Diffraction Patterns Produced by Bacteria

Abstract

By treating the diffraction patterns produced by cultures of bacilli as the result of diffraction through a grating, Pijper has been led to the conclusion that the bacilli are oriented at right angles to the surface of the culture medium. It is shown in this paper that his results are better accounted for by supposing the organisms to be lying at random, under which circumstances only those patterns resulting from the diffraction of light by their breadths are perceptible to the eye.