The survival of suspensions of lactobacilli and streptococci incubated at 37° in normal saline and in 0·1% (w/v) and 1·0% (w/v) solutions of dehydrated mucin was studied by counting the number of viable organisms present at regular intervals. The survival time was markedly prolonged in the mucin solutions. In the 1·0% (w/v) mucin solution most of the strains of lactobacilli and all the strains of streptococci were still viable at the end of one year. The mucin solutions appeared to be unchanged when compared with control solutions which had been inoculated with killed bacteria and incubated at 37°.
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