Many stock cultures may be preserved conveniently by drying the organisms in vacuo upon sterilized unglazed porcelain beads stored over anhydrous silica gel or calcium sulfate. Two methods used by the authors are elaborations of a method described by Lederberg. The method requires little specialized equipment and each tube may be sampled repeatedly. Some limitations of the method are cited. Antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria have been stored in this manner without apparent change.