Bactericidal Action of Sea-Water

Abstract

It has been shown by the author1 that sea-water inhibits the multiplication of freshwater bacteria while marine bacteria require sea-water media for their initial isolation, although these differences rapidly disappear following the laboratory cultivation of the bacteria. Similar observations on the selective bacteriostatic action of sea-water have been reported by Berkeley,2 Lipman,3 and Korinek.4It is generally known that intestinal and other bacteria of public health interest do not survive very long when emptied directly into the sea unless there is appreciable organic matter present or considerable freshwater dilution. Colon bacilli are rarely recovered from the open sea and they occur far less frequently in the vicinity of sewage effluents than can be accounted for by dilution or oceanic circulation. The failure of freshwater bacteria to survive in the sea has been attributed by various investigators to predacious protozoa, lack of nutrients, bacteriophage,5 or to the lethal effect of sunlight. The ...