AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

Although Salmonella pullorum has for many years been the subject of much investigation resulting in the accumulation or considerable knowledge of its various characteristics, there still exists some confusion regarding its exact recognition. This, and the fact that the genus Salmonella has undergone radical change through the newer methods of antigenic analysis stimulated particularly by White and Kauffmann, seemed to warrant a reinvestigation of the fermentation and agglutination reactions of Salmonella pullorum. As the historical resume will indicate, much of the work done on this organism has aimed at amplifying into species rank minute differences between this organism and the closely similar gallinarum. A discussion on the validity of this species differentiation is included in this thesis as a natural corollary of the main purpose which is to define the criteria by which Salmonella pullorum may be recognized. [...] The existence of cholera-like or typhoid-like epidemics in domestic birds has been known for many years. However, careful bacteriological study has been carried on only since the latter part of the nineteenth century. [...] From this time on, definition of these two micro-organisms was attempted on one or other of three grounds,- fermentative, serological and pathological. [...]