Toxin and reaction changes produced by the diphtheria bacillus in culture / by Percival Hartley and Olga Mary Hartley.

  • Hartley, Percival Horton-Smith, Sir, 1867-
Date:
[1922?]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Toxin and reaction changes produced by the diphtheria bacillus in culture / by Percival Hartley and Olga Mary Hartley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    TOXIN AND REACTION CHANGES PRODUCED BY THE DIPHTHERIA BACILLUS IN CULTURE.* By Percival Hartley and Olga Mary Hartley. From the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories, Herne Hill, London. It has been known for many years that the initial reaction of the medium has a profound influence on the growth of the diphtheria bacillus and on the production of toxin. The earlier investigators, by the somewhat crude methods then available, made important observa¬ tions on the changes in reaction which occur during the growth of the diphtheria bacillus, and were fully alive to the fact that reaction change and toxin production are intimately associated. They established several important facts; they showed that the reaction of the broth should be faintly alkaline before inoculation, that an early change which occurs on incubation is the formation of acid, and that this is followed by the production of alkali. They observed that when these changes occur toxin was usually produced in greater or smaller amounts. The work of Sorensen (19095), and the more recent studies of Clark and Tubs (19172) have placed in the hands of present-day investigators the means of determining the true reaction of fluids by simple methods which yield accurate and easily reproducible results. It was inevitable that the old problem mentioned above, the importance of which is recognised as forcibly by the modern worker as it was by the pioneers, should be attacked again in the light of the new knowledge and by means of the new methods. Of recent papers dealing with the problem of diphtheria-toxin preparation, few have aroused such interest as that of Bunker (1919 1). The reason for this is not far to seek, for according to his observations and experiments, a careful study of the daily changes in reaction during growth will furnish information of the most valuable kind relating to the production of toxin. Bunker shows that reaction conditions alone cannot govern toxin production; suitable food substance in the medium, the nature and activity of the strain and the shape and size of the container are among the other factors of importance. He plotted curves showing the reaction changes which occur when the bacillus grows on sugar-free media, and on media containing dextrose. The * The substance of this paper was communicated to the Meeting of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, at Cambridge, July 1, 1920. [Iteceived for publication, June 8, 1922.] 4CS