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There is no subject in practical bacteriology being more actively pursued than that of the identification of the meningococcus in plate cultures prepared from the nasopharyngeal mucous membrane. This situation has been brought about through the assembling of the National Army and the National Guard, and the appearance of epidemic meningitis and meningococcus carriers in some of the Army camps. Since the detection and the segregation of the carriers constitute one measure of control of the disease, it is in the highest degree important to reduce to the minimum the time and work incident to their discovery. In this way the separation of the men from their commands is reduced, and the work of the hospital laboratories lightened. The method given here is offered as serving to save time by simplifying the identification of meningococci in mixed cultures in Petri plates. The method proposed employs a fluid medium which serves