., should be kept on hand. A modified form, known as the "pear-shaped" (Fig. 2), is preferable for the smaller sizes--i. e., 250 and 500 c.c.

~Erlenmeyer's Flasks~ (Fig. 3).--Erlenmeyer's flasks of 75, 100, and 250 c.c. capacity are extremely useful. For use as culture flasks care should be taken to select only such as have a narrow neck of about 2 cm. in length.

~Kolle's Culture Flasks~ (Fig. 4).--These thin, flat flasks (to contain agar or gelatine, which is allowed to solidify in a layer on one side) are extremely useful on account of the large nutrient surface available for growth. A surface cultivation in one of these will yield as much growth as ten or twelve "oblique" tube cultures. The wide mouth, however, is a disadvantage, and for many purposes thin, flat culture bottles known as ~Roux's bottles~ (Fig. 5) are to be preferred.

An even more convenient pattern is that used in the author's laboratory (Fig. 6), as owing to the greater depth of medium which it is possible to obtain in these flasks an exceedingly luxuriant growth is possible; the narrow neck reduces the chance of accidental contamination to a minimum and the general shape permits the flasks to be stacked one upon the other.

~Filter Flasks or Kitasato's Serum Flasks~ (Fig. 7).--Various sizes, from 250 to 2000 c.c. capacity. These must be of stout glass, to resist the pressure to which they are subjected, but at the same time must be thoroughly well annealed, in order to withstand the temperature necessary for sterilisation.

All flasks should be either of Jena glass or the almost equally well-known Resistance or R glass, the extra initial expense being justified by the comparative immunity of the glass from breakage.

~Petri's Dishes or "Plates"~ (Fig. 8, a).--These have now completely replaced the rectangular sheets of glass introduced by Koch for the plate method of cultivation. Each "plate" consists of a pair of circular discs of glass with sharply upturned edges, thus forming shallow dishes, one of slightly greater diameter than the other, and so, when inverted, forming a cover or cap for the smaller. Plates having an outside diameter of 10 cm. and a height of 1.5 cm. are the most generally useful. A batch of eighteen such plates is sterilised and stored in a cylindrical copper box (30 cm. high by 12 cm. diameter) provided with a "pull-off" lid. Inside each box is a copper stirrup with a circular bottom, upon which the plates rest, and by means of which each can be raised in turn to the mouth of the box (Fig. 9) for removal.

~Capsules~ (Fig. 8, b and c).--These are Petri's dishes of smaller diameter but greater depth than those termed plates. Two sizes will be found especially useful--viz., 4 cm. diameter by 2 cm. high, capacity about 14 c.c.; and 5 cm. diameter by 2 cm. high, capacity about 25 c.c. These are stored in copper cylinders of similar construction to those used for plates, but measuring 20 by 6 cm. and 20 by 7 cm., respectively.

~Graduated Pipettes.~--Several varieties of these are required, viz.:

1. Pipettes of 1 c.c. capacity graduated in 0.1 c.c.

2. Pipettes of 1 c.c. capacity graduated in 0.01 c.c. (Fig. 10, a).

3. Pipettes of 10 c.c. capacity graduated in 0.1 c.c. (Fig. 10, b).

These should be about 30 cm. in length (1 and 2 of fairly narrow bore), graduated to the extreme point, and having at least a 10 cm. length of clear space between the first graduation and the upper end; the open mouth should be plugged with cotton-wool. Each variety should be sterilised and stored in a separate cylindrical copper case some 36 by 6 cm., with "pull-off" lid, upon which is stamped, in plain figures, the capacity of the contained pipettes.

The laboratory should also be provided with a complete set of "Standard" graduated pipettes, each pipette in the set being stamped and authenticated by a certificate from one of the recognised Physical Measurement Laboratories, such as Charlottenburg. These instruments are expensive and should be reserved solely for standardising the pipettes in ordinary use, and for calibrating small pipettes manufactured in the laboratory. Such a set should comprise, at least, pipettes delivering 10 c.c., 5 c.c., 2.5 c.c., 2 c.c., 1 c.c., 0.5 c.c., 0.25 c.c., 0.2 c.c., 0.1 c.c., 0.05 c.c., and 0.01 c.c., respectively.

In the immediately following sections are described small pieces of glass apparatus which should be prepared in the laboratory from glass tubing of various sizes. In their preparation three articles are essential; first a three-square hard-steel file or preferably a glass-worker's knife of hard Thuringian steel for cutting glass tubes etc.; next a blowpipe flame, for although much can be done with the ordinary Bunsen burner, a blowpipe flame makes for rapid work; and lastly a bat's-wing burner.

1. The glass-cutting knife. This article is sold in two forms, a bench knife (Fig. 11) and a pocket knife. The former is provided with a blade some 8 cm. in length and having two cutting edges. The cutting edge when examined in a strong light is seen to be composed of small closely set teeth, similar to those in a saw. The knife should be kept sharp by frequent stroppings on a sandstone hone. The pocket form, about 6-cm. long over all, consists of a small spring blade with one cutting edge mounted in scales like an ordinary pocket knife.

2. For real convenience of work the blowpipe should be mounted on a special table connected up with cylindrical bellows operated by a pedal. That figured (Fig. 12) is made by mounting a teak top 60 cm. square upon the uprights of an enclosed double-action concertina bellows (Enfer's) and provided with a Fletcher's Universal gas blowpipe.

3. An ordinary bat's-wing gas-burner mounted at the far corner of the table top is invaluable in the preparation of tubular apparatus with sharp curves, and for coating newly-made glass apparatus with a layer of soot to prevent too rapid cooling, and its usually associated result--cracking.

6. ~Sedimentation tubes 5x0.5~ cm., for sedimentation reactions, etc., and for containing small quantities of fluid to be centrifugalised in the haematocrit. These are made by taking 14-cm. lengths of stout glass tubing of the requisite diameter and heating the centre in the Bunsen or blowpipe flame. When the central portion is quite soft draw the ends quickly apart and then round off the pointed ends of the two test-tubes thus formed. With the glass-cutting knife cut off whatever may be necessary from the open ends to make the tubes the required length.

A rectangular block of "plasticine" (modelling clay) into which the conical ends can be thrust makes a very convenient stand for these small tubes.

~Capillary Pipettes or Pasteur's Pipettes~ (Fig. 13 a).--These little instruments are invaluable, and a goodly supply should be kept on hand. They are prepared from soft-glass tubing of various-sized calibre (the most generally useful size being 8 mm. diameter) in the following manner: Hold a 10 cm. length of glass tube by each end, and whilst rotating it heat the central portion in the Bunsen flame or the blowpipe blast-flame until the glass is red hot and soft. Now remove it from the flame and steadily pull the ends apart, so drawing the heated portion out into a roomy capillary tube; break the capillary portion at its centre, seal the broken ends in the flame, and round off the edges of the open end of each pipette. A loose plug of cotton-wool in the open mouth completes the capillary pipette. After a number have been prepared, they are sterilised and stored in batches, either in metal cases similar to those used for the graduated pipettes or in large-sized test-tubes--sealed ends downward and plugged ends toward the mouth of the case.

The filling and emptying of the capillary pipette is most satisfactorily accomplished by slipping a small rubber teat (similar to that on a baby's feeding bottle but _not perforated_) on the upper end, after cutting or snapping off the sealed point of the capillary portion. If pressure is now exerted upon the elastic bulb by a finger and thumb whilst the capillary end is below the surface of the fluid to be taken up, some of the contained air will be driven out, and subsequent relaxation of that pressure (resulting in the formation of a partial vacuum) will cause the fluid to ascend the capillary tube. Subsequent compression of the bulb will naturally result in the complete expulsion of the fluid from the pipette (Fig. 14).

A modification of this pipette, in which a constriction or short length of capillary tube is introduced just below the plugged mouth (Fig. 13, b), will also be found extremely useful in the collection and storage of morbid exudations.

A third form, where the capillary portion is about 4 or 5 cm. long and only forms a small fraction of the entire length of the pipette (Fig. 13, c), will also be found useful.

~"Blood" Pipettes~ (Fig 15).--Special pipettes for the collection of fairly large quantities of blood (as suggested by Pakes) should also be prepared. These are made from _soft_ glass tubing of 1 cm. bore, in a similar manner to the Pasteur pipettes, except that the point of the blowpipe flame must be used in order to obtain the sharp shoulder at either end of the central bulb. The terminal tubes must retain a diameter of at least 1 mm., in order to avoid capillary action during the collection of the fluid.

For sterilisation and storage each pipette is placed inside a test-tube, resting on a wad of cotton-wool, and the tube plugged in the ordinary manner. As these tubes are used almost exclusively for blood work, it is usual to place a lance-headed hare-lip pin or a No. 9 flat Hagedorn needle inside the tube so that the entire outfit may be sterilised at one time.

For the collection of small quantities of blood for agglutination reactions and the like, many prefer a short straight piece of narrow glass tubing drawn out at either extremity to almost capillary dimensions. Such pipettes, about 8 cm. in length over all, are most conveniently sterilized in ordinary metal thermometer cases (Fig. 16).

~Graduated Capillary Pipettes~ (Fig. 17).--These should also be made in the laboratory--from manometer tubing--of simple, convenient shape, and graduated by the aid of "standard" pipettes (in hundredths) to contain such quantities as 10, 50, and 90 c. mm., and carefully marked with a writing diamond. These, previously sterilised in large test-tubes, will be found extremely useful in preparing accurate percentage solutions, when only minute quantities of fluid are available.

~Automatic ("Throttle") Pipettes.~--These ingenious pipettes, introduced by Wright, can easily be calibrated in the laboratory and are exceedingly useful for graduating small pipettes, for measuring small quantities of fluids, in preparing dilutions of serum for agglutination reactions, etc. They are usually made from the Capillary Pasteur pipettes (Fig. 13, a). The following description of the manufacture of a 5 c. mm. pipette will serve to show how the small automatic pipettes are calibrated.

1. Select a pipette the capillary portion of which is fairly roomy in bore and possesses regular even walls, and remove the cotton-wool plug from the open end.

2. Heat the capillary portion near the free extremity in the by-pass flame of the bunsen burner and draw it out into a very fine hair-like tube and break this across. This hair-like extremity will permit the passage of air but is too fine for metallic mercury to pass.

3. From a standard graduated pipette deliver 5 c. mm. clean mercury into the upper wide portion of the pipette.

4. Adjust a rubber teat to the pipette and by pressure on the bulb gradually drive the mercury in an unbroken column down the capillary tube until it is stopped by the filiform extremity.

5. Cut off the capillary tube exactly at the upper level of the column of mercury, invert it and allow the mercury to run out.

6. Snap off the remainder of the capillary tube from the broad upper portion of the pipette which is now destined to form the covering tube or air chamber, or what we may term the "barrel." This barrel now has the lower end in the form of a truncated cone, the upper end being cut square. Remove the teat.

7. Introduce the capillary tube into this barrel with the filiform extremity uppermost, and the square cut end projecting about 0.5 cm. beyond the tapering end of the barrel.

8. Drop a small pellet of sealing wax into the barrel by the side of the capillary tube and then warm the tube at the gas flame until the wax becomes softened and makes an air-tight joint between the capillary tube and the end of the barrel.

9. Fit a rubber teat to the open end of the barrel, and so complete a pipette which can be depended upon to always aspirate and deliver exactly 5 cm. of fluid.

Slight modification of this procedure is necessary in making tubes to measure larger volumes than say 75 c. mm. Thus to make a throttle pipette to measure 100 c. mm.:

1. Take a short length of quill tubing and draw out one end into a roomy capillary stem, and again draw out the extremity into a fine hair point, thus forming a small Pasteur pipette with a hair-like capillary extremity.

2. With a standard pipette fill 100 c. mm. into the neck of this pipette, and make a scratch with a writing diamond at the upper level (a) of the mercury meniscus (Fig. 19, A).

Now force the mercury down into the capillary stem as far as it will go, so as to leave the upper part of the tube in the region of the diamond scratch empty (Fig. 19, B).

3. Heat the tube in the region of the diamond scratch in the blowpipe flame, and removing the tube from the flame draw it out so that the diamond scratch now occupies a position somewhere near the centre of this new capillary portion (Fig. 19, C).

4. Heat the tube in this position in the peep flame of the Bunsen burner, and draw it out into a hair-like extremity. Snap off the glass tube, leaving about 5 mm. of hair-like extremity attached to the upper capillary portion (Fig. 19, D). Allow the glass to cool.

5. Lift up the bulb by the long capillary stem and allow the mercury to return to its original position--an operation which will be facilitated by snapping off the hair-like extremity from the long piece of capillary tubing.

6. Mark on the capillary stem with a grease pencil the position of the end of the column of mercury (Fig. 19, E.)

7. Warm the capillary tubing at this spot in the peep flame of the Bunsen burner, and draw it out very slightly so that when cut at this position a pointed extremity will be obtained.

8. With a glass-cutting knife cut the capillary tube through at the point "b," and allow the mercury to run out.

9. Now apply a thick layer of sealing wax to the neck of the bulb.

10. Take a piece of 5 mm. bore glass tubing and draw it out as if making an ordinary Pasteur pipette.

11. Break the capillary portion off so as to leave a covering tube similar to that already used for the smaller graduated pipettes. Into this covering tube drop the graduated bulb and draw the capillary stem down through the conical extremity until further progress is stopped by the layer of sealing wax.

12. Warm the pipette in the gas flame so as to melt the sealing wax and make an air-tight joint.

13. Fit an india-rubber teat over the open end of the covering tube, and the automatic pipette is ready for use (Fig. 19, F).

~Sedimentation Pipettes~ (Fig. 20).--These are prepared from 10 cm. lengths of narrow glass tubing by sealing one extremity, blowing a small bulb at the centre, and plugging the open end with cotton-wool; after sterilisation the open end is provided with a short piece of rubber tubing and a glass mouthpiece. When it is necessary to observe sedimentation reactions in very small quantities of fluid, these tubes will be found much more convenient than the 5 by 0.5 cm. test-tubes previously mentioned.

Pasteur pipettes fitted with india-rubber teats will also be found useful for sedimentation tests when dealing with minute quantities of serum, etc.

~Fermentation Tubes~ (Fig. 21).--These are used for the collection and analysis of the gases liberated from the media during the growth of some varieties of bacteria and may be either plain (a) or graduated (b). A simple form (Fig. 21, c) may be made from 14 cm. lengths of soft glass tubing of 1.5 cm. diameter. The Bunsen flame is applied to a spot some 5 cm. from one end of such a piece of tubing and the tube slightly drawn out to form a constriction, the constricted part is bent in the bat's-wing flame, to an acute angle, and the open extremity of the long arm sealed off in the blowpipe flame. The open end of the short arm is rounded off and then plugged with cotton-wool, and the tube is ready for sterilisation.

CLEANING OF GLASS APPARATUS.

All glassware used in the bacteriological laboratory must be thoroughly cleaned before use, and this rule applies as forcibly to new as to old apparatus, although the methods employed may vary slightly.

~To Clean New Test-tubes.~--

1. Place the tubes in a bucket or other convenient receptacle, fill with water and add a handful of "Sapon" or other soap powder. See that the tubes are full and submerged.

2. Fix the bucket over a large Bunsen flame and boil for thirty minutes--or boil in the autoclave for a similar period.

3. Cleanse the interior of the tubes with the aid of test-tube brushes, and rinse thoroughly in cold water.

4. Invert the tubes and allow them to drain completely.

5. Dry the tubes and polish the glass inside and out with a soft cloth, such as selvyt.

~New flasks, plates, and capsules~ must be cleaned in a similar manner.

~To Clean New Graduated Pipettes.~--

1. Place the pipettes in a convenient receptacle, filled with water to which soap powder has been added.

2. Boil the water vigorously for twenty minutes over a Bunsen flame.

3. Rinse the pipettes in running water and drain.

4. Run distilled water through the pipettes and drain.

5. Run rectified spirits through the pipette and drain as completely as possible.

6. Place the pipettes in the hot-air oven (_vide_ page 31), close the door, open the ventilating slide, and run the temperature slowly up to about 80 deg. C. Turn off the gas and allow the oven to cool.

Or 6a. Attach each pipette in turn to the rubber tube of the foot bellows, or blowpipe air-blast, and blow air through the pipette until the interior is dry.

Glassware that has already been used is regarded as _infected_, and is treated in a slightly different manner.

~Infected Test-tubes.~--

1. Pack the tubes in the wire basket of the autoclave (having previously removed the cotton-wool plugs, caps, etc.), in the vertical position, and before replacing the basket see that there is a sufficiency of water in the bottom of the boiler. Now attach a piece of rubber tubing to the nearest water tap, and by means of this fill each tube with water.

2. Disinfect completely by exposing the tubes, etc., to a temperature of 120 deg. C. for twenty minutes (_vide_ page 37).

(If an autoclave is not available, the tubes must be placed in a digester, or even a large pan or pail with a tightly fitting cover, and boiled vigorously for some thirty to forty-five minutes to ensure disinfection.)

3. Whilst still hot, empty each tube in turn and roughly clean its interior with a stiff test-tube brush.

4. Place the tubes in a bucket or other convenient receptacle, fill with water and add a handful of Sapon or other soap powder. See that the tubes are full and submerged.

5. Fix the bucket over a large Bunsen flame and boil for thirty minutes.

6. Cleanse the interior of the tubes with the aid of test-tube brushes, and rinse thoroughly in cold water.

7. Drain off the water and immerse tubes in a large jar containing water acidulated with 2 to 5 per cent. hydrochloric acid. Allow them to remain there for about fifteen minutes.

8. Remove from the acid jar, drain, rinse thoroughly in running water, then with distilled water.

9. Invert the tubes and allow them to drain completely.

Dry the tubes and polish the glass inside and out with a soft cloth, such as selvyt.

~Infected flasks, plates, and capsules~ must be treated in a similar manner.

~Flasks~ which have been used only in the preparation of media must be cleaned immediately they are finished with. Fill each flask with water to which some soap powder and a few crystals of potassium permanganate have been added, and let boil over the naked flame. The interior of the flask can then usually be perfectly cleaned with the aid of a flask brush, but in some cases water acidulated with 5 per cent. nitric acid, or a large wad of wet cotton-wool previously rolled in silver sand, must be shaken around the interior of the flask, after which rinse thoroughly with clean water, dry, and polish.

~Infected Pipettes.~--

1. Plunge infected pipettes immediately after use into tall glass cylinders containing a 2 per cent. solution of lysol, and allow them to remain therein for some days.

2. Remove from the jar and drain. Boil in water to which a little soap has been added, for thirty minutes.

3. Rinse thoroughly in cold water.

4. Immerse in 5 per cent. nitric acid for an hour or two.

5. Rinse again in running water to remove all traces of acid.

6. Complete the cleaning as described under "new pipettes."

When dealing with graduated capillary pipettes employed for blood or serum work (whether new or infected), much time is consumed in the various steps from 5 onward, and the cleansing process can be materially hastened if the following device is adopted.

Fit up a large-sized Kitasato's filter flask to a Sprengel's suction pump or a Geryk air pump (see page 43). To the side tubulure of the filter flask attach a 20 cm. length of rubber pressure tubing having a calibre sufficiently large to admit the ends of the pipettes.

Next fill a small beaker with distilled water. Attach the first pipette to the free end of the rubber tubing, place the pipette point downward in the beaker of water and start the pump (Fig. 22).

When all the water has been aspirated through the pipette into the filter flask, fill the beaker with rectified spirit and when this is exhausted refill with ether. Detach the pipette and dry in the hot-air oven.

~Slides and cover-slips~ (Fig. 23), when first purchased, have "greasy" surfaces, upon which water gathers in minute drops and effectually prevents the spreading of thin, even films.

~Microscopical Slides.~--The slides in general use are those known as "three by one" slips (measuring 3 inches by 1 inch, or 76 by 26 mm.), and should be of good white crown glass, with ground edges.

~New slides~ should be allowed to remain in alcohol acidulated with 5 per cent. hydrochloric acid for some hours, rinsed in running water, roughly drained on a towel, dried, and finally polished with a selvyt cloth.

If only a few slides are required for immediate use a good plan is to rub the surface with jeweler's emery paper (Hubert's 00). A piece of hard wood 76x26x26 mm. with a piece of this emery paper gummed tightly around it is an exceedingly useful article on the microscope bench.

~Cover-slips.~--The most useful sizes are the 19 mm. squares for ordinary cover-glass film preparations, and 38 by 19 mm. rectangles for blood films and serial sections; both varieties must be of "No. 1" thickness, which varies between 0.15 and 0.22 mm., that they may be available for use with the high-power immersion lenses.

Cover-slips should be cleaned in the following manner:

1. Drop the cover-slips one by one into an enamelled iron pot or tall glass beaker, containing a 10 per cent. solution of chromic acid.

2. Heat over a Bunsen flame and allow the acid to boil gently for twenty minutes.

NOTE.--A few pieces of pipe-clay or pumice may be placed in
the beaker to prevent the "spurting" of the chromic acid.

3. Turn the cover-slips out into a flat glass dish and wash in running water under the tap until all trace of yellow colour has disappeared. During the washing keep the cover-slips in motion by imparting a rotatory movement to the dish.

4. Wash in distilled water in a similar manner.

5. Wash in rectified spirit.

6. Transfer the cover-slips, by means of a pair of clean forceps, previously heated in the Bunsen flame to destroy any trace of grease, to a small beaker of absolute alcohol.

Drain off the alcohol and transfer the cover-slips, by means of the forceps, to a wide-mouthed glass pot, containing absolute alcohol, in which they are to be stored, and stopper tightly.

NOTE.--After once being placed in the chromic acid, the
cover-slips must on no account be touched by the fingers.

~Used Slides and Cover-slips.~--Used slides with the mounted cover-slip preparations, and cover-slips used for hanging-drop mounts, should, when discarded, be thrown into a pot containing a 2 per cent. solution of lysol.

After immersion therein for a week or so, even the cover-slips mounted with Canada balsam can be readily detached from their slides.

_Slides._--

1. Wash the slides thoroughly in running water.

2. Boil the slides in water to which "sapon" has been added, for half an hour.

3. Rinse thoroughly in cold water.

4. Dry and polish with a dry cloth.

_Cover-slips._--

1. Wash the cover-slips thoroughly in running water.

2. Boil the cover-slips in 10 per cent. solution of chromic acid, as for new cover-slips.

3. Wash thoroughly in running water.

4. Pick out those cover-slips which show much adherent dirty matter, and rub them between thumb and forefinger under the water tap. The dirt usually rubs off easily, as it has become friable from contact with the chromic acid.

5. Return all the cover-slips to the beaker, fill in _fresh_ chromic acid solution, and treat as new cover-slips.

NOTE.--_Test-tubes, plates, capsules_, etc., which, from
long use, have become scratched and hazy, or which cannot be
cleaned in any other way, may be dealt with by immersing
them in an enamelled iron bath, containing water acidulated
to 1 per cent. with hydrofluoric acid, for ten minutes,
rinsing thoroughly in water, drying, and polishing.

PLUGGING TEST-TUBES AND FLASKS.

Before sterilisation all test-tubes and flasks must be carefully plugged with cotton-wool, and for this purpose best absorbent cotton-wool (preferably that put up in cylindrical one-pound packets and interleaved with tissue paper--known as surgeons' wool) should be employed.

1. For a test-tube or a small flask, tear a strip of cotton-wool some 10 cm. long by 2 cm. wide from the roll.

2. Turn in the ends neatly and roll the strip of wool lightly between the thumb and fingers of both hands to form a long cylinder.

3. Double this at the centre and introduce the now rounded end into the open mouth of the tube or flask.

4. Now, whilst supporting the wool between the thumb and fingers of the right hand, rotate the test-tube between those of the left, and gradually screw the plug of wool into its mouth for a distance of about 2.5 cm., leaving about the same length of wool projecting.

The plug must be firm and fit the tube or flask fairly tightly, sufficiently tightly in fact to bear the weight of the glass plus the amount of medium the vessel is intended to contain, but not so tightly as to prevent it from being easily removed by a screwing motion when grasped between the fourth, or third and fourth, fingers, and the palm of the hand.

For a large flask a similar but larger strip of wool must be taken; the method of making and inserting the plug is identical.

III. METHODS OF STERILISATION.

STERILISING AGENTS.

Sterilisation--i. e., the removal or the destruction of germ life--may be effected by the use of various agents. As applied to the practical requirements of the bacteriological laboratory, many of these agents, such as electricity, sunlight, etc., are of little value, others are limited in their applications; others again are so well suited to particular purposes that their use is almost entirely restricted to such.

The sterilising agents in common use are:

~Chemical Reagents.~--_Disinfectants_ (for the disinfection of glass and metal apparatus and of morbid tissues).

~Physical Agents.~ HEAT.--(a) _Dry Heat:_

1. Naked flame (for the sterilisation of platinum needles, etc.).

2. Muffle furnace (for the sterilisation of filter candles, and for the destruction of morbid tissues).

3. Hot air (for the sterilisation of all glassware and of metal apparatus).

(b) _Moist Heat:_

1. Water at 56 deg. C. (for the sterilisation of certain albuminous fluids).

2. Water at 100 deg. C. (for the sterilisation of surgical instruments, rubber tubing, and stoppers, etc.).

3. Streaming steam at 100 deg. C. (for the sterilisation of media).

4. Superheated steam at 115 deg. C. or 120 deg. C. (for the disinfection of contaminated articles and the destruction of old cultivations of bacteria).

FILTRATION.--

1. Cotton-wool filters (for the sterilisation of air and gases).

2. Porcelain filters (for the sterilisation of various liquids).

METHODS OF APPLICATION.

~Chemical Reagents~, such as belong to the class known as antiseptics (_i. e._, substances which inhibit the growth of, but do not destroy, bacterial life), are obviously useless. Disinfectants or germicides (_i. e._, substances which destroy bacterial life), on the other hand, are of value in the disinfection of morbid material, and also of various pieces of apparatus, such as pipettes, pending their cleansing and complete sterilisation by other processes. To this class (in order of general utility) belong:

Lysol, 2 per cent. solution;
Perchloride of mercury, 0.1 per cent. solution;
Carbolic acid, 5 per cent. solution;
Absolute alcohol;
Ether;
Chloroform;
Camphor;
Thymol;
Toluol;
Volatile oils, such as oil of mustard, oil of garlic.

Formaldehyde is a powerful germicide, but its penetrating vapor restricts its use. These disinfectants are but little used in the final sterilisation of apparatus, chiefly on account of the difficulty of effecting their complete removal, for the presence of even traces of these chemicals is sufficient to so inhibit or alter the growth of bacteria as to vitiate subsequent experiments conducted by the aid of apparatus sterilised in this manner.

NOTE.--Tubes, flasks, filter flasks, pipettes, glass tubing,
etc., may be rapidly sterilised, in case of emergency, by
washing, in turn, with distilled water, perchloride of
mercury solution, alcohol, and ether, draining, and finally
gently heating over a gas flame to completely drive off the
ether vapor. Chloroform or other volatile disinfectants may
be added to various fluids in order to effect the
destruction of contained bacteria, and when this has been
done, may be completely driven off from the fluid by the
application of gentle heat.

~Dry Heat.~--The _naked flame_ of the Bunsen burner is invariably used for sterilising the platinum needles (which are heated to redness) and may be employed for sterilising the points of forceps, or other small instruments, cover-glasses, pipettes, etc., a very short exposure to this heat being sufficient.

_Ether Flame._--In an emergency small instruments, needles, etc., may be sterilised by dipping them in ether and after removal lighting the adherent fluid and allowing it to burn off the surface of the instruments. Repeat the process twice. It may then be safely assumed that the apparatus so treated is sterile.

_Muffle Furnace_ (Fig. 25).--Although this form of heat is chiefly used for the destruction of the dead bodies of small infected animals, morbid tissues, etc., it is also employed for the sterilisation of porcelain filter candles (_vide_ p. 42).

Filter candles are disinfected immediately after use by boiling in a beaker of water for some fifteen or twenty minutes. This treatment, however, leaves the dead bodies of the bacteria upon the surface and blocking the interstices of the filter.

To destroy the organic matter and prepare the filter candle for further use proceed as follows:

1. Roll each bougie up in a piece of asbestos cloth, secure the ends of the cloth with a few turns of copper wire, and place inside the muffle (a small muffle 76x88x163 mm. will hold perhaps four small filter candles).

2. Light the gas and raise the contents of the muffle to a white heat; maintain this temperature for five minutes.

3. Extinguish the gas, and when the muffle has become quite cold remove the filter candles, and store them (without removing the asbestos wrappings) in sterile metal boxes.

NOTE.--The too rapid cooling of the candles, such as takes
place if they are removed from the muffle before it has
cooled down to the room temperature, may give rise to
microscopic cracks and flaws which will effectually destroy
their efficiency.

_Hot Air._--Hot air at 150 deg. C. destroys all bacteria, spores, etc:, in about thirty minutes; a momentary exposure to a temperature of 175 deg. to 180 deg. C. will effect the same result and offers the more convenient method of sterilisation. This method is only applicable to glass and metallic substances, and the small bulk of cotton-wool comprised in the test-tube plugs, etc. Large masses of fabric are not effectually sterilised by dry heat--short of charring--as its power of penetration is not great.

Sterilisation by hot air is effected in the hot-air oven (Fig. 18). This is a rectangular, double-walled metal box, mounted on a stand and heated from below by a large Bunsen burner. The interior of the oven is provided with loose shelves upon which the articles to be sterilised are arranged, either singly or packed in square wire baskets or crates, kept specially for this purpose. One of the sides is hinged to form a door. The central portion of the metal bottom, on which the Bunsen flame would play, is cut away, and replaced by firebrick plates, which slide in metal grooves and are easily replaced when broken or worn out. The top of the oven is provided with a perforated ventilator slide and two tubulures, the one for the reception of a centigrade thermometer graduated to 200 deg. or 250 deg. C., the other for a thermo-regulator. An ordinary mercurial thermo-regulator may be used but it is preferable to employ a regulating capsule of the Hearson type (see p. 219) with a spring arm adjusted to the lever so that when the boiling-point of the capsule (e. g., 175 deg. C.) is reached the gas supply is absolutely cut off and the jet cannot again be lighted until the spring-arm has been readjusted by hand. The thermo-regulator is by no means a necessity, and may be replaced by a large bore thermometer with a sliding platinum point, connected with an electric bell, which can be easily adjusted to ring at any given temperature. Even if the steriliser is provided with the capsule regulator above described the contact thermometer should also be fitted.

TO USE THE HOT-AIR OVEN.--

1. Place the crates of test-tubes, metal cases containing plates and pipettes, loose apparatus, etc., inside the oven, taking particular care that none of the cotton-wool plugs are in contact with the walls, otherwise the heat transmitted by the metal will char or even flame them.

To prepare a wire crate for the reception of test-tubes,
etc., cover the bottom with a layer of thick asbestos cloth;
or take some asbestos fibre, moisten it with a little water
and knead it into a paste; plaster the paste over the bottom
of the crate, working it into the meshes and smoothing the
surface by means of a pestle. When several crates have been
thus treated, place them inside the hot-air oven, close the
door, open the ventilating slide, light the gas, and run the
temperature of the interior up to about 160 deg. C. After an
interval of ten minutes extinguish the gas, open the oven
door, and allow the contents to cool. The asbestos now forms
a smooth, dry, spongy layer over the bottom, which will last
many months before needing renewal, and will considerably
diminish the loss of tubes from breakage.

Copper cylinders and large test-tubes intended for the
reception of pipettes are prepared in a similar manner, in
order to protect the points of these articles from injury.

2. Close the oven door, and open the ventilating slide, in order that any moisture left in the tubes, etc., may escape; light the gas below; set the electric alarm to ring at 100 deg. C.

3. When the temperature of the oven has reached 100 deg. C., close the ventilating slide; reset the alarm to ring at 175 deg. C.

4. Run the temperature up to 175 deg. C.

5. Extinguish the gas at once, and allow the apparatus to cool.

6. When the temperature of the interior, as recorded by the thermometer, has fallen to 60 deg. C.--_but not before_--the door may be opened and the sterile articles removed and stored away.

NOTE.--Neglect of this precautionary cooling of the oven to
60 deg. C. will result in numerous cracked and broken tubes.

On removal from the oven, the cotton-wool plugs will probably be slightly brown in colour.

Metal instruments, such as knives, scissors, and forceps, may be sterilised in the hot-air oven as described above, but exposure to 175 deg. C. is likely to seriously affect the temper of the steel and certainly blunts the cutting edges. If, however, it is desired to sterilise surgical instruments by hot air, they should be packed in a metal box, or boxes, and heated to 130 deg. C. and retained at that temperature for about thirty minutes.

~Moist Heat.~--_Water at 56 deg. C._--This temperature, if maintained for thirty minutes, is sufficient to destroy the vegetative forms of bacteria, but has practically no effect on spores. Its use is limited to the sterilisation of such albuminous "fluid" media as would coagulate at a higher temperature.

METHOD.--

1. Fit up a water-bath, heated by a Bunsen flame which is controlled by a thermo-regulator, so that the temperature of the water remains at 56 deg. C.

2. Immerse the tubes or flasks containing the albuminous fluid in the water-bath so that the upper level of such fluid is at least 2 cm. below the level of the water. (The temperature of the bath will now fall somewhat, but after a few minutes will again rise to 56 deg. C).

3. After thirty minutes' exposure to 56 deg. C, extinguish the gas, remove the tubes or flasks from the bath, and subject them to the action of running water so that their contents are rapidly cooled.

4. The vegetative forms of bacteria present in the liquid being killed, stand it for twenty-four hours in a cool, dark place; at the end of that time some at least of such spores as may be present will have germinated and assumed the vegetative form.

5. Destroy these new vegetative forms by a similar exposure to 56 deg. C. on the second day, whilst others, of slower germination, may be caught on the third day, and so on.

6. In order to ensure thorough sterilisation, repeat the process on each of six successive days.

This method of exposing liquids to a temperature of 56 deg. C. in a water-bath for half an hour on each of six successive days is termed _fractional sterilisation_.

_Water at 100 deg. C._ destroys the vegetative forms of bacteria almost instantaneously, and spores in from five to fifteen minutes. This method of sterilisation is applicable to the metal instruments, such as knives, forceps, etc., used in animal experiments; syringes, rubber corks, rubber and glass tubing, and other small apparatus, and is effected in what is usually spoken of as the "water steriliser" (Fig. 27).

This is a rectangular copper box, 26 cm. long, 18 cm. wide, and 12 cm. deep, mounted on legs, heated from below by a Bunsen or radial gas burner, and containing a movable copper wire tray, 2 cm. smaller in every dimension than the steriliser itself, and provided with handles. The top of the steriliser is hinged to form a lid.

METHOD.--

1. Place the instruments, etc., to be sterilised inside the copper basket, and replace the basket in the steriliser.

2. Pour a sufficient quantity of water into the steriliser, shut down the lid, and light the gas below.

3. After the water has boiled and steam has been issuing from beneath the lid for at least ten minutes, extinguish the gas, open the lid, and lift out the wire basket by its handles and rest it diagonally on the walls of the steriliser; the contained instruments, etc., are now sterile and ready for use.

4. After use, or when accidentally contaminated, replace the instruments in the basket and return that to the steriliser; completely disinfect by a further boiling for fifteen minutes.

5. After disinfection, and whilst still hot, take out the instruments, dry carefully and at once, and return them to their store cases.

_Streaming steam_--i. e., steam at 100 deg. C.--destroys the vegetative forms of bacteria in from fifteen to twenty minutes, and the sporing forms in from one to two hours. This method is chiefly used for the sterilisation of the various nutrient media intended for the cultivation of bacteria, and is carried out in a steam kettle of special construction, known as Koch's steam steriliser (Fig. 28) or in one of its many modifications, the most efficient of which is Arnold's (Fig. 29).

The steam steriliser in its simplest form consists of a tall tinned-iron or copper cylindrical vessel, divided into two unequal parts by a movable perforated metal diaphragm, the lower, smaller portion serving for a water reservoir, and the upper part for the reception of wire baskets containing the articles to be sterilised. The vessel is closed by a loose conical lid, provided with handles, and perforated at its apex by a tubulure; it is mounted on a tripod stand and heated from below by a Bunsen burner. The more elaborate steriliser is cased with felt or asbestos board, and provided with a water gauge, also a tap for emptying the water compartment.

TO USE THE STEAM STERILISER.--

1. Fill the water compartment to the level of the perforated diaphragm, place the lid in position, and light the Bunsen burner.

2. After the water has boiled, allow sufficient time to elapse for steam to replace the air in the sterilising compartment, as shown by the steam issuing in a steady, continuous stream from the tubulure in the lid.

3. Remove the lid, quickly lower the wire basket containing media tubes, etc., into the sterilising compartment until it rests on the diaphragm, and replace the lid.

4. After an interval of twenty minutes in the case of fluid media, or thirty minutes in the case of solid media, take off the lid and remove the basket with its contents.

5. Now, but not before, extinguish the gas.

NOTE.--After removing tubes, flasks, etc., from the steam
steriliser, they should be at once separated freely in order
to prevent moisture condensing upon the cotton-wool plugs
and soaking through into the interior of the tubes.

This treatment will destroy any vegetative forms of bacteria; during the hours of cooling any spores present will germinate, and the young organisms will be destroyed by repeating the process twenty-four hours later; a third sterilisation after a similar interval makes assurance doubly sure.

The method of sterilising by exposure to streaming steam at 100 deg. C. for twenty minutes on each of three consecutive days is termed _discontinuous_ or _intermittent sterilisation_.

Exposure to steam at 100 deg. C. for a period of one or two hours, or _continuous sterilisation_, cannot always be depended upon and is therefore not to be recommended.

_Superheated steam_--i. e., steam under pressure (see Pressure-temperature table, Appendix, page 500) in sealed vessels at a temperature of 115 deg. C.--will destroy both the vegetative and the sporing forms of bacteria within fifteen minutes; if the pressure is increased, and the temperature raised to 120 deg. C., the same end is attained in ten minutes. This method was formerly employed for the sterilisation of media (and indeed is so used in some laboratories still), but most workers now realise that media subjected to this high temperature undergo hydrolytic changes which render them unsuitable for the cultivation of the more delicate micro-organisms. The use of superheated steam should be restricted almost entirely to the disinfection of such contaminated articles, old cultivations, etc., as cannot be dealt with by dry heat or the actual furnace. Sterilisation by means of superheated steam is carried out in a special boiler--Chamberland's autoclave (Fig. 30). The autoclave consists of a stout copper cylinder, provided with a copper or gun-metal lid, which is secured in place by means of bolts and thumbscrews, the joint between the cylinder and its lid being hermetically sealed by the interposition of a rubber washer. The cover is perforated for a branched tube carrying a vent cock, a manometer, and a safety valve. The copper boiler is mounted in the upper half of a cylindrical sheet-iron case--two concentric circular rows of Bunsen burners, each circle having an independent gas-supply, occupying the lower half. In the interior of the boiler is a large movable wire basket, mounted on legs, for the reception of the articles to be sterilised.

TO USE THE AUTOCLAVE.--

1. Pack the articles to be sterilised in the wire basket.

2. Run water into the boiler to the level of the bottom of the basket; also fill the contained flasks and tubes with water.

3. See that the rubber washer is in position, then replace the cover and fasten it tightly on to the autoclave by means of the thumbscrews.

4. Open the vent cock and light both rings of burners.

5. When steam is issuing in a steady, continuous stream from the vent tube, shut off the vent cock and extinguish the outer ring of gas burners.

6. Wait until the index of the manometer records a temperature of 120 deg. C., then regulate the gas and the spring safety valve in such a manner that this temperature is just maintained, and leave it thus for twenty minutes. In the more expensive patterns of autoclave this regulation of the safety valve is carried out automatically, the manometer being fitted with an adjustable pointer which can be set to any required pressure-temperature and so arranged that when the index of the manometer coincides with the adjustable hand the safety valve is opened.

7. Extinguish the gas and allow the manometer index to fall to zero.

8. Now open the vent cock slowly, and allow the internal pressure to adjust itself to that of the atmosphere.

9. Remove the cover and take out the sterilised contents.

~Sterilisation Periods.~--An exceedingly useful device for the timing of sterilisation periods (and indeed for many other operations in the laboratory) is the

ELECTRIC SIGNAL TIMING CLOCK.