The Failure of Bacterium coli from Human Feces to Grow at 46° in the Eijkman or the Bulír Tests

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Abstract
By the dilution method, 5 techniques for determination of Bact. coli in 55 samples of human feces were compared. The Eijkman and the Bulir tests (glucose and mannitol broths, respectively at 46[degree]) detected significantly fewer Bact. coli than did the usual method using lactose broth at 37.5[degree]. To a less degree, but still significantly, this was true when the 46[degree] of the Eijkman and Bulir methods was reached in 5 hrs. by a gradual increase in temp. A partial explanation for the conflicting results on the Eijkman test, found in the literature, is proposed. Possibly the large amounts of media used by some investigators allowed some of the colon bacilli to adapt themselves to a gradually increasing temp. It is suggested that the Bulir test has a possible slight advantage over the Eijkman test. A similar but smaller advantage of the modified Bulir over the modified Eijkman test is thought possible. This latter supposition, however, was not shown statistically by the data, based on over 4,500 inoculations.