The Cultural and Antigenic Properties of Shigella sonnei.

The present study aims to define the taxonomic position of that group of dysentery bacteria commonly known as Shigella paradysenteriae, var. sonnei (Bergey, 1934). Most of the material on which this work is based has been recently isolated in this laboratory but a number of type strains of the species from The National Collection of Type Cultures in London, England, have been included for comparison. Also included for comparative purposes, are a number of strains of closely related members of the Genus Shigella which are mannitol-fermenters; namely, the groups known as Flexner, Dispar and Alkalescens.