“…Margaret Dewar compared several tests related to buffer capacity and acid production and found that they were as satisfactory as the Lactobacillus count (Dewar, 1950). Bern Lilienthal concentrated on salivary buffers (Lilienthal, 1955) and the acidogenicity of oral bacteria, where many of the oral streptococci were grouped as "Streptococcus salivarius" (Lilienthal and Spies, 1957). There was also considerable interest in the salivary mucins on the basis of their perceived role in plaque formation, and I was assigned this topic (Knox, 1953) when I joined the Institute part-way through the Science Honours fourth year (as a consequence of a coal-miners' strike in mid-1949, which meant that there was no gas for the microbial studies in progress).…”