THE VASELINE TUBE AND SYRINGE METHOD OF MICRO GAS ANALYSIS OF BACTERIAL CULTURES

There has been described the use of the vaseline tube and the tuberculin syringe for the study of gas production by bacteria. A comparison is made of some of the results obtained by the use of the method here described, the Smith fermentation tube, and the tube of Eldredge and Rogers. The reports of CO(2) production by certain streptococci by Ayers, Rupp, and Mudge and by Bacterium typhosus by Nichols have been confirmed by the author's method. The data presented serve to illustrate the accuracy and technical possibilities of the method. In addition to economy of glassware, medium, and labor, the vaseline tube and syringe method of micro gas analysis possesses the following advantages. (1) Gas produced above either liquid or solid media may be measured and analyzed. (2) The gas produced may be measured in terms of a definite and constant quantity of medium used. (3) The vaseline tube provides a closed system from which gases do not escape into the air. (4) Separate determinations of the CO(2) produced in and above fluid media may be made. (5) Determinations may be made from very small samples of material. (6) Numerous gas analyses of the same culture may be made at various times during the growth of the culture without contaminating or destroying it. (7) Gas production may be observed under both anaerobic and controlled aerobic conditions.