A contact slide method for the isolation of staphylococci.

The gauze-reinforced agar slab method introduced by Foster (1960) to assess environmental contamination was subjected to trial in the laboratory. In principle this method was sound but in our experience the gauzereinforced agar slabs were difficult to prepare and far from easy to manipulate. A modification of Foster's method involving the use of agar-layered slides has been developed and employed successfully for more than six months in an investigation in which information was required about staphylococcal contamination of floors and other surfaces in a surgical ward (McNeill, Porter, and Green).