Automatic diluter for bacteriological samples.

The described apparatus, carrying 190 tubes, allows automatic and aseptic dilution of liquid or suspended-solid samples. Serial 10-fold dilutions are programmable from 10(-1) to 10(-9) and are carried out in glass tubes with screw caps and split silicone septa. Dilution assays performed with strains of Escherichia coli and Bacillus stearothermophilus permitted efficient conditions for sterilization of the needle to be defined and showed that the automatic dilutions were as accurate and as reproducible as the most rigorous conventional dilutions.