Typhoid Bacilli and the Blood Test

Dear Sir,?At the present early stage of sero-diagnosis in typhoid fever perhaps this note may not be quite inopportune. Not having previously seen the method applied, I asked Dr. Srinivasa Rao, Bacteriologist to the Government of Mysore, to kindly give a demonstration in case I could find the necessary material. This Surgeon-Colonel Lang Browne very kindly supplied in the South Station Hospital, Bangalore. That officer selected six patients, and, without (living Dr. Srinivasa any clue to the nature of their diseases invited him to apply Widal's test. The names of the patients with the diagnosis already arrived at by tho medical officers in charge were handed to me on a closed slip of paper. I give the results in the following tabular form :? 1st Patient.?Specimen prepared at 9-10 a.m. 1st Microscopical Examination 9-15 a.m. ; bacilli moving ; no agglomeration. 2nd Microscopical Examination 9-20 a.m. ; agglomeration in clumps of 6, 8, or 10, bacilli in clumps are all still ; here and thore in the field an isolated one still moves. 3rd Microscopical Examination 9-45 a.m. ; same appearances as in last examination, except that there are fewer isolated bacilli moving. Bacteriological diagnosis?Typhoid fever. Clinical diagnosis by medical officer in charge? Typhoid fever. 2nd Patient.?Specimen prepared at 9-15 a.m. 1st Microscopical Examination 9-22 a.m. ? bacilli very lively ; no agglomeration. 2nd Microscopical Examination 9-27 a.m. ; bacilli very lively ; no agglomeration. 3rd Microscopical Examination 9-50 a.m. ; bacilli very lively ; no agglomeration. Bacteriological diagnosis?Not typhoid fever. (This turned ont to have been blood from a healthy man who never had typhoid fever). 3rd Patient.?Specimen prepared at 9-27 a.m. 1st Microscopical Examination 9-30 a.m. ; bacilli moving vigorously. 2nd Microscopical Examination 9-36 a.m. ; clumps of five or six bacilli forming, some of the bacilli in the clumps are moving ; isolated bacilli also moving.