Abstract
AT the Bath meeting of the British Medical Association a discussion on the filter - passing viruses occupied the first day of the meeting of the Section of Pathology and Bacteriology. The discussion was opened by Dr. W. E. Gye. Dr. Gye criticised the expression “filter-passing viruses,” which is generally used to include certain viruses which have hitherto not been proved to be filterable. The use of the term “filterable viruses,” though convenient, has at present no real significance. His own experience has been particularly with Rous's chicken sarcoma, and even with this virus, filtration can only be conducted if certain experimental conditions are observed. If the tumour emulsion be insufficiently diluted, and if distilled water be employed instead of saline, the filtration is much more difficult, and it is seldom that an infective filtrate is obtained. By using a small volume Of saline, or by using distilled water as a diluent, one obtains a viscous solution of mucin and nucleo-protein which will not pass the filter readily. The hydrogen ion concentration of the liquid also affects the rate of filtration; within limits not yet exactly determined, acidity increases the difficulty of filtration and alkalinity makes the process easier. The properties of the liquid in which the virus is suspended thus play an important part in the results of filtration.
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Filter-passing Viruses in Disease. Nature 116, 222–223 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116222a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116222a0