STUDIES ON THE BACTERIOPHAGE OF D'HERELLE : V. EFFECT OF ELECTROLYTES ON THE RATE OF INACTIVATION OF BACTERIOPHAGE BY ALCOHOL.

Addition of neutral salts to the lytic filtrate results in an increased rate of inactivation of the latter when alcohol is added to it. This effect of salts is the more marked the higher the valency of the cation. Conversely, removal by dialysis of salts originally present in the lytic filtrate tends to render lytic agent less sensitive to alcohol. Restitution of the original salt content to the dialyzed filtrate tends to bring the sensitiveness to alcohol in the dialyzed filtrate to the level of the non-dialyzed control. It appears, therefore, that inactivation of the lytic agent by alcohol depends directly on the rate of precipitation of the coagulable constituents of the medium, and is not the result of a direct toxic action of alcohol on "bacteriophagum intestinale." Considered in association with our earlier findings, these results speak in favor of the chemical nature of the agent of transmissible lysis.