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Summary. The behaviour of 70 strains of salmonellae belonging to 44 serotypes in Rappaport's broth and in Muller‐Kauffmann's tetrathionate broth was examined. With an inoculum of 5–25 cells, 5 strains did not grow in Rappaport's medium, 2 multiplied slowly and 63 grew strongly in 24 h. With an inoculum of 100–500 organisms all but one strain grew readily in 24 h. In Muller–Kauffmann's tetrathionate broth inoculated with pure cultures of salmonellae, growth of many strains was markedly inhibited, in the absence of added faeces, at 37° and 43°. This inhibition was more severe with light inocula at 43°. The addition of 0.05% (w/v) of salmonella‐free human faeces to Muller–Kauffmann's tetrathionate broth, did not stimulate growth of salmonellae. In contrast, the addition of 5% (w/v) of human stools to this medium resulted in a heavy growth of the added salmonellae, especially at 43°.

Visceral leishmaniasis, a chronic and often fatal disease, is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani. Both specific and nonspecific antibodies are produced in the course of the disease, and autoantibodies may be involved in pathogenesis. Tubulin and actin have been found to be associated with L. donovani. To learn whether antiactin and antitubulin antibodies are present in visceral leishmaniasis, we tested sera from 263 infected dogs by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for antibodies to the antigens L. donovani, actin, and tubulin. All samples reacted positively with L. donovani, and a high percentage reacted positively with all three antigens. Sera from 202 uninfected dogs were also tested, none reacted with L. donovani antigen, although positive reactions were observed for 8 of the samples with actin or tubulin. It was found that the antibodyantigen reaction occurred at the Fab portion of the immunoglobulin molecule. Competitive enzyme immunoassays showed that the reaction was inhibited if the positive serum was first incubated with L. donovani antigen, actin, or tubulin and then tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. These results suggest that antiactin and antitubulin antibodies are present in the sera of dogs infected with visceral leishmaniasis.

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