THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BACTERIOLOGY

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

The first edition seems to have fulfilled a need for a general text-book on the subject of bacteriology. The original method of presentation is preserved. The text-book idea is adhered to, so that the individual instructor may have full liberty to expand on topics in which he is especially interested. A number of illustrations have been added, the text has been improved in many instances by the addition of further explanatory matter and the most recent general advances in the Science. Examples are the System of Classification of the Society of American Bacteriologists, which is used throughout the text, their Key to the Genera of Bacteria, a discussion of the H-ion concentration method of standardization, the selective action of anilin dyes, the mechanism of entrance of pathogenic organisms into the body, a more detailed explanation of the origin of antibodies, the nature of antigens and a table of antigens and antibodies.

Professor Vera McCoy Masters has assisted in the revision by aiding in the preparation of manuscript and the reading of proof and in the making of the index, for which services the author’s thanks are hereby expressed.

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

An experience of nearly twenty years in the teaching of Bacteriology has convinced the author that students of this subject need a comprehensive grasp of the entire field and special training in fundamental technic before specializing in any particular line of work. Courses at the University are arranged on this basis. One semester is devoted to General Bacteriology. During the second semester the student has a choice of special work in Pathogenic, Dairy, Soil, Water, or Chemical Bacteriology. A second year may be devoted to advanced work in any of the above lines, to Immunity and Serum Therapy, or to Pathogenic Protozoa.

This text-book is intended to cover the first or introductory semester’s work, and requires two classroom periods per week. Each student is compelled to take two laboratory periods of three hours per week along with the class work. The outline of the laboratory work is given at the end of the text. Results attained seem to justify this plan. A text-book is but one of many pedagogical mechanisms and is not intended to be an encyclopedia of the subject.

The author makes no claim to originality of content, since the facts presented are well known to every bacteriologist, though the method of presentation is somewhat different from texts in general. During the preparation of this work he has made a thorough review of the literature of Bacteriology, covering the standard text-books as well as works of reference and the