Central Enteric Reference Laboratory,
Colindale Avenue,
London, N.¥.9,

6th October, 1953.

Dew eek,

Thank you for your letter of September 11th. I enjoyed the Rome
meeting very much indeed. I attended it in the most pleasant way possible;
three others and I travelled throuch France, Switzerland and Northern Italy
to Rome. Ye crossed the Alps by the Simplon and, after Genoa, skirted the
Mediterranean along one of the most delightful stretches of the Italian
coast. We returned from Rome by a different route - through Florence,
Venice, Verona, St. 'oritz, 7irich and Basle.

The meeting was too crowded. There were over three thousand “Congressisti"
and their families made the population up to something over five thousand.
It was very difficult to get to all the papers I wanted to hear because the
sections were widely separated. I always feel that mammoth gatherings of
this sort have only a limited Palue. However, we were extremely well catered
for vhysically: therewere two large receptions, including one tremendous
affeir in the Campidoglio - an ornate valece. Roth these receptions were
held partly in the open air and were accompanied by large quantities of food,
a spate of drinks and much in the way of soft lights and sweet music. In
each case, we were ushered in between ranks of huge soldiers with enormous
shoulders and minute heads. We discovered that when it comes to getting to
the food, the healthy Roman adult male is very difficult to beat. IT was
lucky to escape with a few superficial bruises. Following the banquet on
the last night of the Congress there was a ball held in the Grand Hotel.
Unfortunately, the orchestra was totally lacking in imagination and played
rather like a military band.

I hope that the future International Congresses will be less socially
ostentatious and more scientifically profiteble.

I expect that,by now, Bernstein will have settled down to work. He
was here a few days before he left, and I assured him that he would thoroughly
enjoy his stay with you, as I know he will. I hope that he has managed to
come to some arrangement about sharing Boris Rotman's apartment.

I am glad to hear that phage k ig. a good transducing agent. Helen
Byers hinted that there was some error in the titre stated on the label.
This is really my fault because I told our senior technicien what to write
but did not check its accuracy after he had written it. As I said in.my
letter of the 16th July, the titre of this stock preparation is 3 x 40°

 
~?-

Under sevarate cover I am forwarding you 5ml each of the stock prev-
arations of phages b3, 01, 44, d6, f2, t, 25', 26", 28', 29' and 30’, and I
enclose a table showing their subdivision into serological groups. This
table is copie@ from Table 8% of the latest vaper in the Journal of General
Microbiology by Tr. Felix anc myself. We are sending you a reprint of this
and of the paper that preceded it. Phagesb3 and 28' appear to be identical
and do not seem to be type-determining phages. Phagesd1 and d4, which are
type-determining phages, also seem to be identical. Phages 46, £2, 29' and
30" sre serologically indistinguishable hut seem, nevertheless, to be distinct
phages. All of these phages were prown on Craigie's Vi-nhage Type A of
Salm. typhi. The titres - none of them high, I am afraid - are indicated
on the labels, as are also the methods by which they were freed from the
vrovapating strain. If you need more information about the method of
prevaration of stocks, please let me know.

Fnclosed with the chages you will find fresh subcultures of Salm.
cholerae suis 4348); Salm. newport var. puerto rico and Salm. fayed. The
last organism, by the way, was first isolated by me in the Canal Zone of
Egypt in 1945. These strains have not been plated for four years. I have
no idea as to which vhage in pool ? they reacted with because the separate
vhages were not tested. You are right in assuming that the protocols gave
only the positive reactions encountered in this survey; the tests covered
the entire range of Salmonellas known at that date (January, 1949).

T am glad that you have net Bill Hayes. He is one of the most generally
liked peovle I know. I agree with you that there have been attempts to
infuse a personal background into this scientific controversy and, for this
reason alone, it is fortunate that you have had an opnvortunity to meet each
other.

As t have indicated earlier, I met Helen while whe was over here.
™mfortunately, she arrived at a difficult time. for me - I was moving house,
refurnishing, vrenaring a paver for Rome and a host of other things simul-
taneously, so that I could do nothingto entertain her. However, I put
her in touch with Bruce and he did quite a lot for her. I have heard
recently that she contracted amoebic dysentry while in Italy. Please tell
her that I hope she has made or will make e ranid recovery from this.

My kindest regards to Esther and yourself.

Sincerely,

Dr. J. Lederberg, a
Devartment of Genetics,

Tniversity of Wisconsin,

Madison,

Wisconsin.

 
From! Anderson,E.S. and Felix,A. 1953) J. gen. Microbiol. 9, 65-88

Table 8. Serological grouos of latent phages of Salmonella typhi

Grow 4 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
Phage b3 ( ) {Phare 31 Phage d6 Phage t
Phage 28! "/\Phage a4 (_){Phage f2

Phage 29'
(>) Phage k hage 30"

Group 2? is related
to Salmonella

Phage 25!
vhage anti-O (b {
no, 2. ) Phage 26'