agar, agar-agar

(ag’ar, ag’’ar-ag’ar) [Singhalese]. A glue-like substance prepared from certain varieties of Asiatic (chiefly Japanese) seaweed: used in preparing suppositories and in making culture media for bacterial work. beer-wort a., beerwort containing 2 per cent. of agar. blood a., a culture-medium for trypanosomes, consisting of a mixture of blood and agar. glucose a. Same as agar. glycerin a., nutrient agar to which 6 to 8 per cent. of glycerin has been added. hydrocele &., a culture-medium consisting of hydrocele fluid containing agar: used for the gonococcus. litmus &., a culture-medium consisting of agar containing 0.66 per cent. of lactose and enough of litmus to give the medium a light-blue color. nutrient a. See peptone a. peptone a., a culture-medium consisting of agar and peptone: called also nuérient a. serum a., a mixture of blood-serum and agar, used as a culture-medium. slant a., an agar culture solidified with a slanting surface.