Abstract
N. meningitidis can be grouped by coagglutination directly upon growth on sheep blood or chocolate agar plates. All positive reactions were group specific and only a single colony was required for a positive reaction. There was variation seen in the effectiveness of commercial antisera in preparing sensitive reagents. Certain throat and sputum isolates of group Z organisms failed to react by coagglutination, although they would react directly with antiserum in whole-cell agglutination. This problem remains unresolved but may not be greatly significant in laboratory use of this method since group Z is rarely associated with disease.