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These samples were submitted to Dr. Klein, the City Bacteriologist, who
reported thereon as follows :—
"St. Bartholomew's Hospital,
"July 3rd, 1906.
"I received by your Inspector for bacteriological analysis, the following
"samples of ' cooked ' cockles:—
"Samples I. and II.
"Samples III. and IV.
"Samples V. and VI.
on June 28th.
on June 29th.
on June 30th.
"These cockles are supposed to have been exposed to a temperature high
"enough to destroy B. typhosus, B. Gaertner, B. proteus, that is to say, undesir"able
microbes, which, being non-sporing, succumb to temperatures far below
"the temperature of boiling water. In this respect they stand in the same rank
"as B. coli and streptococci ; as a matter of fact all these microbes have about
"the same death point, viz., they are killed at 68 deg. C.—70 deg. C. in a few
"minutes (154 deg. F.—158 deg. F.), or in other words they are killed at
"temperatures 54 deg. F. to 58 deg. F. below boiling point of water.
"The analysis was therefore directed to ascertain (1) whether the interior of
"the fish contained microbes in a living state, which like B. proteus, B. coli and
"streptococci are killed by temperatures ot 154-158 deg. F., and (2) whether they
"contained living microbes belonging to the Gaertner-Typhoid group.
"For the purpose of the analysis, of each sample 12 cockles were selected, the
"stomach was cut out and finely minced with sterile scissors in about 1 cubic
"centimetre of sterile salt solution ; this having been well mixed, yielded a thick
"turbid fluid, of which one-fifth to one-tenth c.c. was spread over each of two
"large Drigalski-Couradi plates. These were then placed at 37 deg. C. in the
"incubator, and the resulting growth carefully inspected from day to day."
"The result of the examination was as follows:—
"All plates contained colonies of microbes which are destroyed at
"a temperature of 154-158 deg. F.
"Sample I.—Contained abundance of colonies of B. coli and streptococci.
"Sample II.— Contained a comparatively limited number of colonies,
"amongst these a fair number of B. coli and of streptococci.
"Samples 111. and IV.—Were crowded with colonies of B. proteus, B. coli
"and streptococci.
"Sample V.—Both plates were literally one mass of colonies of B. coli
"and streptococci.
"Sample VI.—The plates contained a comparatively limited number of
"colonies, amongst them were some colonies of B. coli and of streptococci.
"The plates of Samples I., III., IV. and V. contained in addition some 'blue'
colonies, which in aspect and constitution resemble those of the Gaertner-Typhoid
"group, but they gave no agglutination with typhoid blood serum, nor was their
"growth in gelatine sub-culture like that of the Gaertner-Typhoid group. But
"the plates of Sample'VI. contained seven 'blue' colonies, which in these
"respects resembled those of the Gaertner-Typhoid group, being not only in